FRENCH Champagne producers are about to face competition from a new vineyard in Kent.

Chapel Down Winery, based in Tenterden, has bought 116 acres of farmland on the southern chalk slopes of the North Downs close to Blue Bell Hill, near Chatham.

The former Tottington Farm site near Kits Coty is about to become the biggest vineyard in the county, producing enough grapes to make about 200,000 bottles of sparkling wine a year.

The area is thought to have a long, but largely forgotten, tradition of vine-growing.

The multi-million pound project starts in April with the planting of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines across 70 acres.

Vineyard bosses are confident the first grapes will be harvested in 2010, with the first bottles of “Chateau Medway” fizz popping in time for the London Olympic Games in the summer of 2012.

Frazer Thompson, managing director of Chapel Down, said: “We have had the soil tested by agronomists from the Champagne region and they have confirmed it is as good as anywhere else you will find in the world.

“Demand for English sparkling wine is extraordinary. We simply can’t make enough to satisfy demand. In the UK, we buy about 48 million bottles of Champagne every year and the total English production of sparkling wine will be about 400,000 bottles. Chapel Down makes about half that number.”

English sparkling wine – under European rules, it cannot be called Champagne – has been garnering accolades for some time.

Chapel Down has identified thousands of acres across Kent’s North Downs that would be ideal for growing grapes and underline the county’s burgeoning reputation at the heart of English wine production.