Best English Sparkling Wine 2024: 14 award-winning fizzes

The rise in quality – and volume – of English sparkling wine has been remarkable. But when you consider that the climate, grape varieties and soil types in parts of England are the same as Champagne, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the best English sparkling wines are very much their equal. These days, stories of English fizz beating Champagne in blind tastings are not uncommon.

Despite the English getting in on the fizz act back in the 17^th century, it’s only really in the past couple of decades that the industry has flourished – there are now has more than 150 wineries in the UK, and thanks to better techniques and warmer temperatures, making good sparkling wine in this country is no longer a challenge. The fact that big-name Champagne houses have been buying up land on England’s south coast has not gone unnoticed, either. All this points to the fact that English sparkling wine is now a fitting part of any celebration.

Gusbourne Estate — One of the top-scoring English sparkling wine from blind tastings was from the Gusbourne estate in Kent

One of the top scorers in this year’s IWSC was Wyfold Vineyard, whose Rosé Brut 2018 scored 96/100pts and a Gold medal. Gusbourne, who planted its first vines in 2004, also picked up a Gold medal (96/100pts) for its Boot Hill Vineyard Blanc De Blancs Brut 2018 offering zesty citrus, crusty bread and ripe orchard fruit notes, with secondary toasty aromas.

Highlighting just how good English sparkling wine is, a third wine won gold with Roebuck Estate’s Rosé de Noirs Brut 2018 scoring 95/100pts. This fruit-forward sparkler boasts red berries and bright blossom on the nose, and a lingeringly delicate finish.

Every English sparkling wine in this year’s IWSC was judged blind, with a top-class panel tasting each one, including Head of Drinks for Vagabond Freddie Cobb, Sommelier Nicolò Cereghini and Wine Buyer Matthew Horsley.

Believe the hype – English sparkling wine is seriously good stuff, and the choice is getting wider. Here is our pick of the best English fizz from the IWSC’s 2024 tasting.

HOW DO WE JUDGE THESE WINES?

We run a tightly structured, rigorous wine tasting process. That means that each wine sample is pre-poured into numbered glasses and assessed blindly by the judges. Most importantly, our IWSC wine judges are experts in their field, who work across all sectors of the wine industry. For evidence, see our full list of judges.

HOW DO WE SCORE THESE WINES?

Only the best wines sampled receive a Gold or Silver award. For example, to win Gold, wines have to score between 95 and 100 points. Meanwhile, Silver wines range from 90 to 94 points. Click here to read more on our scoring system.

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