The esteemed champagne house of Taittinger has unveiled its Kent made Domaine Evremond Classic Cuvée Sparkling wine, in September 2024. The event, at the Domaine in Kent in south-east England, was particularly rainy, but once that was over the guests found something rather exciting. Domaine Evremond is the realisation of a shared dream between lifelong friends Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger and Patrick McGrath to craft exceptional English Sparkling Wine of the highest quality.
Taittinger isn’t the first champagne house to release an English sparkling wine. Others have been at it for a number of years. But inevitably many will look upon Domaine Evremond, which is grown and made by Taittinger’s own team, as English wine’s real acid test.
The Taittinger family began secretly scouting for sites to plant vines about 10 years ago, with the help of wine experts Patrick McGrath MW and Stephen Skelton MW. “I had always drunk widely, and considered English wine very present, very relevant, but we wanted to open our eyes more to the expression of terroir,” says Vitalie Taittinger, president of both Taittinger and Domaine Evremond. “It’s important to say that what we’re making here is not comparable to champagne. It is like comparing white wine from Burgundy or Loire or Oregon – they are all white wines but there are big differences due to the climate, the soil. And it is that diversity that we find so interesting.”
The founders ultimately settled on a plot in the rolling hills of Chilham in Kent, a part of England famous for growing apples and soft fruit. Although the UK is renowned for its temperamental, grey and often-times wet weather, the driest and sunniest parts of England are in the Southeast. Kent outshines other counties for good sun and therefore good wine. It is no surprise that Kent is famously known as ‘The Garden of England’. With an annual average temperature of 15 degrees (as recorded by the Met office, Kent), it has led to some exciting projects in the English wine world over the last few decades. For Domaine Evremond, the chalky soil and exceptional, south-facing exposure will allow the grapes to mature, blossom and prosper. Kent is home to an array of exciting and diverse wine producers.
The chalky terroir in this part of the world is similar to the great Champagne wine region, but with a little more flint, says Taittinger vineyard director Christelle Rinville. Light levels are slightly lower, humidity slightly higher and there’s more of a marine influence “so there’s a little saltiness”. The micro-variations are what make the difference.
The first vines went into the ground in 2017 and today the Domaine has 60 hectares of vineyards planted with a mix of Champagne’s big three: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier. Compared to Taittinger in France, which owns 288 hectares of vineyards and also buys additional grapes in, it is absolutely tiny. Domaine Evremond First Edition features a roughly similar ratio of white to black grapes as Taittinger’s Brut Réserve. Both wines also have a similar time on the lees. The First Edition has far fewer components, at this stage, which is to be expected from a Domaine with only five vintages under its belt.
Domaine Evremond Classic Cuvée will be available in spring 2025.
Some parts of the article are a summary of an article that appeared in the Financial times. Please see here for the original. https://www.ft.com/content/eb70dc36-7c6a-4314-b4d2-fe1ce970bc8f
