Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2008 is the Reims house's top cuvée from a vintage widely regarded as a great one for Champagne. It is pure grand cru Chardonnay, precise and chalky, with years of ageing still ahead.
About This Champagne
All the fruit is Chardonnay from the five grand cru villages of the Côte des Blancs: Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oger. Only the first-pressing juice is used. About 5% of the blend spends four months in new oak barrels, a third of which are replaced each year, which adds a light toasted note rather than woodiness. 2008 brought a long, cold, dry winter, a wet spring and a warm summer, and the house describes the wine as fresh, taut, pure and salty. It rested more than ten years in the cellars before release.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Pear, lime and orange blossom, with white pepper, a hint of liquorice and light toast.
- Palate: Vibrant and tightly focused, mineral and tense, then mellow freshness in the middle.
- Finish: Long and finely balanced, white fruit, grapefruit and mint over a delicately honeyed close.
Serving & Food
Serve at 10 to 12°C in a white Burgundy glass; decanting for 15 minutes helps it open. It works well with langoustine, sole meunière or steamed razor clams with garlic. Drinking well now and should keep improving for another decade or more.
How to Enjoy
A special occasion that calls for a grand cru Blanc de Blancs from a top vintage.
Product Details
Producer: Taittinger
Wine: Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs
Vintage: 2008
Region: Champagne, France
Villages: Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger (Grands Crus)
Grape: 100% Chardonnay
Oak: 5% aged 4 months in new oak
ABV: 12.5%
Format: 750mL
About the Maison
Comtes de Champagne was first made in 1952, and only 37 vintages had been released by the time the 2008 came out. It is Taittinger's flagship and a clear expression of the house's lean towards Chardonnay. Pierre Taittinger established the family in Champagne in 1932 when he bought Château de la Marquetterie, south of Reims. The wines age in chalk galleries dug in the Gallo-Roman era beneath the Saint-Nicaise hill in Reims, some 18 metres underground, now part of the UNESCO-listed Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars. The house is family-run again, with Vitalie Taittinger president and her brother Clovis general manager.