Last night’s state banquet, marking the first official visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the UK, saw Domaine Evremond, the English sparkling wine produced by Champagne Taittinger and UK importer Hatch Mansfield, served at Windsor Castle.
Windsor Castle was the backdrop for yesterday’s state banquet, the first time it has hosted one since 2014.
Around 160 members of the royal family, British and French politicians, ambassadors and trade and industry leaders attended the dinner in St George’s Hall at Windsor Castle as part of the first French state visit to the UK since 2008. It is the first time that the castle has hosted a State Visit since 2014.
Domaine Evremond Classic Cuvée Edition I was served at the pre-banquet drinks as well as for the banquet toast, with His Majesty King Charles III quipping that it was “scarcely believable to at least some of our predecessors” to be drinking an English sparkling wine made by a French champagne house, at such an event.
Domaine Evremond, which was recently classified as a Quality English Sparkling Wine, is based in he North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), near Chilham in Kent and comprises 125 hectares of land, including 60 hectares of vineyards, and a state-of-the-art winery that was officially opened by Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Edinburgh, in September 2024.
The joint-venture was the brainchild of friends Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger of Champagne house Taittinger and Patrick McGrath MW of the Champagne house’s UK importer Hatch Mansfield who wanted to create an outstanding English sparkling wine in the traditional style, that would reflect the chalky soils of southern England.
The Taittinger family acquired the former fruit farm in autumn 2015, becoming the first Champagne house to plant vines in the UK, closely followed by Champagne Pommery. Domaine Evremond planted its first vines (20 hectares of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier) in May 2017, adding an additional 8.5 hectares of vines consisting of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay in 2019, with further plantings carried out in the following few years.
The property is named after Charles de Saint-Évremond, a French poet and friend of King Charles II, who was the first ambassador of champagne in England.
The inclusion of this wine at the state banquet underscores the growing prestige of English sparkling wines on the global stage and signals an emerging avenue for cross-Channel cooperation, the company said.
The menu, which was created by French chef Raymond Blanc and the Royal Household began with a selection of summer vegetables from the Gardens of Le Manoir, followed by Supreme of Rhug Estate chicken with Norfolk asparagus and tarragon Cream, followed by a blackcurrant parfait on a blackcurrant-soaked sponge with elderflower jelly.
The wines served alongside the dishes comprised Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, Etienne Sauzet, 2022; Chateau Haut-Brion; 1er Grand Cru Classe Pessac-Leognan, 1996; and Louis Roederer, Carte Blanche, NV. Guests were served Taylor’s 1977 Vintage Port and a 1948 Grande Champagne Cognac by Frapin & Co after dinner, the vintages selected to reflect the years in which President Macron and the King were born.