Merely being asked to judge entries in The Glass of Bubbly Champagne and sparkling wine awards is rather intoxicating in itself. After all, these are my favourite tipples. I adore champagne, cremant, cava, English sparkling wine, prosecco and sekt....just the sound of the cork popping perks me up a treat! Without fail, Friday night means fizz night.
So this time last week, I trotted off to London for the second of day of judging being held at the Marriott County Hall hotel in Westminster where I joined the other judges.
We were seated at two tables, ours was rather jolly, before even the tiniest sip of any fizz touched our lips. They included Cecile Bergart from the Champagne region in France who now runs the Hampshire Wine School and Francesco Gabriele, Director of Wine at Chewton Glen in Hampshire.
Others on the table included Richard Bampfield, Master of Wine and Richard Moore, and I was dying for another Richard to join our table, so we could call him Richard III! That was not to be, but other judges were Martin Day, a restauranteur who runs the Pipe of Port in Southend, Anna Caidon a journalist with Le Sommelier magazine, Govert Deketh the General Manager of the Marriott County Hall Hotel and Cherry Constable, a freelance wine writer.
So, after hellos and introductions, Christopher Walkley , the founder of Glass of Bubbly , explained our mission.
The previous day, a panel of professional wine experts, which included Masters of Wine, Master of Sommeliers and other enologoists) had decided which wines went through the Round 2 of the judging. So we knew right from the start that these wines were highly commended .
Our job was to select the best in a number of categories.
and although we were judging only three categories, there were rather a lot of bottles to try.
Faster than the speed of sound , our table started sipping and gurgling our way through our first category which was Love or Hate.
This was an interesting category, and the one which provoked so much discussion. There were some very interesting wines which perhaps didn't fit the brief, and some which we called the marmite wines..some of us loved them, others didn't share the same enthusiasm.
First Date was another category .and each wine was poured perfectly by Armando Pereira, a writer and sales executive with a Glass of Bubbly. Of course he had an idea of what was being poured, but gave nothing away as we mused, muttered and marked the wines.
We sipped , we spat...and talked about how nervous is everyone is on a first date, and how you wouldn't want to over indulge on alcohol. Getting hammered on a first date would never lead to a second one would it? So we were looking for an easy wine, perhaps lower in alcohol which would go with most dishes.
Cecile and Anna were obviously enjoying themselves,
as was Richard Moore
Our last judging category was Summer Days, and here we were on much safer ground. Bottles of fizz enhance any summer gathering, and we were looking for light, not too expensive, fruity wines. Boy, did we get them....and I was itching to take some of them home. One I was sure was an English sparkling wine, all fresh English morning and a whiff of the hedgerows, but Cherry thought that it couldn't be, bearing in mind the price of English sparklers .
After over three hours of debate, deliberation and dedication, (we took this very seriously) it was time for a glass of bubbly to drink!
from front left to right: Richard Bampfield, Richard Moore, Govert Deketh, me, Cherry Constable, Anna Caidon, Cecile Bergart, Francesco Gabriele and Martin Day.
Christopher and Eve (Editor in Chief of a Glass of Bubbly) thanked us and presented us our judging certificates,
What a wonderful afternoon tasting some excellent wines and enjoying the company of so many knowledgeable wine professionals sharing news and opinions. I can definitely say I've acquired a taste for this and relish further similar opportunities.
I also can't wait to find out which wines win the World's Finest Glass of Bubbly Awards 2017. The results are being announced on November 23rd at the Marriott County Hall hotel in Westminster .
So this time last week, I trotted off to London for the second of day of judging being held at the Marriott County Hall hotel in Westminster where I joined the other judges.
We were seated at two tables, ours was rather jolly, before even the tiniest sip of any fizz touched our lips. They included Cecile Bergart from the Champagne region in France who now runs the Hampshire Wine School and Francesco Gabriele, Director of Wine at Chewton Glen in Hampshire.
Others on the table included Richard Bampfield, Master of Wine and Richard Moore, and I was dying for another Richard to join our table, so we could call him Richard III! That was not to be, but other judges were Martin Day, a restauranteur who runs the Pipe of Port in Southend, Anna Caidon a journalist with Le Sommelier magazine, Govert Deketh the General Manager of the Marriott County Hall Hotel and Cherry Constable, a freelance wine writer.
So, after hellos and introductions, Christopher Walkley , the founder of Glass of Bubbly , explained our mission.
The previous day, a panel of professional wine experts, which included Masters of Wine, Master of Sommeliers and other enologoists) had decided which wines went through the Round 2 of the judging. So we knew right from the start that these wines were highly commended .
Our job was to select the best in a number of categories.
and although we were judging only three categories, there were rather a lot of bottles to try.
Faster than the speed of sound , our table started sipping and gurgling our way through our first category which was Love or Hate.
This was an interesting category, and the one which provoked so much discussion. There were some very interesting wines which perhaps didn't fit the brief, and some which we called the marmite wines..some of us loved them, others didn't share the same enthusiasm.
First Date was another category .and each wine was poured perfectly by Armando Pereira, a writer and sales executive with a Glass of Bubbly. Of course he had an idea of what was being poured, but gave nothing away as we mused, muttered and marked the wines.
We sipped , we spat...and talked about how nervous is everyone is on a first date, and how you wouldn't want to over indulge on alcohol. Getting hammered on a first date would never lead to a second one would it? So we were looking for an easy wine, perhaps lower in alcohol which would go with most dishes.
Cecile and Anna were obviously enjoying themselves,
Our last judging category was Summer Days, and here we were on much safer ground. Bottles of fizz enhance any summer gathering, and we were looking for light, not too expensive, fruity wines. Boy, did we get them....and I was itching to take some of them home. One I was sure was an English sparkling wine, all fresh English morning and a whiff of the hedgerows, but Cherry thought that it couldn't be, bearing in mind the price of English sparklers .
After over three hours of debate, deliberation and dedication, (we took this very seriously) it was time for a glass of bubbly to drink!
from front left to right: Richard Bampfield, Richard Moore, Govert Deketh, me, Cherry Constable, Anna Caidon, Cecile Bergart, Francesco Gabriele and Martin Day.
Christopher and Eve (Editor in Chief of a Glass of Bubbly) thanked us and presented us our judging certificates,
and we all waltzed off in a haze of bonhomie to go home, leaving a mass of empty bottles.
What a wonderful afternoon tasting some excellent wines and enjoying the company of so many knowledgeable wine professionals sharing news and opinions. I can definitely say I've acquired a taste for this and relish further similar opportunities.
I also can't wait to find out which wines win the World's Finest Glass of Bubbly Awards 2017. The results are being announced on November 23rd at the Marriott County Hall hotel in Westminster .
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