England tops pink podium
Camel Valley Pinot Noir 2008 was crowned top international sparkling rosé while Nyetimber’s Classic Cuvée 2003 came second in the non-champagne sparkling white category of the Bollicine del Mundo, the sparkling wine competition run by Italy’s wine magazine Euposia.
In an extremely close contest, Camel Valley’s Pinot Noir Brut Rosé 2008, the only English wine in the rosé category, edged out Boschendal’s Le Grand Pavillon from South Africa, while Nyetimber’s Classic Cuvée just lost out to the Kreglinger Blanc de Blancs 2000 from Tasmania in the whites. Both scored higher than a raft of champagnes – judged in another category – including cuvées from Laurent Perrier, Veuve Clicquot and Billecart-Salmon, and the highest scoring champenois representative, R de Ruinart's Millesimato 2002.
The highest scorer was the winner of the Italian category, Rinaldo Rinaldi's Cuvée Privée 1999. Of the 145 entries, 70 came from Italy and the remainder from 11 other countries, including Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. The white sparkling section was higher scoring overall, placing Nyetimber no 7 in the top ten of the whole competition, with Camel Valley coming in at 14.
Lindo said he was "really pleased" with the award, seeing it as "a confirmation of the International Wine Challenge result" earlier in the year where the Camel Valley Pinot Noir 2008 similarly trounced all other sparkling rosés.
Judged by a panel of oenologists, winemakers, sommeliers and journalists, the competition took place in October.
