The wines of
Champagne Taittinger
A mid-sized Champagne house with an impressive portfolio
Website: www.taittinger.com
Taittinger is an
interesting, high-quality Champagne house, sitting in size somewhere
between the enormous Grand Marques and the trendy small growers.
That’s quite a good place to be, because you can keep a handle on
quality, while still having decent distribution.
Until 2006 it
was family owned, but is now part of a consortium including Crédit
Agricole. However, Pierre-Emanuel Taittinger, nephew of Claude
Taittinger who was responsible for much of Taittinger’s growth in
the 20th century, is now in charge, so the family link is
maintained.
The wines are
very good indeed, with lovely freshness and precision.
THE
WINES
Champagne
Taittinger NV
This is based on 2008 vintage with 20% reserve wines in it. Taut,
crisp and focused. Very fresh with some lovely citrus freshness and
a bit of warmth from subtle toastiness. Nice wine. 90/100 02/11
Champagne Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 1999
Fine, complex, toasty nose is fresh and citrussy. Crisp
and lively on the palate with nice taut toasty notes. Complex and
lively, this is a brilliant effort. 94/100 02/11
Champagne
Taittinger Prélude Grands Crus NV
Fresh, lively and quite complex with nice toastiness. Lively and
fresh showing appealing lemony fruit. Crisp style. 91/100 02/11
Champagne
Taittinger Vintage 2004
Taut, focused and intense with lovely bright fruit and fresh,
crisp acidity. Lemony, pure and quite herby with real focus. 92/100
02/11
Champagne
Taittinger Les Folies de la Marqutterie NV
This is a single vineyard fizz, with 55% Pinot Noir, half of
which is barrel fermented and 45% Chardonnay. It’s very tight and
quite dense, with a strongly savoury character and some herbiness.
Taut citrus pith notes. Lovely focus: dense, firm and almost
structured. 92/100 02/11
Champagne Taittinger Prestige Rosé NV
Pale salmon pink. Crisp,
tight and focused with high acidity. Not too fruity, with citrus
notes and a hint of toast. Fresh and quite savoury. 90/100 02/11
Champagne
Taittinger Prélude Grands Crus NV
12% alcohol. £39.99
Lea & Sandeman, Harrods, Roberson, Soho Wine, Luvians
Crisp, tight and complex, this is a really delicious, precise
Champagne with fresh citrussy notes and taut, dense, pure fruit.
Balance is the key here: it’s a linear, focused style. 92/100
12/08
Taittinger
Comtes de Champagne 1998
I love Taittinger’s
Comtes, a Blanc de Blanc from Grand Cru vineyard sources, part aged
in oak. Toasty and intense with lovely precision and complexity.
Bright, expressive and fine with lovely toasty complexity as well as
some lemony freshness. A really complex, refined fizz of great
appeal. 94/100 12/08
See also:
Taittinger
Comtes de Champagne vertical tasting (December 2011)
Visiting
Champagne Bollinger
Wines
tasted as indicated
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