Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
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’.
'The 2011 Rosé Comtes de Champagne is soft, forward and open-knit, all of which make it a fine choice for drinking now and over the next handful of years. Sweet dried cherry, tobacco, mint, cedar and crushed flowers give this mid-weight Rosé lovely aromatic complexity. There are no hard edges or angular contours. Even so, I would prefer to drink the 2011 sooner rather than later, as it is a bit lacking in depth. The blend is 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir including 16% still Pinot from Bouzy).' Antonio Galloni, 89pts
'Disgorged in October 2022, the 2011 Brut Comtes de Champagne Rosé is a blend of 40% Chardonnay and 60% Pinot Noir, including fully 14% of red wine that lends it notable depth of colour this year. The bouquet is complex and incipiently spicy, evoking aromas of cherries, buttery pastry, raspberries and tangerine, with an attractive minty top note. Medium to full-bodied, layered and vinous, with chalky structuring extract, it concludes with a long, sapid finish. The limitations of the vintage mean that this is giving, rather open-knit Comtes Rosé, but it is nevertheless a great effort in a challenging year and exhibits none of the herbaceous qualities that mar some of the wines produced in this year. Drink it now and over the next decade. Drink now until 2045.' Yohan Castaing, 94pts