Viinilehti has again chosen Champagne of the Year and Sparkling Wine of the Year.
Sparkling wine glasses at wine bar Vin Vin. Inka Soveri
Viinilehti’s experts chose the champagne and sparkling wine of 2023 from among nearly 250 sparkling wines. The selection was made by blind tasting.
Viinilehti’s Sparkling Wine of the Year 2023:
1. Muré Crémant d’Alsace Brut, France (€24.99)
Jury’s assessment: The elegant and ripe fruity aroma includes peach, apple, honeydew melon, gentle sweet spiciness and pleasant yeastiness. The dry but ripe fruity taste also has sophisticated floral and gentle honey notes. Sweet spiciness, delicious acidity and soft citrusy bubbles give the wine poise. The smooth aftertaste makes your tongue water.
Price-quality: Good buy, more than worth the price
2. Bernard-Massard Cuvèe Organic Brut, Luxembourg (€16.49)
3. Andre Delorme Crémant de Bourgogne Rosé Extra Brut, France (€19.99)
Viinilehti’s Champagne of the Year 2023:
1. Taittinger Nocturne Champagne Sec, France (€59.90)
Jury’s assessment: The ripe, fruity and elegant aroma includes ripe yellow apple, peach, light toastiness, citrus nuances and sweet spiciness. The almost dry taste is very ripe fruity and broad. In addition to the aromas of the fragrance, it has sweet spiciness, perfumey floweriness and tones of apricot, honeydew melon and honey. The soft acidity and the elegant bubbles that accentuate it enliven the soft, harmonious mouthfeel. The wine leaves a long, mouthwatering and delicious aftertaste that makes your tongue water.
Price-quality: Good buy, more than worth the price
2. Perrier-Jouët Champagne Brut, France (€58.99)
3. Charles Heidsieck Réserve Champagne Brut, France (58.90)
This is how the winning sparkling wines were chosen:
For the selection of Viinilehti’s Sparkling Wine of the Year and Champagne of the Year Juha Berglund and Antti Rinta-Huumo blindly tasted almost 250 champagnes and sparkling wines from the standard and order range, which the importers had entered for the competition. The maximum price for sparkling wines was limited to around 30 euros and for champagnes to 60 euros. The wines were tasted and evaluated blindly in several pre-qualification tastings, based on which 31 sparkling wines and 19 champagnes were selected for the final competition.
The jury’s comment about the competition:
– Numerous wines made in the traditional way participated in this year’s Sparkling Wine of the Year competition. Crémants from Alsace were especially well represented, which often have an excellent price-quality ratio.
– The top three of sparkling wines were sparkling wines produced using the traditional method, two from France and one from Luxembourg. The winner is the slightly more expensive Alsatian sparkling wine, Muré Crémant d’Alsace Brut, which, however, offers full value for money in its elegance.
– The champagne of the year competition was won by Nocturne from the famous Taittinger champagne house. The wine has a subtle sweet note, but it does not stand out clearly, but rather makes the mouth feel refined and soft. Although according to Alko’s product description, Nocturne is a semi-dry wine, it will certainly please even die-hard fans of dry champagnes. A delicious and versatile wine.