To the amazement of the wineworld, the East Sussex winery Ridgeview grabbed the top sparkling wine trophy at Decanter World Wine Awards.

I was judging at the Award’s champagne panel with Tom Stevenson, Anthony Moss, Nick Adams MW, Dee Blackstock MW, Giles Fallowfield and Sue Daniels. Our trophies went to Taittinger Prélude NV, Charles Heidsieck Millésime 2000 and Thienot’s Brut Rosé NV.

However, we were no longer involved when the tasting of the overall best sparkling wine took place. The International Trophy for Sparkling Wine Over £10 was awarded to Ridgeview’s Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs 2006. Congratulations! This certainly places English sparkling wine on the world wine map. Read more about Ridgeview from the Sparkling Wines of the World page under My Cellar on this site.