Domaine Evremond: A Taittinger-Backed Sparkling Wine Estate in the Garden of England
Few English sparkling wine estates carry the pedigree of Domaine Evremond, the Franco-British venture that brought the Taittinger name to Kent. Perched on chalk-rich south-facing slopes near the picture-perfect village of Chilham, just outside Canterbury, the estate represents the realisation of a decades-old dream by Champagne Taittinger's Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger and his British friend Patrick McGrath MW to craft a top-quality English Sparkling Wine. Launched publicly at Westminster Abbey in 2015 and bottled in Kent from 2020-vintage fruit, Domaine Evremond is now a fully-fledged producer with a state-of-the-art subterranean winery and a panoramic Cellar Door that opened in spring 2025.
A partnership rooted in friendship
The Domaine Evremond story is, at heart, a story about friendship. Champagne Taittinger and their UK partner Hatch Mansfield had worked together for more than 25 years before the two families decided to plant vines in England. After an 18-month site search led by Patrick McGrath, they settled on 69 hectares of apple and pear orchards at Stone Stile Farm, near Chilham - a site that combined the deep, free-draining chalk soils, altitude and aspect the Taittinger viticultural team demanded. The first vines went into the ground in 2017, the first full harvest was picked in 2019, and the inaugural Classic Cuvée - Edition I - was crafted by Taittinger's Chef de Cave, Alexandre Ponnavoy, from fruit grown and pressed on the estate for the very first time in 2020.
Today the estate covers around 125 hectares, with 60 hectares under vine, planted to the classic Champagne trio of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. A further 10 hectares were planted in 2024. The vineyard team is led by Christelle Rinville, Taittinger's Vineyard Director, working in close collaboration with local partner Gaskains Ltd - the multi-generational family farm from which Domaine Evremond purchased Stone Stile Farm back in 2015.
The spirit of place: why Kent, why Chilham?
Kent has long been known as The Garden of England, and Domaine Evremond's founders chose it deliberately. The county is one of the warmest and driest in the country, and crucially its chalk sub-soils mirror those of Champagne. The Chilham site sits between 50 and 90 metres above sea level on south-facing slopes, with a maximum elevation of around 80 metres, giving the vines the long, even ripening window they need to produce fine sparkling base wines. As Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger has put it, the combination of soil, climate, topography and time at Chilham is "ideal for producing quality sparkling wine and very similar to the terroir in Champagne". The family's affection for Kent goes further back: Pierre-Emmanuel's father, Jean Taittinger, twinned Canterbury with Reims when he was Mayor of Reims in the 1950s.
Domaine Evremond is also a member of The Wine Garden of England, a coalition of nine pioneering Kent wineries committed to building a world-class visitor experience and wine trail across the county.
The name behind the bottle
The estate takes its name from Charles de Saint-Évremond (1613 - 1703), a French poet, epicurean and literary critic who was the first true ambassador for the wines of Champagne in England. Exiled to London in 1661, Saint-Évremond spent more than thirty years at the court of Charles II, popularising the wines of Champagne among English society. He is buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey. The Taittinger family, avid historians, named the estate in his memory, while the word "Domaine" echoes Taittinger's earlier joint venture - the acclaimed Domaine Carneros in California's Napa Valley, established in 1987 and likewise crafted from estate-grown fruit.
The Classic Cuvée label
The shape of the Classic Cuvée label echoes a 1659 portrait of Saint-Évremond by Pieter van Gunst, while the estate's emblem - the cinquefoil, a heraldic five-petalled flower - is fashioned after the crest of Saint-Évremond himself.
The winery: a French-British collaboration
Designed by a leading French architect and built by a specialist UK team, the Domaine Evremond winery is, in the words of the estate, "a true example of collaboration in the spirit of Domaine Evremond". The sympathetically designed building is mostly subterranean, set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the estate, and uses gravity-led winemaking to handle the fruit as gently as possible. Sustainability was a non-negotiable from the outset: biodiversity and environmental enhancements are woven into the landscape, and the cellar door itself is wheelchair accessible with dedicated parking ten metres from the entrance.
