André de Villeneuve Rosé Grand Cru – Voted Best in the World for 2022

The finale of the sixth annual Glass of Bubbly Awards took place on Regent Street, London just recently at San Carlo’s restaurant with guests arriving internationally for the evening dinner and trophy announcements. 20 hand made trophies were given out including the Slow Food UK Sustainability Trophy and the World’s Finest Carynx.

Things were all decided way back in early September following days of judging at the Champagne Route Restaurant and bar in Wapping where international wine judges from as far away as Canada came together to sit through and score many pouring’s of fine sparkling wines of global origination.

 

The Glass of Bubbly Awards are unique in that not only are wines scored for medals, but importantly they are placed into categories of taste experiences such as ‘Oaky & Toasty’, ‘Tropical Burst’ and ‘Winter Warmer’. Each category signifies what the end consumer can expect to experience from within the bottle with the highest scoring wine of each category taking home the said trophy. A third level of judging also takes place for each wine entered as quality control. During the judging process, each judge is able to nominate a wine as their golden ticket to further point score their favourite sparkling wine. All wines are judged blind with no indication to judges of the wine’s style or origination – Each sparkling wine is scored purely on the quality of its taste and aroma.

Upon the tallying of scores, there was a relatively clear winner chosen via judging table No 2 headed by Marin Berovic (Glass of Bubbly Awards Chairman) which also gained a collection of golden tickets to excel its premiere position from the many wines judged. From red sparkling wines to those of Pet Nat style, Japanese to Argentinian, the variation was far and wide with both internationally recognised wineries to the family producers.

 

So the leader of the pack, the one which sat above all the rest was the Rosé Grand Cru Brut from Champagne André de Villeneuve. The Montagne de Reims Grand Cru blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (10% Pinot Noir red) with an influence of oak barrel aging, set this wine apart from the rest, with it taking the acclaim of being the first ever rosé sparkling wine to win the World’s Finest Trophy – Previous Winning wines are:

Champagne Deutz – Blanc de Blancs 2010

Villa Sandi – Opere Serenissima Classic Method DOC

Champagne Roger Brun – Réserve Familiale 2004

Champagne Roger Constant Lemaire – Trianon 1966

Fox & Fox – Paxton & Whitfield Blend 2015

 

So let us get down to the all important tasting of the Grand Cru Rosé from André de Villeneuve which becomes the latest Winery to take hold of our beautiful Carynx Trophy for 2022/23. We review the wine visually, by aromas and by flavours – We also pair it with a dessert of homemade cheesecake:

Champagne André de Villeneuve Rosé Brut Grand Cru – Tasting notes: “The colour is a warm rosé with a salmon pink, copper combination. Tiny streams of bubbles occupy the glass. I do suggest at least a white wine glass (no flute) or a preferred big bowl glass in order to appreciate best this wine – Do not be concerned about leaving the wine to breathe and to reach more or less room temperature when taking a relaxing moment to enjoy. Aromas show a red berry fruit burst, mostly strawberry and raspberry, with added Danish pastry, pink floral and whipped cream. Flavours are intense and fresh, it gives a crisp taste sensation yet shows a silky character – red berry fruit driven with an almost croissant and strawberry jam character.”

 

Final comments from Christopher Walkey – Founder of Glass of Bubbly: “Our awards are all about giving each and every sparkling wine an equal opportunity to impress our judges via a blind tasting format. Trophy winners are usually varied, we are not an awards that sees the typical ‘usual suspects’ winning year in and year out – We have a consistent variety of category trophy winners and they are just as likely to be smaller producers as they are internationally recognised names. Andre de Villeneuve joins a unique list of producers, both big and small, with their sublime rosé example that wowed our judges on the day – These are the ‘glass of bubbly moments’ that count, this is what consumers want when they pop open that bottle, this is what our awards are all about… “