You know what would be one of greatest jobs ever? How about sitting around sipping Champagne and sparkling wine from around the world to determine which one is the best? Sound cool? That’s the job of the judges at the 2009 Effervescents du Monde just completed in Dijon, France.

(The Material Girl assessing Champagne effervesence in front of a live audience.)

The event is a quality based wine competition that took place on November 19-20 at the Culinary College -- “le Castel.” The lucky judges were as pampered as Derby Thoroughbreds and poured some of the best glasses of Champagne and sparkling wine in the world in optimal tasting conditions.

Part of what judges were looking for in the competition was perfect effervesence. To give all the wines a fair chance they used a special glass or “sensory measurement tool” developed by Richard Marchal, lecturer and member of the Oenology and Applied Chemistry Laboratory at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne. The glass the tasters used had 80 microscopic divots or nicks at the bottom of the glass chiseled in concentric rings. (Proving that there is a word for everything, the places where bubbles rise from in a flute are called nucleation sites.) This allows for perfect bubble quality and foam control.

(The glass on the left is an example of poor effervesence, on the right is what the judges are looking for.)

The top 10 sparkling wines of the 2009 Effervescents du Monde that would make any wine drinker on your holiday shopping list happy:

Pillitteri Estate Winery, 2008 Sparkling Icewine Cabernet -- Canada
G.H. Martel & Cie, Victoire Brut 1er Cru Champagne -- France
Engel Fernand & Fils, 2008 Brut Cremant d’Alsace -- France
Chassenay d’Arce Cuvee Premiere Brut Champagne -- France
Xavier Muller, Domaine Xavier Muller Cremant d’Alsace -- France
Valentin Bianchi SACIF, 1998 Los Stradivarius de Bianchi Espumante -- Argentina
Azienda Agricola Bisol Desiderio & Figli Rosé Bisol Talento Metodo Classico Brut -- Italy
Champagne de Castelnau, 2000 Champagne de Castelnau Millesime Brut -- France
Coopérative Vinicole de Bestheim, Cremant d’Alsace Bestheim Prestige Brut -- France
 Arunda OHG, Arunda - Excellor Brut Rosè -- Italy

There were more than a few surprise gold medalists, among them the Canadian sparkling icewine of Cabernet and a wine from a cooperative from Bestheim. Sparkling icewines are extremely rare and the co-ops in France are often regarded as places where quality wines are seldom produced. While the appearance of a wine from Argentina may appear a bit unusual, this is Valentin Bianchi SACIF’s third gold medal since the beginning of the competition in 2003.

The Effeverscents du Monde is an organization of the Forum Oenologie Association. They also oversee qualitative competitions for Muscat, Syrah and Chardonnay.

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