London Wine Fair’s Battle of the Bubbles

The 2025 London Wine Fair (LWF) opened on 19 May with the Battle of the Bubbles, a blind tasting of 13 Champagnes pitted against premium sparkling wines from beyond France.

It follows last year’s Judgement of London, a tasting of European wines against ‘New World’ counterparts, which paid homage to Steven Spurrier’s landmark 1976 Judgement of Paris event.

In what will now be known as the LWF’s Icon Tasting, with the theme changing each year, the aim is to identify whether there is a level platform across the world’s best wine regions.

And the Battle of the Bubbles revealed some surprises when results were announced at the fair on 21 May.

Conceived by Hannah Tovey, head of the LWF, the wines were selected by Ronan Sayburn MS, Decanter World Wine Awards co-Chair and CEO of the Court of Master Sommeliers, and Sarah Abbott MW, wine marketing consultant, co-founder of The Old Vine Conference.

Ahead of the tasting, in explaining their reasons for choosing the Battle of the Bubbles theme, Sayburn said sparkling wine producers the world over had ‘raised their game’ with their finest expressions. But ‘can they compete with the quality and prestige of Champagne?’

‘Sparkling wine is a booming and dynamic category which is outperforming Champagne in the UK market,’ noted Abbott. ‘Yet, the hegemony of Champagne in prestige perception seems unassailable. I’m excited to see how these great wines are assessed by our judges when tasted blind.’

Tasting the wines in two flights over 90 minutes, the panel of 16 judges included Decanter’s Champagne correspondent Tom Hewson, Master of Wine couple Peter Richards and Susie Barrie, Master Sommelier and Decanter World Wine Awards judge Matthieu Longuère and renowned wine critic, broadcaster and writer Oz Clarke.

The 26 wines were tasted in pairs comprising one Champagne and one sparkling wine from the rest of the world, matched ‘like for like, as much as possible’, according to price, style, grape varieties, terroir, age and production methods.

Sayburn encouraged the judges not to focus on whether wine A was better than wine B, to try to guess the identity of a wine, or to be swayed by an ‘unconscious bias’ if they did recognise the Champagne in a pair, but to assess every wine on its inherent qualities.

Blind tastings are always a fascinating (and often humbling) exercise, so when the wines’ identities were revealed after the tasting (but before scores were calculated and results announced) there was much excitement.

Of the 13 pairs, I preferred the Champagne in the majority, with Bollinger’s RD 2008 and the Taittinger’s 2013 Comtes Blanc de Blancs my overall top scorers.

But there were a couple of notable exceptions. I gave the nod to Cloudy Bay’s serious, savoury and developing Pelorus Rosé over the richer, fruitier saignée rosé from Laurent-Perrier. And another New Zealand wine – the 2017 Blanc de Blancs from Quartz Reef – also got my vote, though sadly because Agrapart’s Minéral Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 2018 was corked.

But the real thrill was the quality of the English sparkling wines. I much preferred Gusbourne’s 51° North 2016 to Pol Roger’s Sir Winston Churchill 2018, and gave an extra point to Nyetimber’s 1086 Prestige Cuvée 2018 over Dom Pérignon 2013. All are around the £200 mark though, so the quality shone through.

And in terms of value, I thought Graham Beck’s 2019 Cuvée Clive from South Africa (£45) and Roederer Estate’s Quartet from California (£30-£40) really stood out against Dom Ruinart 2010 (£220-£280) and Krug’s Grande Cuvée (£160-£250) respectively.

Several pairs were quite challenging, and a little unfair, especially when the grapes, ageing and dosage of the wines were so disparate. The Sekt and Corpinnats might feel hard done by with their matches, but especially the Prosecco: 100% Glera with 8g/L residual sugar tasted alongside a 70% Pinot Noir-dominant Grand Cru Champagne with 1g/L dosage and seven years of ageing on lees.

Nevertheless, celebrating premium bubbles, whether Champagne or top-quality sparkling wine from across the globe, is something everyone can raise a glass to.

Battle of the Bubbles: Pairs listed in order of tasting

Flight 1

Gramona, Enoteca Brut Nature, Corpinnat, Catalunya, Spain 2011
Eric Rodez, Cuvée de Crayères, Champagne, France NV

Bollinger, RD, Champagne, France 2008
House of Arras, EJ Carr Late Disgorged, Tasmania, Australia 2009

Laurent-Perrier, Rosé, Champagne, France NV
Cloudy Bay, Pelorus Rosé, Marlborough, New Zealand NV

Ca’ del Bosco, Cuvée Annamaria Clementi, Franciacorta, Italy 2016
Taittinger, Comtes de Champagne, Blanc de Blancs Brut, Champagne, France 2013

Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon Rosé, Champagne, France 2012
Cruse Wine Co, LC18 Tradition Rosé, Sonoma Coast, California, USA NV

Graham Beck, Cuvée Clive, Western Cape, South Africa 2019
Ruinart, Dom Ruinart, Champagne, France 2010

Flight 2

Roederer Estate, Quartet, Anderson Valley, Mendocino County, California, USA NV
Krug, Grande Cuvée (172ème edition), Champagne, France NV

Agrapart, Minéral Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut, Champagne, France 2018
Quartz Reef, Blanc de Blancs, Bendigo, Central Otago, New Zealand 2017

Pol Roger, Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, Champagne, France 2018
Gusbourne, 51° North, England 2016

Nino Franco, Rustico, Valdobbiadene, Prosecco Superiore, Veneto, Italy 2015
Egly-Ouriet, VP Vieillissement Prolongé, Grand Cru Extra Brut, Champagne, France NV

Weingut Karthäuserhof, Karthäuserhof Brut, VDP Sekt, Ruwer, Germany NV
Drappier, Quattuor, Blanc de Blancs, Champagne, France NV

Recaredo, Turó d’en Mota, Corpinnat, Penedès, Spain 2011
Roederer, Philippe Starck, Brut Nature, Champagne, France 2015

Dom Pérignon, Champagne, France 2013
Nyetimber, 1086 Prestige Cuvée, West Sussex, England 2010

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