Chardonnay
75cl * Vegan & Organic * 12.5% ABV * Champagne, France
Maison Taittinger dates back to an original house founded in 1734 by Jacques Fourneaux, however its links to the Taittinger family started in 1931, after Pierre Taittinger was stationed at Chateau de la Marquetterie in Pierry and fell in love with the property. Today, it is still owned and managed by the Taittinger family with its headquarters in Reims, situated above a sprawling warren of Roman cellars, where the wines are allowed to age slowly.
The Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs is the finest example of the Taittinger House style and is always a vintage cuvée. It is made with 100% white grapes from the 5 villages with a Grands Crus classification for the Chardonnay grape (Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Oger, Mesnil-sur-Oger). A Comtes de Champagne is rare, the criteria governing its production mean that it cannot be created in large volumes. Only 35 great vintages have been produced since the first cuvée in 1952.
This cuvée is created using juice from the first press only. A small percentage (5 %) of the blend is aged in fresh oak barrels to create the very delicate balance of toasted notes in the final wine. Taittinger knows it must be patient with these great Chardonnays, which are the crowning glory of its terroir; the Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs remains for up to 10 years in the chalk quarries beneath Saint-Nicaise.
98 Points, Antonio Galloni, 2024, 'The 2013 Comtes de Champagne is a towering Champagne, as it was last year. Rich, sumptuous and explosive, the 2013 soars out of the glass with a captivating mix of tropical fruit, apricot, passion fruit, baked apple tart, mint and yellow flowers. It is one of the most explosive, extroverted Counts I have ever tasted. Impressive.'