Chapel Down has won a prestigious accolade at this year’s Decanter World Wine awards, with their Rosé English sparkling wine hailed as ‘Best In Show’. This accolade is the highest handed out by Decanter, beyond Silver, Gold and Platinum medals, with ‘Best In Show’ reserved for what the judges regard as the 50 very best wines from around the world.

Chapel Down Rosé is a traditional method English sparkling wine made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Blanc and Early Pinot Noir. The inclusion of Early Pinot Noir provides a key point of differentiation. As well as bringing colour, this variety has been championed by Chapel Down for sparkling Rosé and contributes to its almost weightless character. Crisp, fresh and elegant, Chapel Down Rosé has notes of redcurrant, citrus and wild strawberry.

Since the Decanter Wine Awards began, there have only been 10 English wines awarded a ‘Best in Show’ accolade. This latest award is the third time that the Kent winemaker have won this award, making Chapel Down the English wine producer with the most Decanter ‘Best in Show’ awards, having previously won with its Kit’s Coty Chardonnay still wine and Kit’s Coty Coeur de Cuvée sparkling wine.

Josh Donaghay-Spire, Chapel Down Head Winemaker, commented: “Winning such a high accolade for our Sparkling Rosé is a fantastic recognition of the quality of our vineyard sites and the meticulous attention to detail which every member of our team pours into our wines. This wine and this award is a landmark on our journey of the exploration of the terroir of Kent and a great moment to reflect on how far we have come in creating a brand new wine region here.”