Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rose 2006

Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rosé is a prestige cuvée made entirely from grapes sourced from the best vines in the prestigious Côte des Blancs and Montage de Reims regions. 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. The Pinot Noir grapes, 15% of which are made into red wine, originate from the famous vineyards of Bouzy. 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.

Loïc Dupont, head winemaker at Taittinger commented: "I think the recently released 2006 vintage is possibly the closest stylistic comparison to emerge since the 2002."

Weather: The 2006 vintage was a year of mixed weather. It began with a rainy spell and late spring, but with little or no frost in the vineyards. Early summer was positive, with the months of June and July creating perfect conditions for flowering. Although there were some storms in late-July, the overall health of the vines was great since the weather remained hot through to the harvest with spells of rain in August promoting even healthier grapes.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Grand Cru | Pinot Noir: Bouzy | Chardonnay: Avize, Chouilly, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger | Red Wine: Bouzy
Grape Varieties: 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay | inc. 15% Red Wine
Ageing: 8-10 years on the lees
Dosage: 9 g/l
Drink: Now to 2031

Tasting Note: On the nose this champagne has bursts of strawberries, morello cherries and blackcurrants. On the palate it is very expressive with more blackcurrant flavour and a hint of pear. The mid-palate contains a tannin tartness that leads to a magnificent finish that lingers. Ideal for fruit desserts.

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 remains President, son Cloivs is Export Director and daughter Vitalie is Marketing Director.

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.

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