Domaine Evremond

At A Glance

Field: Detail
Region: England
Appellation: Kent
Village: Chilham
Main grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier
Signature wine: Classic Cuvée
Defining feature: Mostly underground winery with gravity led winemaking

The Producer

Patrick McGrath, who founded Hatch Mansfield, helped identify the opportunity for Domaine Evremond. The project launched in 2015 as a partnership between Champagne Taittinger and Hatch Mansfield, presented as the first time a Champagne house had invested in United Kingdom sparkling wine production.

The estate covers 125 hectares, with 60 hectares planted to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Domaine Evremond makes English sparkling wine from those classic sparkling varieties, with Classic Cuvée arranged as numbered editions that reflect different growing years.

Place

The vineyards lie near the village of Chilham in Kent. Kent is described as one of England's warmest and driest counties, and its free draining chalk soil profile mirrors Champagne. The Classic Cuvée carries Kent as its appellation.

Soil And Site

Stone Stile Farm offered deep, free draining chalk soils, south facing slopes and elevations from 50 to 90 metres above sea level. Chalk allows excess water to drain, while south facing slopes increase sunlight exposure. Elevation can moderate ripening, helping sparkling grapes retain acidity while reaching flavour maturity.

Story

Champagne Taittinger and Hatch Mansfield searched for 18 months before selecting the site near Chilham. The first vines were planted in 2017 and the first full harvest followed in 2019. The first blend was assembled and bottled in 2021, then left to mature before release. Fruit from the new Kent vineyards moved through harvest, blending and bottle ageing into the estate's first sparkling wine.

Vineyards And Cellar

The vines are trained taller than vines in Champagne so they can adapt to the Kent place and climate. Taller training changes the vine's shape and places the fruiting zone higher above the ground, a practical adjustment to local conditions.

Most of the winery is subterranean, and its layout enables natural gravity led winemaking. Gravity handling moves must and wine through the winery with less pumping, reducing mechanical movement during cellar work. The building was designed with sustainability at the fore, with the underground layout forming a central part of its construction.

Wines

Classic Cuvée is a nonvintage blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The range is organized as numbered editions, with each edition shaped by its growing year while retaining the domaine's house style.

Edition II is based on the 2021 harvest, with reserve wines from 2020 and 2019, and contains 65% Pinot Noir. Both editions receive a dosage of 7 g/L and spend three years on the lees. Lees ageing keeps the wine in contact with yeast solids after secondary fermentation, which can soften the bubbles and add bready or pastry notes.

In The Glass

Classic Cuvée Edition I opens with apple blossom, honeysuckle and lemon verbena, followed by green apple, lemon zest, crushed stone and light pastry. Lively acidity runs through a creamy mousse, the fine bubble texture adding body to the green fruited core. A chalky edge and light bready notes sit behind the fruit. The finish is saline, stony and flinty, with an oyster shell character.

A Bottle To Understand It

Edition I is the bottle to open first. It is the Classic Cuvée based on the 2020 harvest, with reserve wine from 2019. Its grape proportions are 55% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Meunier, placing Pinot Noir first in the blend.

All of the wine was fermented in stainless steel, bottled in 2021 and disgorged in August 2024. The bottle carries a defined base harvest, a named reserve year, a clear grape composition and a recorded disgorgement date.

Anecdote

In 2015, Domaine Evremond launched at Westminster Abbey. Patrick McGrath, founder of Hatch Mansfield, had helped identify the opportunity for a partnership with Champagne Taittinger to create English sparkling wine in the United Kingdom. The project was presented as the first Champagne house investment in UK sparkling wine production. The first vines were planted in 2017, after the public launch. The event announced a wine estate before its own vineyards had supplied a full harvest.

Final Word

Domaine Evremond combines Kent chalk, taller trained vines and gravity led cellar work in numbered Classic Cuvée editions made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

At A Glance

The Producer

Place

Soil And Site

Story

Vineyards And Cellar

Wines

In The Glass

A Bottle To Understand It

Anecdote

Final Word

Sources

Where to go next