An English wine has been crowned one of the top 50 in the world – joining the dizzying heights of its famous French counterparts.
Chapel Down’s Rosé won a best in show medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards, the first time a UK sparkling rosé has achieved such an accolade.
In 2011, it was served to 650 guests at the Prince and Princess of Wales’ Buckingham Palace wedding reception.
The rosé is made from chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meunier, pinot blanc and early pinot noir grapes in Tenterden, Kent.
Josh Donaghay-Spire, head winemaker at Chapel Down, told the Times: “We are over the moon.
“It is recognition of the attention to detail and quality that we put into every bottle.“
Mr Donaghay-Spire credited Kent’s cool maritime climate and chalk soils with giving the wines their taste that “can’t be made anywhere else”.
Judges said the winemaker’s success is perhaps aided by climate change allowing wine to be made in conditions similar to the Champagne region of France.
They said: “Whatever the reason, we found the wine hard to resist.
“Its petal pink couldn’t look prettier in the glass, while the aromatic fruits are satisfyingly restrained and subtle, and the palate clean and emphatic. The English-season acidity - always prominent, but satisfyingly ripe here - is lent interest by a mineral-salt undertow as well as a soft sherbet charm.”
The UK had its best year at the awards, with 186 medals, up from 143 last year, in a field of 18,143 wines from 57 countries.
Andrew Jefford, one of the awards’ five co-chairmen, described Chapel Down as a “landmark within the architecture of English wine”.
