In the early 1950s, whilst on his first trip to the United States to promote Taittinger champagne, Claude Taittinger met Rudy Kopf, who would later become their partner for the distribution of Taittinger champagne on the other side of the Atlantic. After getting to know each other better, Kopf asked Claude the following question: “In tomorrow’s world, there will only be space for big corporations and artists. Which side will you choose for Taittinger champagne?”. Instinctively, Claude Taittinger replied: “The artists!”; thus, setting out the direction in which he would take Champagne Taittinger when he took over as President 10 years later.

Having forged strong links with several artists, Claude Taittinger created the Taittinger Collection in 1983. He received support from some of the greatest names in contemporary art to showcase the best vintage Grands Crus produced by the Champagne House. The bottle becomes both the canvas and the inspiration for a creation, signed by a distinguished artist. The Hungarian artist Victor Vasarely was the first artist to produce work for this unique art gallery, which to date includes a long line of designs by artists such as André Masson, Roy Lichtenstein, Imaï, Rauschenberg and Amadou Sow.

1. Victor Vaserely | Vintage: 1978 | Released: 1983
2. Arman | Vintage: 1981 | Released: 1985
3. André Masson | Vintage: 1982 | Released: 1987
4. Vieira da Silva | Vintage: 1983 | Released: 1988
5. Roy Lichtenstein | Vintage: 1985 | Released: 1990
6. Hans Hartung | Vintage: 1986 | Released: 1992
7. Imaï | Vintage: 1988 | Released: 1994
8. Corneille | Vintage: 1990 | Released: 1996
9. Matta | Vintage: 1992 | Released: 1998
10. Zao Wou-Ki | Vintage: 1998 | Released: 2003
11. Rauschenberg | Vintage: 2000 | Released: 2007
12. Amadou Sow | Vintage: 2002 | Released: 2011
13. Sebastião Salgado | Vintage: 2008 | Released: 2016

Due to the limited nature of these bottles, they are becoming increasingly difficult to source - particularly the original vintages from the 1980s. Full collections are especially rare. However, we’ve managed to source an entire collection – all 13 bottles in their original presentation boxes. This is a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase an extremely rare complete set of Taittinger Collection.

We're happy to put prospective buyers in touch with David Cox, the private collector and well known wine trade veteran who has stored each of the Taittinger Collection vintages in his private cellar. He reports all are in perfect condition.

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With history dating back to 1734, Champagne Taittinger is the third oldest House in the region. When Pierre Taittinger purchased Forest-Fourneaux in 1932, the label was officially born and a century of incredible growth saw Taittinger become one of the biggest producers and one of the last big independent, family-owned Houses. This changed briefly after a takeover in the early 2000s, however the House was bought back into the family in 2008 by Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger. Today, the brand has been successfully refreshed with entrepreneurial spirit and is firmly under family control: Pierre-Emmanuel retired in 2019 and was succeeded as President by his daughter Vitalie, supported by her brother Clovis who was promoted to Managing Director primarily focusing on global sales.

The proud owners of 288-hectares of vineyards in the best localities, Taittinger self-supply half of their grape needs. The hallmark of the Taittinger style is the high percentage of Chardonnay, providing the characteristic elegance, delicacy and freshness for which their champagnes are so well-known. The pride of the House is the pure-Chardonnay prestige cuvée Comtes de Champagne, a pioneering blanc de blancs that ranks amongst the finest of all prestige cuvées. In late 2015, Tatittinger announced that they had started sparkling wine production in Southern England.

In 2017 Taittinger received two environmental accreditations : the ‘Viticulture Durable en Champagne’ (Sustainable vine-growing in Champagne) and the Haute Valeur Environnementale (HVE – High environmental sustainability.)

Cellar Master: Alexandre Ponnavoy
Winery Location: Reims | Champagne, France
Champagne Region: Montagne de Reims
Annual Production (bottles): 6,000,000