Average rating 4.9/5 stars across all Google and external reviews
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Bought directly from Hatch Mansfield, the UK agent for Taittinger. The bottles are stored in bond at London City Bond Eton Park, in ideal conditions at a constant 13°C. For same-day deliveries, small quantities are kept in our office cellar, where the temperature is maintained between 11–13°C. We source all our bottles directly from the Maison or their official UK office, eliminating the risk of poor storage. This is crucial, as champagne quality is highly sensitive to heat: temperatures above 18°C accelerate maturity significantly, which compromises quality.
Taittinger Comtes de Champagne is a prestige cuvée blanc de blancs made entirely from Chardonnay grapes sourced from the best vines in the prestigious Côte des Blancs region. It is only produced when the harvest is of exceptional quality worthy of a vintage year. Winemaking methods involve strictly using just the first press juice and ageing 5% of the wines for four months in new oak barrels - a third of which are renewed every year - to enhance the intrinsic qualities and complexities of the final blend. Presented in 18th century antique style bottles, this hand-crafted champagne is aged eighteen metres underground in the UNESCO status Saint-Nicaise cellars in Reims for a minimum of eight years before being released.
Weather: The 2002 vintage shaped up magnificently over the spring, with no significant frost and near-perfect flowering. Then followed a summer marked by long, sunny periods interspersed with regular cloudy and rainy spells. The vines were in good health and the dehydration of the grape berries helped them reach new heights of ripeness. Generally considered one of the best harvests in the last twenty years.
News Article: Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2002 placed third in our comprehensive Prestige Cuvées from 2002 blind tasting in October 2016 with Jancis Robinson MW. Read the full write-up here.
Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Grand Cru | Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay
Ageing: 8-10 years on the lees
Disgorged: June 2012
Dosage: 9 g/l
Drink: Now to 2030+
Tasting Note: Pale golden-yellow colour with a fresh nose opening on grilled, toasty notes. The palate is expressive and powerful, dominated by citrus fruit, with more delicate hints of grapefruit and sweet liquorice notes. This is the most arresting Comtes since 1996: a very drinkable champagne but also one that will enjoy a long future.
Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2002 magnums do not have an individual branded gift box and will be delivered in our own TFB gift box.
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 2005, however the House was bought back into the family in 2006 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.)
Born in 1979 in the region of Dijon, he decided to come to Reims following his MA in Agronomy at the Jules Guyot Institute (University of Burgundy) and ENITA Dijon. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Oenology-Champagne Wines majoring in Quality, Marketing, Legislation and Management. Taking advantage of his educational background he joined a Champagne House in Reims, for which he went to vinify wines in California. From 2007 to 2015, he worked at the Champagne Technological Station as a consulting oenologist. He advised more than 150 wine estates, merchants and cooperators in Champagne (but also in the rest of France and abroad) and accompanied them through the development and marketing of their sparkling wines.
In April 2015, Ponnavoy joined Champagne Taittinger to work alongside Loïc Dupont, immersing himself in the house's philosophy and techniques . After a few years of collaboration, he assumed the role of Chef de Cave in 2017. Ponnavoy brings a more technical and modern approach, with a background in both oenology and viticulture. A mission to uphold the house's style while introducing greater precision and freshness. Continued emphasis on Chardonnay and long lees ageing for top cuvées. Ponnavoy's work is already evident in newer vintages of Comtes and the refinement of the Brut Réserve and Prestige Rosé.
Under Ponnavoy's leadership, Taittinger has reinforced its commitment to sustainable viticulture. The vineyards are managed without herbicides, and practices such as cover cropping and mechanical weeding are employed to promote environmental health and grape quality. Beyond his work in Champagne, Ponnavoy is instrumental in Taittinger's English venture, Domaine Evremond, located in Kent. He applies his expertise to craft English sparkling wines that reflect the same dedication to quality and style as their French counterparts.
Coming from a long-standing Reims family, Loïc Dupont was influenced, from a very young age, by his apprenticeship in the vineyard and wine on the farm of one of his uncles, a harvester-manipulator in Vertus. He chose to complete his training by joining the Reims oenology school, which awarded him his diploma in 1978.
After two jobs, one abroad in a sparkling wine region, he joined Champagne Taittinger in 1984 alongside the Cellar Master Maurice Morlot. There he learned his trade and, above all, the Taittinger style. From 1987 to 1992, he actively participated in the launch of Domaine Carneros a winery created by Champagne Taittinger and Kobrand in the south end of Napa Valley. In 2000, he took up the position of Cellar Master of Maison Taittinger, taking over from Maurice Morlot. His legacy; he is very much the one who fine tuned the Maison style, there was never a weak wine under his tenure, everything was made with a very high level of consistency. Loic also brought that trademark “freshness” to Comtes de Champagne, masterful use of ascorbic acid also known as vitamin C in the right mix acts as an antioxidant.
Expert Reviews
18.5/20
Jancis Robinson MW
“100% Chardonnay. Disgorged March 2012. RS 9 g/l. Tasted blind. Very well mannered. Not at all showy, but all seems to be in the right proportion. Racy and energetic. Really very much in the spirit of 2002. Lots there but such pace! Marked acidity but great fruit too. Long. Youthful.”
18.5/20
Jancis Robinson MW
“Pale greenish straw. Quite a different colour from the vintage 2002 – paler. Lacy reductive nose. Distinctly smoky. Very readable and perfect, fine Chardonnay – richer and more powerful than the 2004. Drink 2018-2030”
19/20
Jancis Robinson MW
“Tasted blind. Deep straw with a yellowish tinge. Lots of evolution on the nose. Lots of grip and great creamy balance. Masses of pleasure. Hedonistic. Rich yet with tension. Not low dosage though!”
