Chardonnay
75cl * Vegan & Organic * 12.5% ABV * Champagne, France
Taittinger is one of Champagne’s oldest houses and one of the few to be owned and actively managed by the family on the label. The original house was founded in 1734 and acquired by Pierre Taittinger in 1931. Today, his great grandchildren Vitalie and Clovis are at the helm. Taittinger owns 288 hectares of vineyards, making it the third largest domaine owner in the region.
It sits upon 4th-century UNESCO-listed cellars, which once belonged to the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of St Nicaise, where the Comtes de Champagne wines are still hand-turned by the ‘remeur’ on the traditional racks or ‘pupitres’. For Taittinger, it is the Chardonnay grape that forms the foundation for the house style, the ultimate expression of which is the Comtes de Champagne, made only in exceptional years from the best Grand Cru fruit.
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.'