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.
Originally known as Forest-Fourneaux with history dating back to 1734 and in 1932 Pierre Taittinger bought the House and the Taittinger label was born. A century of incredible growth saw Taittinger become one of the biggest producers and today is one of the last big independent, family-owned Houses. Pierre-Emmanuel retired in 2019 and was succeeded as President by his daughter Vitalie. They own 288-hectares of vineyards and the Taittinger style is the high percentage of Chardonnay. 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.)
Taittinger Comtes de Champagne is a prestige cuvée Blanc de Blancs made entirely from Chardonnay grapes sourced from the best Grand Cru vineyards 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 year 2012 has proven to be an excellent Champagne vintage. This highly contrasting 2012 vintage was characterised by a succession of climatic events that made for particularly challenging conditions for the vines. A mild spell in February was followed by periods of frost in March and again in May with the added impact of hailstorms affecting multiple regions between April and July. Strong periods of sunshine then ensued, without excessive heat levels. This, coupled with low yields allowed for a rare level of maturity and led to the emergence of a harmonious and balanced Comtes de Champagne.
Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Grand Cru | Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay
Lees ageing: 9 years
Disgorged: April 2022
Dosage: 9 g/l
Drink: Now to 2030+
Tasting Note: The 2012 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is showing beautifully out of the gates, offering up demonstrative aromas of sweet golden orchard fruit, buttery croissants, peach and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and enveloping, it's a rich, textural, vinous Comtes somewhat reminiscent of the brilliant 2002. - Tasted by William Kelley
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
97 → 98/100
Essi Avellan MW
“As usual, the 2012 Comtes de Champagne is a classic blend of the five Côte des Blancs grands crus Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Oger and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. This is as classic a recipe as it gets, and it works like a dream. Right upon launch now, it holds back plenty but also gives generously, promising a lot. It's rich and expressive on the nose, with gorgeous toast-lined fruit of the utmost purity. Comtes de Champagne's hallmark toasty layers are already there and increasing. The palate is intense and structured, coming with fine nervosity and tension. Refined, linear and long. This is sheer perfection already, but it's greatly ageworthy. Despite the small yields of the year, an average good volume of Comtes was produced.”
95+/100
William Kelley
“The 2012 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is showing beautifully out of the gates, offering up demonstrative aromas of sweet golden orchard fruit, buttery croissants, peach and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and enveloping, it's a rich, textural, vinous Comtes somewhat reminiscent of the brilliant 2002. If it gains in tension and cut (as the 2002 did and as I suspect the 2012 will) with more time on cork, it will make this initial rating seem conservative.”
18/20
Jancis Robinson MW
“Some smokiness on the nose. Lemony, youthful and still quite tight with a detailed undertow – lots going on there! Lacy texture and impressive length. This one will run and run and seems at this stage to have more pronounced acidity than some of its precursors. Drink 2022–2040”
96/100
Antonio Galloni
“The 2012 Comtes de Champagne is gorgeous. Warm and resonant in the glass, the 2012 Comtes shows all the allure that makes this vintage so appealing. The combination of bright citrus, mineral and floral notes typical of Comtes, enhanced by the soft contours of the vintage, makes for an inviting, open-knit Champagne that is quite showy right out of the gate. Light tropical accents on the finish add an exotic flair. Usually I recommend cellaring just-released Comtes, but that won’t be necessary here.”
99/100
James Suckling
“This is a fantastic and refined Blanc de Blancs. So layered and complex, with lemon curd, chalk, hazelnuts, pastries, baked apples and almond croissants. Structured and tightly wound, with almost imperceptible bubbles. Delicious salty notes at the end. Beautiful. Drink or hold.”
95+/100
Kristaps Karklins
“From a high-maturity vintage shaped by a mid-September harvest and reduced yields owing to significant frost and mildew pressure, the 2012 Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne—disgorged in 2022 with a dosage of nine grams per liter—is showing nicely, offering aromas of mocha, pear, peach and dried flowers mingled with notes of browned, buttered toast. Full-bodied, deep and muscular, with a sweet, enveloping core of fruit, it is an ample and textural Comtes, though without the tension of the 2013 or 2014 editions, and it will age on its concentration rather than its acidity.”
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.
