English fizz is top of the world

English sparkling wine scooped a sensational 10 awards at the International Wine & Spirit Competition, including the trophy for best bottle-fermented sparkling wine in the world for the third time in eight years. Nyetimber’s Classic Cuvee 1998 was crowned top sparkler, while a coveted gold medal was given to Denbies Greenfields 2003. England also picked up five of the seven silver medals in the same category. Nyetimber’s winemaker Dermot Sugrue told ThirtyFifty, ’It’s sensational to have won this trophy for the second time. It’s a fantastic achievement and a feather in the cap for English sparkling wine. It shows how far we’ve come in a short period of time.’ And not only did England triumph as the most successful country in the bottle-fermented sparkling wine category, but our own Oz Clarke was also named Communicator of the Year.