The wines
Domaine Evremond's flagship release is the Classic Cuvée, a non-vintage blend classified as Quality English Sparkling Wine. Like its Champagne inspiration, it is released in editions - each one a snapshot of the estate's evolving house style, built around a primary vintage with reserve wines from earlier harvests.
Classic Cuvée Edition I
- Built around the 2020 harvest, with reserve wines from 2019
- Blend: 55% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Meunier
- Dosage: 7 g/L
- Ageing: 3 years on the lees
Edition I captures Domaine Evremond's inaugural voice - a precise, mineral-driven cuvée that translates the chalky, flint-rich soils and oceanic influence of the Chilham terroir into the glass.
Classic Cuvée Edition II
- Built around the 2021 harvest, with reserve wines from 2020 and 2019
- Blend: 65% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Meunier
- Dosage: 7 g/L
- Ageing: 3 years on the lees
Edition II continues the story with vines now a year older, adding maturity and structure to the blend. The wine is precise and linear, carrying the Classic Cuvée's hallmark minerality and salinity in heightened form.
Both editions are available to purchase direct from the cellar door and online, with complimentary standard UK delivery offered (excluding Northern Ireland, Highlands and Islands). Discounts of more than 10% are available on orders of more than six bottles - simply email orders@domaineevremond.com. Domaine Evremond does not ship internationally; for stockists in Austria, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada (Ontario and West), the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland, the estate works with named distributors such as Wein Wolf, Miles Market, Interfood, FWM Canada, Pacific Wine & Spirits, United Brands, Fine Vintage, Febvre, Pieroth, VINVIN, Fondberg Group, SoGrape, Culina, Wine Affair and Globalwine.
Harvest reports
Domaine Evremond publishes vintage harvest reports as downloadable PDFs. 2023 was a high-rainfall, low-sunshine season rescued by an Indian summer; 2022 brought a hot, dry summer followed by rain and a textbook ripening window; 2021 was a year of climatic extremes, with a larger crop and successful avoidance of mildew; and 2020 was the estate's very first on-site press on 7 October - a milestone year for Domaine Evremond.
Cellar door merchandise
Alongside the wines, the cellar door stocks Domaine Evremond-branded accessories including the Domaine Evremond Bottle Stopper and a box of six Domaine Evremond Glasses - perfect for the Classic Cuvée at home.
Visit the cellar door
Domaine Evremond's Cellar Door sits at the heart of the vineyard, with sweeping views over the vines on one side and the press and tank rooms on the other. All visitor experiences can be booked online.
Opening hours
- Wednesday - Sunday, April - September: 11:00 - 18:30
- Wednesday - Sunday, October - March: 10:30 - 17:30
Walk-in tastings of Classic Cuvée Edition I are welcomed on a first-come, first-served basis on the panoramic terrace or inside the cellar door. Light bites and soft drinks are available, and the terrace is weather dependent. For walk-in enquiries, call the team on 01227 696 055. The cellar door is also available for private hire for up to 40 guests - email bookings@domaineevremond.com.
Tours and tastings
Classic Cuvée Tasting - £25 per person
Hosted by an experienced cellar door team member at the winery, the Classic Cuvée Tasting includes two glasses of Domaine Evremond's non-vintage Classic Cuvée - the inaugural Edition I and the most recent Edition II - tasted in the state-of-the-art winery surrounded by vineyards. The experience lasts around 45 minutes and accommodates a maximum of 16 guests. Book a visit or gift a visit.
Classic Cuvée Tasting and Domaine Tour - £60 per person
The full estate experience. A guided tour of the vineyards and winery paired with two glasses of Classic Cuvée - the first tasted amongst the vines and the second back in the winery. Lasting around 90 - 120 minutes, with a maximum of 16 guests. Find out more, book or gift a visit.
