Taittinger in Kent - the wine is here but is it any good?

Part two of the Domaine Evremond story with its first sparkling wine about to be launched.

The launch of Domaine Evremond’s long-awaited first wine was oddly reminiscent of the planting event eight years ago. Many of the same faces were there bolstered by some influencers, a concept which didn’t exist in 2017. The weather was similar too, unseasonably cold for September with dark skies and driving rain. The harvest would be soon but we hadn’t really had a summer.

As in 2017 the political situation was worrying with the forthcoming US election, the continuing war in Ukraine and a general air of pessimism that’s been hanging over the country. Or perhaps that was just me.

Before the tour of the vast underground winery, there were words from various people involved with the project including Patrick McGrath from Hatch Mansfield and Vitalie Taittinger though sadly no Pierre-Emmanuel who had to fly back after the party for local dignitaries the night before.

Everyone seemed nervous, there wasn’t the air of jolly japes that there was in 2017. This was deadly serious: a new plus £50 wine hitting a difficult market even with Taittinger’s backing is a tricky proposition. They’re putting everything into one wine: a non-vintage based largely on the 2020 vintage with some reserve wines from 2019.

As I wrote earlier this week, anything less than the very best would be a disappointment and I’m afraid to say in September the first release wasn’t singing. Nobody knew quite what to say about it. Some people thought it tasted a bit soft and indistinct, while for others it was raw and underipe. Mentally comparing it against the best from Black Chalk or Langham, it fell short. Not that it was bad, it just felt like after all that build up, time and money - was this it? Perhaps the anticipation had been too much.

The fact that the wine wasn’t going to be released for sale at the same time as the launch suggested that Taittinger knew it wasn’t right either. I learned later from India McGrath, Evremond’s director of sales, marketing and communication and Patrick’s daughter, that there were “complications with the disgorgement machines” so the wines were only taken off their lees a few weeks before the event.

India McGrath enjoying the calm before the storm

It was too late to reschedule to launch so, according to India, her father was “bricking it”. She continued “he nearly asked the press not to write about it”. Can you imagine what people would have said if we had been invited to a launch but asked not to write about the wine? In the end, I decided not to cover the launch. What would be the point when the wines weren’t ready?

But now they are with the release scheduled for April. I drove the 10 minutes down the road from Faversham to Domaine Evremond on a clear bright March afternoon. It was one of those days when growing grapes in England looks like not such a bad idea. The winery, underwhelming in the September rain, looked magnificent, like a chunk of Provence in Kent. The views of the leafless vines with sheep munching between the rows wasn’t so bad either.

The building seemed to be deserted. At the moment India is the only employee. I have to admit, I was almost as nervous as Patrick was last year. What if the wine was still not that exciting?