The idea of an English domaine where Taittinger would grow vines to produce a sparkling wine first came about in 2015. Nearly ten years later, the Domaine Evremond in Kent is getting ready to release its first cuvée.
This would have been considered heresy in the last century, but this crazy idea soon gained ground. Maison Taittinger is now in charge of a 60-hectare vineyard in Great Britain and its first 100,000 bottles will go on sale next March. The project was the result of a partnership with Hatch Mansfield, Taittinger’s British distributor. It all started ten years ago when Patrick McGrath, CEO of the import company, went to meet Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, then president of the family House, who was eager to incorporate an English sparkling wine in his product portfolio.
Following this meeting, the two men decided to establish a domaine in England. And that is exactly what happened a few months later when a perfect site was located in Kent, near the town of Chilham, an hour to the south-east of London. Taittinger purchased the site: some seventy hectares of fruit trees with ideal chalky soil and a geological profile mirroring that of the famous Côte des Blancs. The trees were removed and the soil was worked, then left to rest for a whole year before being replanted with typical champagne grape varieties, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
As for the climate, the vines feel right at home in the generally cool, wet weather of Kent, rather like that of the Champagne region a few decades earlier. There, under the attentive care of Taittinger experts, the plants grew from strength to strength for several years. The vines are grown in a different way from those in the Champagne region: they are taller so they can adapt both to the place and the climate. The first harvest took place in 2019 and next March, the first batch of 100,000 bottles will go on sale, made from a blend of 80% grapes from 2020 and 20% reserve wines from 2019.
In 2022, a winery was built according to designs by Reims architect, Giovanni Pace, who, by the way, has just completely renovated the historic headquarters of Maison Taittinger, on the Saint-Nicaise hill in Reims. This new space is built partly underground so that it seamlessly integrates into its environment which it has no intentions of disturbing.
The entire operation was carried out under the expert eye of Alexandre Ponnavoy, Cellar Master at Maison Taittinger. The wine expresses beautiful minerality, with definite evidence of fruits. It is taut, reflecting its terroir. As for the vineyard itself, it was given the name Domaine Evremond in homage to French moralist and free-thinker Charles de Saint-Denis, known as Saint-Évremond. Forced into exile in England, he is, to this day, the one and only Frenchman buried in Westminster Abbey. A nod to history and to the unbreakable bond that unites France and Great Britain in a shared love of wine.
