Sophie’s Champagne moment: Sophie raises a glass of Taittinger sparkling Kent wine

As rain poured down on the Kent countryside, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger said, “God couldn’t have done it any better.”In blazing sun, less than 30 minutes earlier, the Duchess had opened the Domaine Evremond Winery in Chilham. One journalist fainted because it was so hot. Taittinger purchased the 125-hectare property in 2015. This was the first major champagne house to invest in British soil for the production of sparkling wine.

The Archdeacon and Vicaire General of Reims Cathedral, both of Canterbury, blessed the vineyards by reciting in English and French a passage from the Bible about a “fertile slope”. Then, the heavens opened. Taittinger said, “I was crying during the speech.” “I was extremely moved by both the sunshine and rain.” The property boasts chalk soils that are similar to those in the Champagne region. These soils are ideal for drainage and have south-facing slopes.

Kent’s climate has been made more hospitable to wine cultivation by the rising temperatures that have forced Champagne to bring forward picking. Domaine Evremond Classic Cuvee, the result of this collaboration, will be sold for £50 per bottle by the end of March. Vitalie Taittinger is the daughter of Pierre-Emmanuel and the president of the brand, since 2020. She described the wine as “very clean, very delicate” with a slight flavour of “sea & soil” from Kent. She said, “It is totally different.” Champagne is not comparable. “We can feel the atmosphere of the place.”

Taittinger plans to produce between 300,00 and 400,000 bottles per year at Domaine Evremond. Distributors are already lined up for the first 100,000 bottles in March. Charles de Saint-Evremond was an exiled French writer and the first ambassador for champagne in England. Flowers from his grave in Westminster Abbey’s poets’ section decorate the bottle.

Vitalie Taittinger paid tribute in a speech Thursday to her grandfather Jean Taittinger who, as Reims’ deputy mayor, had paired the city with Canterbury. She then dedicated the wine’s first edition to all British soldiers killed on French soil while protecting shared values. She said, “We dedicate our bottled fruit of labour to them and never forget what they did.” “This is why we are all here, sharing our hopes, based on a wonderful friendship. God save the king.”

Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger felt the same way about England. He spent several months in Clitheroe at Stonyhurst Catholic Independent School, and he lived in Chelsea for a whole year with his family, after his father had sent him there to learn English and get a job in the wine business.

He said, “I love your country.” “I remember you were the very first market for champagne and good wines. [This winery] is really my way of expressing that gratitude. When I was young, we have a photo of me offering a magnum to the Prince of Wales at the end a polo game. He was sweating. He was Prince Charles back then, and now he is the King.”

Pierre-Emmanuel , who had once said that he “was paid to drink, to eat, to make love and sometimes drink wonderful champagne”, , was in the headlines last year , after his former mistress, who was convicted for harassment and sentenced to one-year of suspended imprisonment, was given. She confronted him in the Reims family home and then chased him around with a knife, threatening to cut his penis.

Since their purchase, the family has supported local businesses: they invested in the Tudor Peacock wine shop and bar which opened last December; and hosted Pierre-Emmanuel’s 71st Birthday Party at the Woolpack inn which still had Taittinger umbrellas on its lawn. Pubs around the area are eager to stock the Classic Cuvee.

Mark Gaskain is a local farmer who sold his land in 2015 to the Taittingers. They now grow their grapes there. He said, “I knew that it was good land for vineyards so I hoped I could find someone who would pay a premium price for it.” “I didn’t expect Taittinger, I don’t even know who I expected.

It would be easy for me to dismiss this as PR, but it’s not. We have a great time with genuinely nice people. “It’s been a real joy.” Helen Whately (MP for Faversham and Mid Kent) hopes that the Taittinger family will open a visitor center and offer vineyard tours in Domaine Evremond, next year. This will help to bring tourism to the area.

Miles Beale of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association praised Taittinger for its opening, saying it was a step forward in the English sparkling wine market. He said, “This is not the last.” I suspect that many more champagne houses are going to invest in English wines over the next decade.

There are no plans, despite the positive reviews, to sell the first edition of the book in France. Pierre-Emmanuel stated that he will serve the wine at the Chateau de La Marquetterie of his family, but it is too expensive for France to purchase.

He said, “The world of wine is not a place where politics are a concern.” “I dislike when we talk about French wine and English wine. It doesn’t mean much. “I don’t think Evremond wine is English or French. Evremond just is.”

Does he, as a self-professed royalist, hope that Sophie will introduce Classic Cuvee in the Royal Family? He laughed and pointed to the sky.

Patrick McGrath, a wine merchant and old friend of Taittinger, as well as co-founder of Domaine Evremond put his arm around her during the event. This was a violation of royal protocol, which states that a royal member should only be touched by the royal if the royal initiates the contact.

Charles accepted a hug this month from several women’s rugby teams in New Zealand.