Taittinger Champagne
What a privileged tasting! Always one of my favourites, it was a pleasure to welcome their Brand Ambassador Justin Llewellyn back to OUWS. This is a chap who endured 135 champagne dinners last year in the line of duty. Little sympathy was shown!
The history of this famous “Grand Marque” is well known if somewhat convoluted. The key point is that it remains family owned, which is unusual for a house of this size in the commercial world of Champagne today.
Taittinger was originally founded as “Fourneaux” in 1734 (the third oldest), and the Taittinger family link began in 1931 when Pierre-Charles Taittinger acquired the property and cellars. The vineyards were thrown in for free! Pierre-Charles had originally been billeted in Chateau La Marquetterie during the 1914-18 war and had vowed that if he survived he would one day return and purchase it. Despite the larger family conglomerate which included Taittinger being purchased by American owners briefly in the 1990’s, the Champagne house has always remained under family control and is now back in their hands again as an independent producer under the leadership of Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger.
It was interesting to take our guest speaker off-topic a few times during the evening. Grey market Champagnes, loss leader offers and the significant differences between the Champagne and the rest of the wine trade were all covered. In the current time of economic uncertainty Champagne sales are apparently being crunched across the board for all producers. Many prestige cuvees that were previously on allocation are now freely available as producers try to shift unsold stock. With respect to the newly enlarged Champagne AC area, the feeling was that despite recent publicity this will make little difference to the market for 20-years. In the current climate no-one will be rushing to define and plant this anyway.
An interesting defence was made for the Pinot Meunier grape during the tasting. Others have spoken of this in a disparaging light. Although acknowledging that it is cheaper than Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, it adds a floral character and matures quicker hence is well suited to NV blends.
For me Taittinger is defined by its style – this is a Chardonnay dominated house (never less than 40%), although this evening revealed a number of newer wines with a much stronger Pinot Noir character. This may come as a surprise to some who are familiar with the lighter Taittinger style – I have always thought of this as more elegant and feminine compared to the brawn of its classic competitor Bollinger. That is not to say one style is preferable to the other – it just depends what you’re having for breakfast with it!
Taittinger Brut Reserve NV
15.5+/20
45% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Meunier, 20% Pinot Noir
Pale lemon colour. Open nose, clean, crisp and cool. Lemon grass character. Fine mousse, light and delicate. Crisp apple acidity. A little nutty on the finish and notable long. This is a really significant step up from your average NV blend.
Taittinger Prelude Grand Cru NV15.5+/20
50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir. The style aims at half way between NV and vintage Champagne. Intended as an aperitif wine. All Grand Cru fruit.
Notably darker with obvious Pinot Noir – hints of blush. Perfumed nose, again with Pinot character noticeable. Feels like a touch of sweetness with a noticeably richer palate. Balanced and structured. Long.
Taittinger Les Folies de la Marquetterie NV
16/20
60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay
This is a single vineyard wine, unusual in Champagne. Coming from the vineyards immediately surround Chateau la Marquetterie, its name originates from the local villagers who maintained it was a folly to plant vines there! Small production of 10,000 bottles. Half of the Chardonnay was vinified in oak barrels.
Lighter pale lemon colour. Nose quite subdued. Needs time? Palate is really very fine however. Structured, weighty, complex. Finely wrought. More like a fine Burgundy. Definitely sufficient structure to accompany food. Will doubtless improve further in the short term. Very enjoyable. Impressive.
Taittinger Brut Vintage 200216+/20
Pale lemon colour with an open, very floral nose. Classic Taittinger. Steely character, very expansive with a lot of extract. Mousse a little too full for me. Whilst enjoyable now, this clearly needs some more time in the bottle to develop and evolve – many years ahead for it. Very good length. Impressive wine.
Taittinger Brut Prestige Rosé NV
15.5/20
Made by the addition method, simply mixing in red wine to the base white.
Very pale rose colour. Nose is closed currently but some strawberry character is discernible. The palate is a little austere to my mind, and the Pinot almost seems to have given it some tannin. This is a more serious rosé, not an apéritif quaffer.
Taittinger Nocturne Sec NV
??/20 – probably I would give this 15-16/20
Tricky – I found this very difficult to place, particularly after the previous wines we’d tasted this evening. A rich ‘sec’ style with considerable sweetness. Intended for dessert or the end of an evening.
Pale lemon colour. Open, sweet floral nose. Palate is moderately sweet – it tastes like something ~30-50 g/L of residual sugar, though I suspect this may be higher as the acidity doubtless offsets this. Pinot Noir overtones. I suspect when drunk as intended this is a splendid glass of wine, but after all we have tasted so far this evening I found this a little difficult to adjust to.
