FOOD + DRINK
DOMAINE EVREMOND
THE WINE EDITION
SEASONAL SUPERHEROES
SCORING NO LESS THAN AN INCREDIBLE 60 MEDALS AT THE WINE GB AWARDS 2022 , KENT HAS FIRMLY RETAINED ITS CROWN AS BEING THE MOST NOTEWORTHY WINE REGION IN THE UK , OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE WINE GARDEN OF ENGLAND .
With the grape harvest season now upon us , the long hot summer of 2022 will have provided wonderful sugar levels in grapes and sugar makes for an excellent vintage . For the last 20 years , Kent has been growing and investing in its wine business . As many grape growers are sure to tell you , vines are a long-term investment in which much money is required to begin , and much time is required in order for crops to mature and thus make healthy profits . This was an investment that managing director of the UK-based wine company Hatch Mansfield , Patrick McGrath , took in 2015 when he started Domaine Evremond ( www . domaineevremond . com ). Domaine Evremond was a partnership with Champagne Taittinger , which saw the purchase of a 171-acre apple farm for £ 1.5 million and the planting of grapes . This unique collaboration was the first time that a Champagne house bought land in England with the intention of making world-class English sparkling wine , and where better than right here in the Garden of England itself ?
With plenty of sunny south-facing slopes , a renowned chalky soil ( our chalk is not just famous for making up the White Cliffs ) and a warm climate , Kent has made the perfect place in which to grow vines . With temperatures only rising , as we saw this summer , Kent has become fit to rival and possibly even overtake European vineyards , which some have predicted will become too hot to make good vintages . Recently referred to as the ‘ Napa Valley of the UK ’ in a Bloomberg Pursuits article , Kent ’ s vineyards and wineries have added thousands of revenue to the county ’ s tourism industry , with tourists from across the globe travelling to our corner of the UK to witness our glorious vineyards and sample our delectable wines for themselves .
Now home to over 70 vineyards , some commercial , some boutique and some just small hobby-vineyards , Kent has helped change the face of English wine with the product being taken increasingly more seriously vintage after vintage . According to Bloomberg : “ Sales of English and Welsh wines leapt from 5.5 million bottles in 2019 to 9.3 million bottles in 2021 , and visits to UK vineyards and wineries rose by 57 % last year over those in 2020 .” Domaine Evremond is one of eight wineries that make up Wine Garden of England ( www . winegardenofengland . co . uk ), a majestic collaboration making up Kent ’ s very own wine trail . I was lucky enough to visit Domaine Evremond ’ s vineyard back in June before Kent ’ s grape harvest had begun and the vines were luscious and leafy green .
A beautiful sight to see , Domaine Evremond ’ s vines sprawl over a valley in Selling near Faversham , and on a hot summer ’ s day as this was , completely back up Bloomberg ’ s claim and look like a scene straight from the rolling hills of California itself . Vineyard manager , Mark Gaskain , leads our group across some of Kent ’ s celebrated sunny slopes and down beautifully straight rows of growing grapes . Although vintages made from these will not be called Champagne , the words English Sparkling will look just as good in Tattinger ’ s famed goldembossed lettering upon the bottle .
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