English sparkling fizzes with delight at top honour
June 29, 2005
By Adam Lechmere
An English wine has been voted the the world's best sparkling wine – against competition from 55 countries.
The RidgeView Merret Bloomsbury 2002 took World Wide Trophy for Best Sparkling Wine at the 2005 International Wine and Spirit Competition.
The Bloomsbury's sister wine, the Merret Fitzrovia 2002 Rose, won Bronze at this year's Decanter World Wine Awards.
RidgeView is based near the South Downs village of Ditchling in Sussex, in southern England.
The family-run enterprise is no stranger to awards. In the last five years it has won 44 medals and 12 trophies in international and national competitions, including English Wine of the Year in 2000 and 2002.
Last year it won two silver medals in prestigious French competitions. The estate currently produces between 40,000 and 50,000 bottles a year, specialising in the three classic Champagne grape varieties – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The Bloomsbury is a blend of the three.
It has just been given a £50,000 government grant which it will use to double production.
The recent 'Best Sparkling Wine' award was won in the Sparkling Wine category, in which Champagne does not compete. But, marketing manager Mardi Roberts told decanter.com, it was up against world-renowned labels from California, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, Australia. It was 'an unbelievable success,' she said.
RidgeView wines are available at Waitrose, the Sunday Times Wine Club, The Wine Society and specialists.
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