Champagne Taittinger Brand Overview
This Champagne House was originally established by Jacques Fourneaux under his own name in 1743, making it the third oldest Champagne House in existence. Jacques came from a family of important vineyard owners and was succeeded by his son Jerome who was the advisor to the young widowed Nicole-Barbe Clicquot. Jerome blended all the Veuve Clicquot wines between 1805 and 1810.
There is little to say about the formative years which were uneventful compared to the great success of the post-war period. Purchased in 1932 by Pierre Taittinger, he went about changing the name to Taittinger Mailly & Cie and started purchasing a great number of vineyards whilst the economy was depressed and land was going cheap.
Pierre had spent much time in the Champagne region when serving in the First World War as a young cavalry officer. Stationed at the Château de la Marquetterie, he fell in love with this remarkable property whose name came from the history of cultivating alternating plots of black and white grapes and the Château was one of his most revered purchases. Taittinger’s home is situated above miles of chalk tunnels and fourth century Roman cellars once belonging to the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of St Nicaise and are perfect for the slow ageing process required for great champagnes.
Owning some 288 hectares of vineyards in the best localities of Champagne makes Taittinger the second largest domaine owner in the region. The most famous of these are the vineyards surrounding Château de la Marquetterie and parcels in the prestigious Côte des Blancs. These ensure a regular supply of approximately 50% of Taittinger’s annual needs, significantly more than other well-known Champagne houses. The remaining 50% are purchased from carefully selected growers, some of whose links go back four generations. As quality is of paramount importance, Taittinger only use grapes from the finest vineyards in Champagne and impressively rank in the top two major Champagne houses in terms of self-sufficient supply.
The hallmark of Champagne Taittinger is the high percentage of Chardonnay used in their winemaking which can be anything from 40% in the Brut Réserve to 100% in the prestige cuvée Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs. This Chardonnay dominance provides a style of elegance, delicacy and finesse which is recognised worldwide and has earned the house many accolades and awards over the years.
All of the Chardonnay grapes used in Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs originate from the 100% rated Grand Cru vineyards of Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-Sur-Oger and Oger in the Côte des Blancs. Vineyard procurement is the role of Managing Director, Damien Le Sueur, the vineyards are then managed under the watchful eye of Vincent Collard and the champagnes are made by long-standing Taittinger Chef de Cave, Loïc Dupont.
Today, the Reims-based House is headed by Pierre’s son, Pierre-Emmanual Taittinger. His son Clovis and daughter Vitalie are also both actively involved in the day-to-day running of this thriving family-run Champagne house.
