Brits drink nearly three times as much Champagne than English sparkling wine due to outdated perceptions of being higher quality and making a better impression on others. With a mission to change the way the world thinks about English wine, we took our best-selling sparkling wine to the Champagne region of France, to conduct the ultimate sparkling wine taste test.
Under the playful guise of “Chapelle en Bas”, a literal brand translation of 'Chapel Down', we invited French consumers to try our Brut alongside a major Champagne brand. Le verdict? 60% of consumers preferred Chapel Down to Champagne. Ooh la la!
Chapelle en Bas was praised by locals and tourists alike – describing the wine as "fresher" and "crisper" – but there were several shocked faces and raised eyebrows after revealing this mysterious cuvée hailed from England. In fact, some couldn’t believe the vines are grown and the grapes hand-picked and harvested in the Garden of England.
We released a campaign video bringing to life the blind tasting to celebrate English Wine Week (17th – 24th June 2023) and position our sparkling wines as a fresher way to celebrate the moments that really matter.
Chapel Down Chief Marketing Officer, Liam Newton, said:
“The French know a thing or two about sparkling wine, with their centuries of winemaking heritage, so what better place than Champagne to sample our Chapel Down Brut? We are incredibly proud of the exceptional quality of our English sparkling wine, and it was great to have this affirmed by the French themselves. A 60% result like this propels us even further in changing the way the world views English wine.”
