Garden tools and accessories manufacturer Burgon & Ball helped world-famous Champagne house Taittinger make history last week by providing spades to break first ground at a new vineyard in Kent - the first planting in the UK by a Grande Marque Champagne house.
They hope to produce premium English sparkling wines from the Domaine Evremond site near Chilham in Kent. Burgon & Ball supplied spades and commemorative trowels specially engraved to mark the occasion.
Champagne Taittinger approached Burgon & Ball after a recommendation from the Royal Horticultural Society. The aptly-named Groundbreaker spade was selected for the ceremony; the high performance stainless steel design received the House Beautiful Best Garden Product award in 2016.
The historic first UK vines were planted by Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, president of Champagne Taittinger, accompanied by his wife and daughter, and representatives from Taittinger's UK agency and partner Hatch Mansfield.
In addition, in chilly and wet conditions, more than 200 guests planted their own vines with their individually numbered souvenir trowels.
Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger said: “Our aim is to make something of real excellence in the UK, and not to compare it with Champagne or any other sparkling wine. We are very excited that this dream is now becoming a reality.”
Heather Culpan, managing director of Burgon & Ball said: "It's wonderful that Champagne Taittinger and its partners are embarking upon this project to create new premium English sparkling wines, with an outstanding French heritage. We are thrilled that our beautiful Groundbreaker spades have been able to play a small part in the day.”
The site has a combination of chalk soils, climate and topography perfect for grape growing and will be ideal for producing quality sparkling wine. The new vineyard will see a total of 40 hectares planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier vines over the next two to three years. The first English sparkling wine produced at the site should be released for drinking in 2023, after three years of ageing in the bottle. Read more about the new vineyard here.
Pictured: Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger (left) of Champagne Taittinger and Patrick McGrath MW of Hatch Mansfield break ground using Groundbreaker spades.