Flavours of Kent - £140 per person
Flavours of Kent is Domaine Evremond's gastronomic showcase: a communal three-course seasonal lunch by chef Olivia Trim, paired with three glasses of Classic Cuvée. Each course is inspired by the three forces that shape the wine - the sea, earth and sun. Lasting around 2.5 hours with a maximum of 16 guests, it is held at the estate's tasting table in the winery. The Chapter IV Summer menu features a gougère of Fremlins Kentish goat's cheese with fig and raisin relish, confit chicken terrine with courgette ribbons and tarragon aioli, monkfish with herb butter sauce, caviar, samphire and spinach, and a strawberry and lemon thyme mille feuille. The Chapter V Autumn menu follows with the same goat's cheese gougère, cured trout with pickled fennel and finger lime, Bank Farm chicken ballotine with squash purée and celeriac and thyme potato cake, and a Gaskain apple tart tatin with crème fraîche. Book or gift a visit.
What's on at the cellar door
Beyond the bookable experiences, Domaine Evremond runs a packed calendar of seasonal events on its panoramic terrace.
Saturday Afternoons Live Music
Every Saturday from early May to the end of September, the cellar door terrace hosts live music from local musicians, 15:00 to 17:00. The next dates are Saturday 8 August and every Saturday thereafter through to the end of September. Free to attend, with Classic Cuvée and artisan bites served on the terrace.
Monthly Live Music and Oysters
On the last Saturday of each month from April to the end of September, Domaine Evremond welcomes the Whitstable Oyster Co. to the terrace from 11:00 to 18:30, with live music from 15:00 to 17:00. The next date is Saturday 29 August. Find out more.
Cheese & Charcuterie Sharing Boards
From 5 September to 21 November, the cellar door hosts an autumn sharing-board experience pairing a bottle of Classic Cuvée with an artisanal cheese and charcuterie board from Finnian's Deli, Gilda Bakery, Perrelló olives and Marcona almonds. Boards are designed for 2 to 4 people and cost £100 per board and bottle, with seatings at 13:00. Book here.
Getting there
Domaine Evremond is roughly an hour by train (London St Pancras via Ashford) and around 1 hour 45 minutes by car from London. The address is Domaine Evremond, New Cut Road, Chilham, CT4 8DT - the estate recommends searching "Domaine Evremond" on your sat-nav rather than relying on the postcode. The What3Words reference for the estate entrance is harmony.purest.amicably. The nearest station is Chilham, which is a 30-minute countryside walk from the winery along a footpath that runs through the estate; cyclists and walkers are welcome, and bike parking is available. Alternatively, Ashford International is a 20-minute drive away and has a taxi rank.
Planning your visit
- Bookings are mandatory for all tours and tastings - there are no refunds, but changes to the same experience on a different date are possible with at least 72 hours' notice, subject to availability.
- Estate tours run come rain or shine. In very wet weather the first glass may be enjoyed in the cellar door rather than among the vines.
- Children cannot be accommodated on group tours and tastings, but are welcome for a soft drink on the terrace.
- Well-behaved dogs on a lead are welcome on the terrace (walk-ins only) but are not permitted on tours or in the cellar door.
- Picnics are welcome in the wildflower meadows or among the vines, but cannot be eaten on the terrace.
- Outdoor terrace tables are first-come, first-served - they are not bookable because of the unpredictable British weather.
- Accessible parking is available ten metres from the cellar door entrance. The cellar door is wheelchair accessible, although the vineyard tour itself is not currently suitable for wheelchair users - contact info@domaineevremond.com to discuss individual needs.
- There is no on-site accommodation, but plenty of options locally, including in Chilham itself.
Trade and press
Trade customers should contact Domaine Evremond's UK distributor, Hatch Mansfield, at info@hatch.co.uk to arrange a visit. For press enquiries, contact India McGrath on 01227 696 055 or email press@domaineevremond.com. General and retail enquiries can be sent to info@domaineevremond.com and retail@domaineevremond.com respectively.
Social media
Domaine Evremond is active on Instagram, where the estate shares the latest harvest news, cellar door events and releases. India McGrath has written in-depth pieces on why Kent is special for Domaine Evremond and the story behind the name Domaine Evremond itself.