(MENAFN- AFP) Famous French brand Taittinger on Wednesday announced plans to become the first Champagne house to produce premium English sparkling wine.
The Reims-based firm, established in 1734, said it had teamed up with British wine company Hatch Mansfield and private investors to purchase 69 hectares (170 acres) of farmland at Stone Stile Farm in Kent, southeast England.
Forty hectares of this will be planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier vines to produce sparkling wine, said the company.
"We have dreamt for a number of years of working with our dear friends in the UK to create a special Franco/British project," said Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, president of Champagne Taittinger.
"Built on the values of friendship, this venture will create something special to show our appreciation of the UK support for Champagne.
The president promised to create "a high-quality English sparkling wine drawing on our... years of winemaking expertise."
"Our aim is to make something of real excellence in the UK's increasingly temperate climate, and not to compare it with Champagne or any other sparkling wine," he said.
The company said it had chosen the former apple farm, close to the city of Canterbury, due to a combination of soil, climate and topography.
"The plots to be planted are a maximum of 80 metres above sea level, with chalk soil and south-facing slopes, creating an ideal 'terroir' to plant and grow high-quality Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier vines," it said.
- UK wine renaissance -
The first fruit for winemaking is expected to be available in 2020 and bottled in 2021, with 300,000 bottles to be produced per year when fully operational.
The wine will be sold under the Domaine Evremond label, but the name of individual wines has yet to be decided.
"Charles de Saint-Evremond (1614-1703) was a Frenchman who was a connoisseur of delicate and elegant Champagnes, and a lover of fine dining," the company said of the name.
"In 1661 he was exiled to England following his attacks on French policy, and it was during this time as a writer that he started the fashion of drinking Champagne at the court of Charles II, and he remained a darling of London society for over thirty years."
The site was bought from long-established Kent fruit farmers, who will continue to grow apples, pears and plums next to the vineyard.
Britain is second only to France in consumption of Champagne, with retailers shipping 32.7 million bottles the short distance across the Channel in 2014.
Once the butt of jokes, English wine is blossoming in reputation, winning international awards and being given by Queen Elizabeth II to Chinese President Xi Jinping during his recent state visit.
However, it remains a minnow on the world stage with only 2000 hectares of vineyards producing 6.3 million bottles in 2014.
Champagne Taittinger will take a 55 percent stake in the venture, which it expects to be a "multi-million pound investment over the next 10 years".
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