Author: Alice Kendall

After our recent success in the UK Wine Awards, where we won 4 out of the 5 Trophies available for Sparkling Wine (Best Wine in the UK, Best Sparkling Wine in the UK, Best Sparkling Rose in the UK, and Best Blanc de Blancs in the UK), we were delighted to have three of our wines in the top 10 English Sparkling Wines as marked by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, and for our Rose 2009 Vintage “La Perfide” to be awarded the highest score of any English sparkling Wine in the same tasting.

This is the first time that the Wine Advocate has undertaken a comprehensive tasting of English sparkling wines, and it is accompanied by a well-researched and thought-provoking analysis of the UK sparkling wine industry more generally.  It is remarkably consistent with the UK Wine Awards, not only in placing Coates & Seely first, but also in the tight grouping of the same leading UK producers, most of whom also won gold (and exceptionally silver) medals at the UK Wine Awards.

These are the top 10 ranked producers, marked as an average of each of their wines tasted (the number of wines tasted appearing in brackets after the score), and then the top 10 wines ranked individually.

Average Rankings

1. Coates & Seely – 90.8   Points  (4)

2. Wiston – 89.8   Points  (6)

3. Hattingley Valley – 89.7   Points  (3)

4. Nyetimber – 89.6   Points  (5)

5. Ridgeview – 89.5   Points  (6)

6. Camel Valley – 89.3   Points  (4)

7. Hambledon – 88.7   Points  (3)

8. Gusbourne – 88.3   Points  (3)

9. Allbury – 87.3   Points  (3)

10. Chapel Down – 86.3   Points  (3)

Individual Wine Rankings

1. Coates & Seely La Perfide Rose 2009 – 93 Points

=2. Wiston Cuvee Brut 2013 – 92 Points

=2. Hattingley Valley Rose 2014 – 92 Points

=2. Ridgeview Blanc de Noirs 2013 – 92 Points

=2. Wiston Blanc de Blancs NV – 92 Points

=3. Coates & Seely Rose NV – 91 Points

=3. Coates & Seely La Perfide Blanc de Blancs 2009 – 91 Points

=3. Nyetimber Rose NV – 91 Points

=3. Camel Valley Rose 2014 – 91 Points

=3. Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs 2013 – 91 Points

https://www.robertparker.com/articles/CAyrSMRLmTvqdkFwP

Country Life together with Hotel du Vin and Waitrose sponsored this year’s UK wine awards to ‘bring long-overdue recognition to what Susie Barrie calls ‘one of the most exciting wine regions in the world’.

The 12-strong judging team was co-chaired by Barrie and her fellow TV presenter, broadcaster and wine writer Oz Clarke, with the remaining experts being Masters of Wine David Bird, Richard Hemming, Alex Hunt and Phil Tuck, as well as Christine Parkinson from Hakkasan, Rebecca Hull MW from Waitrose and Hamish Anderson from Tate restaurants.

They were joined by writer and broadcaster Jane Parkinson, M&S wine buyer Elizabeth Kelly and Corney & Barrow buyer Rebecca Palmer.

Over 300 wines were entered for the competition with seven available trophies. The tropies were for:

Best Sparkling Blanc de Blancs

Best Sparkling Rose

Best Sparkling Classic Cuvee

Best single varietal white

Best Still Bacchus

Best Overall Still Wine

Best Overall Sparkling Wine

Best Overall Wine in the UK

Coates & Seely won 4 of the 8 available trophies, with Best Sparkling Blanc de Blancs, Best Sparkling Rose, Best Overall Sparkling Wine and Best Overall Wine in the UK.

Tasting Notes for the Rose read: ‘From its antique gold colour to its rich sour cherry and truffle flavours, this is a graceful, mature rosé to sip and savour.’

Tasting Notes for the Blanc de Blancs read: ‘Fabulously elegant and refined with the seductive toasted brioche and honey notes of age.’

Jamie Doward profiles Coates & Seely in the context of their recent award for the Best Wine in the UK and of the growing market for English sparkling wine.

On 1st June, 2017 it was announced that Coates & Seely’s La Perfide Blanc de Blancs 2009 had been nominated the Supreme Champion in the inaugural UK Wine Awards, beating almost 300 other English and Welsh wines for the title.

In addition, Coates & Seely won a further three Trophies (for Best English Sparkling Wine, Best English Blanc de Blancs and Best English Rose), making it four out of the five Trophies available for English Sparkling Wine

The Awards were designed by the English Wine industry, in association with Hotel du Vin, Country Life and Waitrose, to celebrate the impressive achievements of English and Welsh wines. The Awards received an incredible 293 entries, with 20 gold, 36 silver and 121 Bronze medals awarded to winning wines.

The judges comprised a panel of 12 experts led by TV presenters, broadcasters and writers Susie Barrie MW and Oz Clarke.  Coates & Seely proved the stand-out producer, taking home four of the eight trophies overall.

When we began our English sparkling winemaking venture in 2009 we did so in the belief that it was possible, in England, with its chalk soils and cool climate, to make sparkling wines that in terms of quality would one day rival the best sparkling wines in the world. After ageing our Blanc de Blancs and Rose 2009 vintage wines for over five years on lees and a further two years on cork, the fruit of our labours are finally being realised and we are more encouraged than ever in our initial belief.

http://www.ukva.org.uk/competition/