“An impressive and elegant debut, svelte and clean-cut...Châpeau.  93 points."   Anne Krebiehl MW, Vinous, October 2024 

"Elegant and balanced...Excellent debut...94 points."  (CN) Jamessuckling.com, Jun '25

With the first signs of spring and Easter not far away, it’s time to stock up on top-quality sparkling wine for family gatherings and celebrations.  Since the inaugural release last autumn, we have been keen to make a new offer from Domaine Evremond, the English sparkling estate co-owned by Champagne Taittinger, so this is perfect timing.

When we first tasted Domaine Evremond last year, we felt it was something genuinely new, a different expression of English sparkling wine: Combining English clarity and intensity with Champagne-like finesse and complexity. The first release of Domaine Evremond’s Cuvée Classic NV is labelled ‘Edition I’. Offered in bond at £235 per six bottles, we believe it sets a new benchmark for high-quality English sparkling wine.

Evremond is a joint venture between the Champagne house and its longstanding UK agent, Master of Wine Patrick McGrath, established in 2015. The Taittinger connection may make the headlines, but McGrath did a huge amount of work to find the right site for and establish the new vineyard, on former orchard land owned by the Gaskain family, one of the largest apple growers in the UK.  It has taken a decade for the vines to mature and for the first cuvée to be ready for release.

While the chalk soils of Kent and exposure to cooling sea breezes lend the wine a distinctly English identity, the winemaking philosophy is French, led by Taittinger’s winemaker, Alexandre Ponnavoy.  Leading English sparkling producers such as Wiston and Hoffmann & Rathbone craft superb wines, fully the equal of many top Champagnes. Their style, however, often emphasises riper fruit and vibrant acidity, creating an intense, palate-driven profile. Despite the Kent micro-climate, Domaine Evremond feels stylistically closer to tasting a prestige cuvée from houses such as Ruinart, Roederer or Taittinger itself — refined, layered, and composed.

The influence of the winemaking team is important, but another key factor is that this is the only English sparkling estate conceived and planted from the outset under the guidance of experienced Champagne growers.  The 21 hectares of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier have been planted with careful attention to soil type and aspect, allowing for a complex assemblage (blending) approach reminiscent of what takes place at the best houses in Champagne. The aim is elegance and layered complexity rather than sheer intensity. When we retasted Edition I recently, we found delicate aromas of white flowers and almond, patisserie nuances on the palate, and subtle maritime hints of ozone — perhaps even sea spray — hinting at the proximity of the coast, just three miles away.

As indicated on the neck label, each annual release will be numbered as a new edition, rather like a series. Edition I is a non-vintage blend of 55% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Meunier, composed of 80% fruit from 2020 and 20% from 2019. Bottled in June 2021 and disgorged in August 2024, it has matured for over three years on its lees. Production totals just 100,000 bottles.

Offered in bond, available for delivery in March 2026.