French champagne house Taittinger gives its backing to British bubbly

Far from its native Champagne, prestigious French winemaker Taittinger inaugurated a new vineyard in south-east England this week, where climate change is making it increasingly easy to grow grapes.

The grand opening of the 60-hectare Domaine Evremond vineyard, situated on a quiet hillside in the county of Kent, received the royal seal of approval, with the Duchess of Edinburgh in attendance.

The winery, a joint venture between Taittinger and its importer in the United Kingdom, Hatch Mansfield, has been a decade in the making.

The land was purchased in 2015, in a region often referred to as the "Garden of England", and the apple trees that grew on these hillsides gave way to vines.

The first 100,000 bottles of the estate's English sparkling wine will be sold in the UK from March 2025 for around £50, approximately €59.

'Elegant, but not champagne'

It will be "very elegant, but with no comparison with champagne", said Vitalie Taittinger, president of the French wine house and great-granddaughter of its founder.

It cannot be called a champagne due to strict European Union rules that limit the name to sparkling wines produced within the Champagne region, east of Paris.

Taittinger says it is the first champagne brand to take on such a project "from scratch" in the UK, even if it is not the only one to have made moves into British terrain.

The Pinglestone estate, which extends over 40 hectares in Hampshire, southern England, belongs to the champagne house Vranken-Pommery.


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