London Wine Fair 2025: Battle of the Bubbles

English sparkling wines dazzled the judges at the London Wine Fair’s Battle of the Bubbles, taking both the top and runner-up spots, while Champagne claimed overall victory in a sparkling showdown of 26 wines comparing Champagne versus other wines from around the world and judged blind, in pairs, by 16 top UK wine experts.

The 2010 Nyetimber 1086 from England triumphed as the highest-scoring wine, while Gusbourne’s 2016 ‘51 Degrees North’ came second, narrowly edging out its Champagne rival, 2013 Dom Pérignon.

While Champagne won overall, scoring 15% higher as a category, judges praised the global line-up, including standout bottles from South Africa, New Zealand and the USA.

The best-value sparkler was Cloudy Bay’s NV ‘Pelorus’ Rosé from New Zealand.

The event was hosted by London Wine Fair head Hannah Tovey with Sarah Abbott MW and Ronan Sayburn MS leading the tasting.

The top 10 wines were:

2010 Nyetimber 1086, UK
2016 Gusbourne '51 degrees North' UK
2013 Cuvée Dom Perignon
2010 Champagne Ruinart 'Dom Ruinart'
2013 Champagne Taittinger 'Comtes de Champagne'
Champagne Krug Grande Cuvée, 172ème Édition
2008 Champagne Bollinger 'R.D.'
NV Champagne Egly Ouriet 'V.P Vieillissement Prolonge'
NV Roederer Estate 'Quartet' Anderson Valley, USA
2019 Graham Beck 'Cuvée Clive' South Africa