On September 26, the prestigious French wine house Taittinger opened its new vineyard in the southeast of England, where climate change is making it much easier to grow grapes.
Euroactiv tells about such unexpected consequences of climate change.
The 60-hectare Domaine Evremond vineyard is located on a cozy hillside in Kent, not far from the town of Chilham. Kent's soil is similar to that of Champagne, which makes it easier for French winemakers to adapt, even if the county's maritime and windy climate adds more acidity to the wine. As temperatures rise due to climate change, vines have been able to thrive in this region, the sunniest in England.
The company plans to sell the first 100,000 bottles of Domaine Evremond, an English sparkling wine, in the UK in March 2025 at a price of around £50 ($67).
"It will be very elegant, but it will not be compared to champagne," said Vitali Taittinger, president of the winery.
It cannot be called Champagne due to strict European Union rules that limit the name to sparkling wines produced within the Champagne region, east of Paris.
Across the Channel, where the harvest is almost complete, French wine production is expected to drop by 18% in 2024 due to adverse climate conditions, the Ministry of Agriculture recently announced. Experts predict that production in Champagne vineyards will fall by 16%.
In their report, experts from the Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) painfully state that increasingly intense extreme weather events, such as heat or torrential rains, cause significant damage and do not bypass any French region.
Earlier, EcoPolitic already reported that in Norway, thanks to climate change, started make wine Also global warming can affect on the palate, the wine will be sweeter and spicier and will have less additional floral aromas.
