Domaine Evremond Classic Cuvée NV, the English Sparkling Wine created by Champagne Taittinger, was served last night at the State Banquet at Windsor Castle...

 

9th July 2025 Domaine Evremond Classic Cuvée NV, the English Sparkling Wine created by Champagne Taittinger, was served last night at the State Banquet at Windsor Castle where His Majesty The King and Queen Camilla welcomed President and Madame Macron.

DOMAINE EVREMOND SERVED AT WINDSOR CASTLE STATE BANQUET In a toast to Anglo-French friendship, Champagne Taittinger’s English sparkling wine is shared by His Majesty King Charles III and President Emmanuel Macron.  In a landmark moment celebrating the enduring alliance between the United Kingdom and France, Domaine Evremond, the new English sparkling wine produced by Champagne Taittinger and its longstanding UK agency, Hatch Mansfield, was served at the state banquet held at Windsor Castle on Tuesday 8th July 2025. In the first French state visit to the UK since 2008, and Emmanuel Macron’s first official visit, King Charles hosted the President and his wife, Brigitte Macron, at the Royal Family’s historical Berkshire residence. Domaine Evremond Classic Cuvée Edition I was served at the pre-banquet drinks and was used for the banquet toast. Produced in Chilham, Kent, Domaine Evremond unites French winemaking expertise with English terroir; a fitting nod to the Entente Cordiale. HM The King stated at the dinner “This evening we have drunk English sparkling wine made by a French Champagne House. This would have been scarcely believable to at least some of our predecessors” Officially opened by Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Edinburgh, in September 2024, Domaine Evremond’s presence at the State banquet further strengthens its connection to the Royal Family.   It has been a 10 year journey to get to the release of Domaine Evremond.  In 2015, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger and Patrick McGrath envisioned a joint venture between Champagne Taittinger and Hatch Mansfield to create a premium English sparkling wine. The team established three strict site selection criteria; any suitable land needed to be on chalk, south or southwest facing, and below 100 meters in altitude with natural shelter. England remains a marginal climate for grape growing, making site selection critical. From the outset, the search focused on Kent - "The Garden of England" - where arguably the best fruit is grown as it benefits from more sunshine hours than any other county in England.   In 2015, the team identified the ideal location in a beautiful fruit farm in Chilham, west of Canterbury, that was owned by third-generation fruit farmer Mark Gaskain. The deal was done, and that Autumn the dream of Domaine Evremond became a reality, marking the first investment in the UK by a Champagne house.

The venture was named after a Charles de Saint-Évremond (1613–1703), the man who introduced the early wines of Champagne to the court of Charles II, and remains the only Frenchman buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey. Today, Domaine Evremond remains the only English Sparkling wine with a Champagne house involved from its inception and created from scratch (rather than simply purchasing an existing vineyard) – a significant investment focussed on absolute quality, friendship, and the pursuit of excellence.   By 2017, 21 hectares of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier vines had been planted. The vineyard’s day-to-day management is overseen by Mark Gaskain and his team, under the supervision of Christelle Rinville, Taittinger’s Director of Viticulture. The first small crop was harvested in 2018, and the first meaningful crop followed in 2019. They were processed in the Domaine Evremond temporary winery, led by Taittinger’s Director of Winemaking Alexandre Ponnavoy. Since 2019, Christelle, Alexandre, and a dedicated team from Taittinger have travelled to Kent each harvest, demonstrating their unwavering commitment.  Today, over 60 hectares of vines have been planted. In 2022, construction began on a new winery, completed in August 2024, that has been dug deep into the chalk, and creates a perfect environment for the making and natural storage of the wines.

Edition I is a non-vintage blend of 55% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, and 10% Pinot Meunier, composed of 80% fruit from 2020 and 20% from 2019. Bottled in June 2021 and disgorged in August 2024, the wine has matured for over three years on the lees. Only 100,000 bottles have been produced.  We have tasted this first edition a couple of times, and it is shaping up to be every bit as impressive as one would hope for a wine made by the Taittinger team, yet distinctively English in style. On first tasting in September last year, shortly after disgorgement, it was already tremendously elegant, with fine chiselled fruit (both fresh lemon and pear), superb weight and a tantalising mineralité. Six months on it was showing even more sophistication, and subtle hints of richness, while retaining that incredibly elegant freshness and vibrancy that makes it so very English. This shows all its pedigree from both sides of the Channel! Domaine Evremond Classic Cuvée NV, Edition I @ £235 per 6 This leads with aromas of green apples, honey, lemons and crushed stones, followed by delicate pastry and sea-salt undertones on the palate. It’s cool and very fresh yet soft, with a medium body and silky bubbles. Elegant and balanced, backed by crisp acidity throughout. Excellent debut. 55% pinot noir, 35% chardonnay and 10% pinot meunier, from 2020 (80%) and 2019 (20%). Disgorged August 2024 after 38 months on the lees. 7g/L dosage. 94pt, Claire Nesbitt for JamesSuckling.com The NV Brut Classic Cuvée Edition I is the inaugural release of Champagne Taittinger's English sparkling wine project founded in 2014, made from vines planted in 2017 in chalk and flint soils in Kent. It is based on the 2020 vintage with around 25% of reserve wines dating to the tiny first vintage of 2018 and the first proper vintage in 2019, all fermented and aged in stainless steel only, undergoing full malolactic conversion. The wine is a blend (...) reflecting the current plantings at the 69-hectare estate. A citric, bright lemon and green apple freshness defines the lively nose of the wine. More air allows lemony Viennoiserie to peep through, as well as an ozone breeze. Fine, creamy bubbles immediately distinguish the slender palate, where more lemon freshness is bedded in the smoothness of that exemplary mousse. An impressive and elegant debut, svelte and clean-cut, especially considering the Pinot Noir dominance of the wine. Châpeau. 93pt, Anne Krebiehl MW, vinous