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.
This is where the company produces its "Louis Pommery England", a sparkling white wine that is only available in the UK, and whose sales increased by 9 percent in 2023.
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'Positive side' of climate change
The soil in Kent is chalky, which promotes water drainage and prevents excessive humidity, making it ideal for growing Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay grapes.
It is similar soil to that in Champagne, which makes it easier for French houses to adapt, even if Kent's coastal air and windy climate bring more acidity to the wine.
With the global rise in temperatures, vines have been able to flourish in the region, the sunniest in England.
"There is no right side of climate change but you could argue that here we are on the sort of more positive side," said Patrick McGrath, co-founder of Domaine Evremond.
The harvest should begin in two weeks, with the grape juice then set to ferment in a dozen gleaming stainless steel vats in the basement of the vineyard's modern building.
Bad year for champagne
On the other side of the Channel, where the harvest is almost complete, French wine production is expected to be down by 18 percent in 2024 due to unfavourable climatic conditions, according to the French Ministry of Agriculture.
Production at Champagne's vineyards is expected to fall by 16 percent.
In the cellars of Maison Ruinart, the oldest champagne producer in France
"Increasingly intense extreme weather events, such as heat waves or torrential rains, are causing significant damage" and no French region is spared, the Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment said in March 2024.
Meanwhile industry organisation WineGB reported in July that the sales of English sparkling wines have jumped 187 percent since 2018.
The popularity of sparkling wines among Brits and other northern Europeans is whetting the appetites of continental winemakers, who have been exploring new lands in the UK for the past several decades.
Southern England and Wales are now home to more than 1,000 vineyards and a wine-growing area that has more than doubled in 10 years, now standing at 4,200 hectares.
(with AFP)
