Nyetimber reflects on a year of Star Wine List of the Year celebrations

England’s premier sparkling winery Nyetimber has been one of Star Wine List’s Global Partners since 2022 and has been presenting the sparkling category in many events before that. We caught up with Karl Thögersen, Head of Sales – International, to summarize the Star Wine List of the Year tour of 2023-2024.

(Partner story with Nyetimber)

”It’s been an amazing journey, and it has been fascinating to see how the Star Wine List of the Year events have evolved over the years. For us, it has also been great to be able to reach out with our wines, and to hear feedback on their perception. People really seem to understand and appreciate the quality,” says Karl Thögersen.

Nyetimber has been the exclusive sparkling wine partner during all Star Wine List of the Year events during 2023 and the first half of 2024. The partnership will be crowned with the celebration of the International Final in Stockholm on June 24.

"I attended my first Star Wine List of the Year event in London two years ago. It was a great event, but quite small and intimate. It is amazing how Star Wine List has increased its visibility and importance in the sommelier community. Today, winning a Gold Star is really prestigious, people are very proud," he says.

Also, when it comes to Nyetimber, Karl Thögersen can see an increased awareness, both with the brand and the category.

"We want people to try English sparkling, and to understand that Nyetimber is a pioneer in the category and that we are in the forefront internationally. Star Wine List of the Year has been a great way to showcase our wines and our philosophy."

The sommeliers are our ambassadors, and we’d love to see them sharing the story of Nyetimber and other English sparkling wines with their guests

At the same time, Karl Thögersen says that now is the time to use what's been learned over the years to build for the future.

"Sommeliers try our wines and love them. Now it is time to encourage sommeliers to communicate this category to the guests. The sommeliers are our ambassadors, and we’d love to see them sharing the story of Nyetimber and other English sparkling wines with their guests," says Karl.

"We also hope sommeliers will realise that adding English sparkling wines to their list will help make them even more interesting and attractive. If you look at the Gold Star winners in the sparkling category, most of them are focusing on Champagne. Adding more sparkling wines from other countries and regions would be a way to make the lists even more exciting."

One way to rethink the sparkling category could be to look more at the breadth rather than the depth, Karl Thögersen suggests.

"Quite often you find a Champagne category, and then just a category for sparkling wines from other parts of the world. I would love to see a list with more countries listed by themselves, like South Africa, England, and Austria for example. It would also be great to see English sparkling in general, and Nyetimber specifically, on more by-the-glass lists around the world."

All in all, Nyetimber stands strong as the leading English sparkling wine brand, and Karl Thögersen also says that the category itself is making progress.

"England in general has a good reputation when it comes to high-quality products, with everything from cars to watches. People expect English sparkling to be a high-quality product too, and it is great to see that we meet those expectations."

Next up for Nyetimber is to work even harder to get the consumers to discover Nyetimber and the category.

"The knowledge about us is already there. Now it is time to get more people to actually drink our wines."