Making sunshine

French master promises crop will be sparkling

The president of one of France’s longest-established champagne families has dug ground on his first vineyard in Kent.

On a rainy May morning, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger planted the first vines in the Domaine Evremond vineyard in Chilham, almost 18 months after first signalling his intention to make English sparkling wine.

The first 50 acres of chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes have been planted – with plans to cover close to 100 acres over the next two to three years. Taittinger is the only grand marque champagne house still run by its eponymous family.

It has ventured into the UK with English partner Hatch Mansfield, run by Patrick McGrath, which has been importing Taittinger Champagne into the UK for 18 years.

The first of its English sparkling wines should be ready to drink in 2023, after three years of aging in the bottle.

Mr Taittinger dismissed the rainy launch of his vineyard as “a sign of good luck”.

“The weather is nice,” he joked. “Water is a key issue for the world today. For me the most important thing is to feel the sunshine in the glass.

“The sparkling wine will have the colour of the sunshine. What is important is to sell some sunshine for the happiness of our hearts.

“It’s a wonderful day because it expresses the great friendship I feel for Great Britain.

“I started my career here in Great Britain, based in Chelsea, and 40 years later we are going to develop a wonderful venture with an English company.”

Elsewhere on the same day, the Simpsons Wine Estate in Barham began the final phase of a planting project it started in 2014.

It will add 40,000 chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier vines across 25 acres over the next two days.

“The inspiring thing is we will be living with these vines for the next 40 or 50 years,” said coowner Charles Simpson, who runs the winery with his wife Ruth.

“If all goes to plan, we should be picking fruit off here in 2019.”