Battle of the Bubbles

Wine Blast with Susie and Peter

BREAKING: A titanic showdown between top champagnes and the best of the rest has been settled. The victors? Headline writers...

This is an impromptu pod reflecting the momentous nature of this Battle of the Bubbles tasting, which took place at the London Wine Fair 2025. Sixteen top judges (including both of us); 26 top wines, including some of Champagne's most reputable (and highly priced) bottles - and some quite astonishing results.

In this episode we give the lowdown on the results and reflect on what it all means. Including the intriguing undercurrents and subtexts, as well as our personal insights and conclusions. (And yes, we do disagree...) There are some great value recommendations in there too.

Thanks for tuning in. We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe. Or you can find contact info, together with all details from this episode, including full listings of the wines, on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S6 E19 - Battle of the Bubbles

The video version of this podcast is available on our YouTube channel.
Instagram: @susieandpeter

Chapters

1. Battle of the Bubbles (00:00:00)

2. Hello and welcome (00:00:05)

3. The Battle of the Bubbles (00:00:33)

4. Headline results (00:02:26)

5. The tasting details (00:04:14)

6. The overall results (00:06:58)

7. Our immediate reactions to the results (00:09:01)

8. We go through the wines - first up, Gramona Enoteca 2011 vs Eric Rodez Champagne (00:12:25)

9. Bollinger RD 2008 vs House of Arras EJ Carr Late Disgorged 2009 (00:14:54)

10. Laurent Perrier Rosé vs Cloudy Bay Pelorus Rosé (00:17:41)

11. Ca' del Bosco Franciacorta Annamaria Clementi 2006 vs Comtes de Champagne 2013 (00:19:41)

12. Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Elisabeth Salmon Rosé 2012 vs Cruse Wine Co LC18 Tradition Rosé (00:21:11)

13. Graham Beck Cuvee Clive 2019 vs Dom Ruinart 2010 (00:22:07)

14. MID-EPISODE RECAP (00:23:36)

15. Roederer Estate Quartet Brut vs Krug Grande Cuvee 172 edition (00:24:13)

16. Pascal Agrapart MIneral 2018 vs Quartz Reef Blanc de Blancs 2017 (00:27:13)

17. Pol Roger Winston Churchill 2015 vs Gusbourne 51 Degrees North 2016 (00:28:38)

18. Nino Franco Grave di Stecca Prosecco 2015 vs Egly Ouriet VP 2016 (00:31:35)

19. Weingut Karthauserhofberg Sekt NV vs Drappier Quattor NV (00:34:00)

20. Recaredo Turo d'En Mota Cava 2011 vs Roederer Phillipe Starck Brut Nature 2015 (00:35:19)

21. Dom Perignon 2013 vs Nyetimber 1086 2010 (00:37:06)

22. Our conclusions (00:41:21)

23. Further observations (00:45:27)

24. OUTRO (00:47:20)