97/100
Essi Avellan MW
“Regrettably, fewer bottles were produced by Comtes than usual for this vintage. Comtes seldom disappoints, and the 2002 is no exception. It’s a solid wine in every sense. Its fruitiness is impeccably pure: a combination of sweet, stewed fruit and crunchy fresh fruits. Comtes’s hallmark toastiness expresses itself seductively, lining the opulent fruit. The vivacious palate is seamless and long-lingering. This vintage is in full bloom today.”
95/100
Michael Edwards
“Youthful vigour and purity of green fruits, hazlenuts and a touch of fennel. Great subtlety. Magnum ”
96 → 98/100
Essi Avellan MW
“Bright lemon colour. Restrained yet intense nose still holding back. Beautiful underlying depth and gorgeous toasty layers. A warmer feel than in the 2004. Sweet, bright fruitiness with light spiciness, cinnamon. Superb toasty note. Plenty of character, delivering on every front. Superbly elegant. Regrettably a small-sized vintage for Comtes.”
95/100
Richard Juhlin
“Though very dumb when tasted soon after disgorgement, just three months later you could already taste the grandeur and concentration. There were just 35,000 bottles made in this vintage, 100,000 fewer than normal, so there will be fighting over these dense, lime-scented beauties when the wine finally awakens.”
18/20
Jancis Robinson MW
“Disgorged March 2012. RS 9 g/l. From Taittinger's UK agent, Hatch Mansfield. Tasted blind. Very pale greenish straw. Very, very fine bead. Dense and tight with layers. Comtes or Salon? Very tightly laced with a tiny little bead. Very fine. Comtes?”
19/20
Jancis Robinson MW
“Tasted blind. Disgorged March 2012. Very delicate nose – hugely appetising. Taut and lemony – even lime. Even slightly astringent. I guessed this was definitely a magnum and most of the crowd agreed, but in fact it was a bottle! ”
18.5
Jancis Robinson MW
“Tasted blind. Disgorged June 2012. Richer, more evolved nose than the sample tasted alongside. Much broader and creamier. I thought it therefore had to be from a bottle but in fact it was a magnum.”
98/100
Antonio Galloni
“Taittinger’s 2002 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is off the charts. I have tasted the 2002 now many times, and it has never been less than thrilling. A vivid kaleidoscope of pure Chardonnay aromas and flavors opens up in the glass. The 2002 is at once incredibly rich yet also totally weightless and impeccable in its balance. All the classic Comtes notes are there, but with a level of detail and nuance I don’t think I have ever seen before. The 2002 is breathtakingly beautiful today, but also appears to have the stuffing to age for decades. Personally, I would be looking to buy the 2002 in magnums if at all possible. Sadly, there is little wine to go around as 2002 was a very short crop. Readers who can track down the 2002 are in store for something truly great. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2042”
94/100
Wine Spectator
“A rich base of toasted brioche and briny mineral supports flavors of poached quince, white peach puree, fleur de sel, pastry and smoked almond. There's a quiet verve to this wine, with a fine, silky texture throughout. Drink now through 2025.”
95/100
Stephen Tanzer
“Light, bright gold. A heady, intensely perfumed bouquet evokes lemon curd, pear skin, iodine, honeysuckle and toasty lees, with notes of ginger and honey emerging with air. Strikes an impressive balance of power and restraint, opening slowly to offer vibrant citrus and orchard fruit flavors, along with intense floral and spice nuances. Clings with superb tenacity on the gently smoky finish, which features zesty orange pith and mineral qualities. By the way, the 2004 Comtes de Champagne Rose has become even more intense over the last 12 months, gaining in both mineral and floral intensity. I know the old saw about aging rose Champagne but this is a wine that is built for the long haul.”
18/20
Jancis Robinson MW
“100% Chardonnay. Greenish straw. Nicely balanced and relatively open. Quite a high dosage but very easy to like. Fine and as though there’s a drawstring on the finish. All very neat on the end after quite an effusive beginning. Mid weight to light.”
Today on The Friday Bubble with @essiavellan MW, we compare the new release of Taittinger Prestige Rose NV alongside its predecessor. This is a new blend of Taittinger Rose launched with the dominant year of 2019 vintage in mid 2023.
We are selling an extremely rare complete set of The Taittinger Collection: The Art of Champagne - 13 champagnes in total, from vintage 1978 to vintage 2008.
Earlier this year, we tasted a range of 2018 vins clairs with winemakers at fifteen different houses in Champagne. Thanks to exceptional weather throughout the year, some have been calling it 'the vintage of the century' and expectations are already sky-high. But just how much potential does 2018 have?
The unusual weather patterns in 2018 produced the "perfect conditions for the vineyard", according to new Taittinger Chef de Cave Alexandre Ponnavoy. We met last month to taste the vins clairs, which displayed incredible specificity: each wine showcasing the distinctive characteristics of its individual origins.
Our trip to Reims in August included a smorgasbord of Taittinger: over twenty champagne tasted with head winemaker Loïc Dupont, including an interesting look into the future with Comtes de Champagne 2008 and 2012.
We tasted the 2016 base wines with Vitalie Taittinger, Loïc Dupont & Damien Le Sueur. Discussing the influence of oak barrels, the new 'image of Taittinger Rosé', the potential for Comtes 2016 and Taittinger's new winery; this was a truly eye-opening visit.
