Who is behind the competition?
Gosset Champagne
Champagne Gosset has been established for more than four centuries and is the oldest wine house in Champagne. It was founded in 1584 by Pierre Gosset, a lord and alderman of Aÿ. who created a trading company to sell his wines. After 16 generations in the Gosset family, Champagne Gosset joined the Renaud-Cointreau family group in 1993.
Gosset work with respect for family tradition, always in search of perfection, to make wines that have perfectly balanced freshness and vinosity.
Grapes are sourced from 160 vinegrowing families, who between them, have 140 hectares of vineyard. To encourage virtuous working practices, Gosset pay a premium for grapes grown following organic and sustainable practices. This large selection allows them to create the most balanced blends possible, adhering to the Gosset style, which is recognisable year after year.
To ensure their wines express the authentic terroirs of the Champagne region Gosset follow an unusual vinification method avoiding malolatic fermentation. This preserves the natural acidity and true aromatic characteristics of the grapes and assures the long ageing capacity of their wines. This long ageing allows each bottle to slowly develop and reveal the full potential of the wine and the terroirs from which they came.
Gosset’s superior craftsmanship and history was acknowledged in 2010 when they became permanent members of L’Excellence Franciase. Soon after, in 2013, they were recognised by the French State as an Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant or living heritage company.
Louis Latour Agencies
Louis Latour Agencies has been Champagne Gosset’s UK agent since 2015. It is an independently owned distributor of wines and spirits that was founded in 1990 and since then has worked with an extensive network of HORECA, wholesale and retail customers.
Today Louis Latour Agencies work with a range of wine and spirits producers from around the globe with a focus on family owned business which work with respect for the environment and their communities following sustainable, organic or biodynamic working practices.
Louis Latour Agencies imports wines from Louis Latour, Simonnet-Febvre, Champagne Gosset, Vidal-Fleury, Château Sainte Roseline and Michel Redde in France, Banfi in Italy, McHenry Hohnen and Wakefield Wines in Australia, Pyramid Valley and Smith Sheth in New Zealand, Morgenhof in South Africa and Viu Manent in Chile.
Their growing range of spirits includes Cognac Frapin, and Cobalte Vodka, a grape vodka made in Champagne, alongside grappa from Banfi and Marc de Bourgogne from Louis Latour.
sommelier Edit
Launched in April 2023 the Sommelier Edit is an online magazine for discerning drinkers and membership site for professional bartenders and sommeliers in the UK.
Each month it interviews the best front of house team members, finds out what they are drinking and shares news from around the world of drinks. The team behind Sommelier Edit share over forty years experience and also organise the Top 100 Sommeliers – an independently judged and definitive guide to the UK’s best working sommeliers.
Membership is free to those working in the on-trade and offers access to events, tastings, trips and competitions designed exclusively for sommeliers and bartenders.
Le Cordon Bleu London
Le Cordon Bleu is the leading global network of culinary arts and hospitality management institutes steeped in history with a rich heritage spanning over 120 years. The school maintains its global presence with 35 schools in more than 20 countries, training over 20,000 students of more than 100 different nationalities every year. Traditional French culinary techniques remain at the heart of Le Cordon Bleu, but its academic programmes are constantly adapted to include new, innovative technologies required to suit the growing needs of the hospitality industry.
The London institute offers a large range of programmes from short courses, certificates and professional diplomas covering cuisine, pâtisserie, wine, nutrition and management, to undergraduate and postgraduate courses in culinary arts and hospitality management.