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 20^th 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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