PATRIOTIC David Carr Taylor has beaten the French at their own game.

His sparkling white wine has been voted the best of its kind in the world, leaving top French vineyards in a fizz.

And his success is particularly sweet, following the Anglo-French beef war.

Sussex winemaker Mr Carr Taylor went to Bordeaux to take on the giants of France's wine industry.

His vintage 1996 Methode Champenoise was voted best of its kind in the world by a blindfolded panel of expert tasters - some of whom were French.

It is the second time he has scooped the title for the sparkling wine produced from his relatively small vineyard, opened on a shoestring 14 years ago at Westfield, near Hastings.

Mr Carr Taylor said: "It was very satisfying to beat the French at their own game and on their own soil.

"We did it once before in 1988, but we put that down to a fluke. Now we've done it again, which proves how consistent our standards really are. We're thrilled."

Mr Carr Taylor, 60, his wife Linda and their winemaker son Alex, 30, travelled to the capital of wine armed with their Champenoise for the fiercely competitive Challenge International Du Vin.

After sampling more than 4,000 entries from countries including France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and the U.S., the judging panel announced the aromatic wine top of its class, giving it the title Best Methode Champenoise in the world.

They loved the tiny bubbles and clean taste of the £13-a-bottle wine, the result of a huge amount of hard work by the Carr Taylor team.

Mr Carr Taylor, an engineer, sunk his life savings into the vineyard in 1985. Amazingly, just two years later he won his first Challenge title, the first of nine major awards that now decorate his mantlepiece.

He said: "We leave the wine to ferment in the bottle for three years. It is that ageing process which gives it its taste.

"The New World tries very hard to achieve the same creamy taste. The advantage here is that we live in a cool climate which gives lovely aromatic, fruity flavours.

"We put our life savings into the vineyard. We really opened it on the back of an oily rag. But now we have nine awards which just goes to show that our wine is just as

good as Champagne itself."

As well as awards, the Carr Taylor Champen-oise, also available in rose, has won the Royal seal of approval.

"It was served at the Queen's birthday last year, both in England and on tour in Brussels, Vietnam and Sweden. And it is served at British embassies worldwide."

The wine cannot be called Champagne because it does not originate from the famous region of France, but that does not seem to bother Mr Carr Taylor's customers, most of whom are from outside the UK.

He said: "We sell most of our wine overseas where it doesn't matter so much to people that it is not actual Champagne."

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