What a privileged tasting! Always one of my favourites, it was a pleasure to welcome their Brand Ambassador Justin Llewellyn back to OUWS. This is a chap who endured 135 champagne dinners last year in the line of duty. Little sympathy was shown!
The history of this famous “Grand Marque” is well known if somewhat convoluted. The key point is that it remains family owned, which is unusual for a house of this size in the commercial world of Champagne today.
Taittinger was originally founded as “Fourneaux” in 1734 (the third oldest), and the Taittinger family link began in 1931 when Pierre-Charles Taittinger acquired the property and cellars. The vineyards were thrown in for free! Pierre-Charles had originally been billeted in Chateau La Marquetterie during the 1914-18 war and had vowed that if he survived he would one day return and purchase it. Despite the larger family conglomerate which included Taittinger being purchased by American owners briefly in the 1990’s, the Champagne house has always remained under family control and is now back in their hands again as an independent producer under the leadership of Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger.
It was interesting to take our guest speaker off-topic a few times during the evening. Grey market Champagnes, loss leader offers and the significant differences between the Champagne and the rest of the wine trade were all covered. In the current time of economic uncertainty Champagne sales are apparently being crunched across the board for all producers. Many prestige cuvees that were previously on allocation are now freely available as producers try to shift unsold stock. With respect to the newly enlarged Champagne AC area, the feeling was that despite recent publicity this will make little difference to the market for 20-years. In the current climate no-one will be rushing to define and plant this anyway.
An interesting defence was made for the Pinot Meunier grape during the tasting. Others have spoken of this in a disparaging light. Although acknowledging that it is cheaper than Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, it adds a floral character and matures quicker hence is well suited to NV blends.
For me Taittinger is defined by its style – this is a Chardonnay dominated house (never less than 40%), although this evening revealed a number of newer wines with a much stronger Pinot Noir character. This may come as a surprise to some who are familiar with the lighter Taittinger style – I have always thought of this as more elegant and feminine compared to the brawn of its classic competitor Bollinger. That is not to say one style is preferable to the other – it just depends what you’re having for breakfast with it!
Taittinger Brut Reserve NV
15.5+/20
45% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Meunier, 20% Pinot Noir
Pale lemon colour. Open nose, clean, crisp and cool. Lemon grass character. Fine mousse, light and delicate. Crisp apple acidity. A little nutty on the finish and notable long. This is a really significant step up from your average NV blend.
Taittinger Prelude Grand Cru NV15.5+/20
50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir. The style aims at half way between NV and vintage Champagne. Intended as an aperitif wine. All Grand Cru fruit.
Notably darker with obvious Pinot Noir – hints of blush. Perfumed nose, again with Pinot character noticeable. Feels like a touch of sweetness with a noticeably richer palate. Balanced and structured. Long.
Taittinger Les Folies de la Marquetterie NV
16/20
60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay
This is a single vineyard wine, unusual in Champagne. Coming from the vineyards immediately surround Chateau la Marquetterie, its name originates from the local villagers who maintained it was a folly to plant vines there! Small production of 10,000 bottles. Half of the Chardonnay was vinified in oak barrels.
Lighter pale lemon colour. Nose quite subdued. Needs time? Palate is really very fine however. Structured, weighty, complex. Finely wrought. More like a fine Burgundy. Definitely sufficient structure to accompany food. Will doubtless improve further in the short term. Very enjoyable. Impressive.
Taittinger Brut Vintage 200216+/20
Pale lemon colour with an open, very floral nose. Classic Taittinger. Steely character, very expansive with a lot of extract. Mousse a little too full for me. Whilst enjoyable now, this clearly needs some more time in the bottle to develop and evolve – many years ahead for it. Very good length. Impressive wine.
Taittinger Brut Prestige Rosé NV
15.5/20
Made by the addition method, simply mixing in red wine to the base white.
Very pale rose colour. Nose is closed currently but some strawberry character is discernible. The palate is a little austere to my mind, and the Pinot almost seems to have given it some tannin. This is a more serious rosé, not an apéritif quaffer.
Taittinger Nocturne Sec NV
??/20 – probably I would give this 15-16/20
Tricky – I found this very difficult to place, particularly after the previous wines we’d tasted this evening. A rich ‘sec’ style with considerable sweetness. Intended for dessert or the end of an evening.
Pale lemon colour. Open, sweet floral nose. Palate is moderately sweet – it tastes like something ~30-50 g/L of residual sugar, though I suspect this may be higher as the acidity doubtless offsets this. Pinot Noir overtones. I suspect when drunk as intended this is a splendid glass of wine, but after all we have tasted so far this evening I found this a little difficult to adjust to.
No comments:
Post a Comment