The Best Sparkling Wine within the World, According to IWC 2025

Champagne is usually thought of the uncontested front-runner within the glowing wine class, however at this 12 months’s steeply aggressive International Wine Challenge (IWC), a bottle of bubbly from exterior the lauded French area was topped the perfect glowing wine on this planet.

Nynetimbersa famend English glowing wine producer, took residence the prize of Champion Sparkling Wine for its 2016 Blanc de Blancs Magnum, marking the primary time within the international competitors’s historical past {that a} non-Champagne choice acquired the highest distinction.

Head winemaker Cherie Spriggs calls the award a putting achievement for Nyetimber, the primary British producer to solely deal with traditional-method glowing wine by rising Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier on its 11 vineyards in West Sussex, Hampshire, and Kent.

“Blanc de Blancs is a very special wine in the Nyetimber portfolio, as it was the first wine ever produced,” Spriggs particulars. “Becoming the best sparkling wine in the world feels like a very significant first for English sparkling wine. It shows how Chardonnay can be made at the highest level in the world here in England.”

The bottle acquired 97 factors from the IWC judges after an nameless tasting of greater than 1,000 wines. Judges described the traditional-method glowing wine as “a time capsule of a wine with mouthwatering acidity, citrus zest, and chamomile, with a chalky finish.”

Spriggs was honored for the second time as Sparkling Wine Maker of the Year and was the primary lady to obtain the award in 2018. The winemaker explains that Blanc de Blancs was a difficult model of glowing wine to good as a result of it’s made solely with white grapes, requiring a cautious strategy to realize steadiness and concord with solely Chardonnay fruit.

“When I was a winemaking student, I was drawn to the challenge of creating balanced sparkling wines, as there is nowhere to hide mistakes,” she recollects. “So being recognized for this feat at a world-renowned competition so many years later is a joy.”

Once an missed secondary market, English glowing wine is gaining traction around the globe. In addition to reaching recognition from awards our bodies like IWC, the area is rising in popularity with sommeliers, who’re being attentive to its choices and including them to wine lists.

“Over the past 10 to 15 years I’ve heard repeatedly that [English sparkling wine’s] quality has improved dramatically,” says Junho (Ryan) Lee, sommelier at Yeah ok in New York City. “Many English sites share climatic and viticultural similarities with Champagne, and producers are planting the same varieties. Combined with significant advances in both vineyard management and traditional-method winemaking, the overall standard has stepped up considerably.”

Dan Davis, the wine director at New Orleans staple restaurant Commander’s Palacecalls at the moment a “magical time for English bubbles.” As an business ambassador for Gusbourne, one other English glowing wine producer, Davis says he’s energized by the newfound curiosity within the area’s merchandise.

“I have offered English sparkling wine as my most premium pour by the glass at Commander’s Palace for more than one season. And yet, it still excites me every time I open a bottle or am offered a glass,” the wine director notes. “It still feels quite new and a little bit naughty, even as it gains well-deserved popularity and press.”