English sparkling wine versus Champagne: one producer went to Reims to blind taste consumers on the streets!
In a slightly naughty experiment English sparkling wine producer Chapel Down took their wine to Reims in the heart of Champagne. There, they blind tasted their wine against a leading Champagne brand. 60% of consumers tested preferred the English sparkling wine. There’s a video of this experiment/stunt here:
It’s quite fun, and I’d be curious to know which Champagne brand they used. [They have confirmed to me that it was the Brut Imperial NV from Moët et Chandon!]
Chapel Down sold 790 000 bottles last year giving it 33% of the UK sparkling wine market (Nielsen stats, year to Dec 2022).
