2005 Champagne Taittinger, Comtes de Champagne, Blanc de Blancs, Brut
Critics reviews
Pale gold and most attractive on the nose with notes of citrus and putty but with admirable density on the palate and such brisk freshness without its tasting like jagged acidity. There is more than a nod to minerality.
It tastes thoroughly modern somehow, in a good way. All the elements in this wine, which reminds me a little of the 1995, are beautifully integrated and yield a subtle, powerful finish – yet I’m sure it has a pretty glorious life ahead of it.
Drink from 2013 onward
Jancis Robinson MW, jancisrobinson.com
A truly wonderful wine from the start but slow to develop in the glass this time. As usual, Taittinger succeeds very well in warm, acid-weak vintages, when the neighbours’ wines often appear flat and simplistic.
Even though the acidity is not particularly accentuated here either, the vineyards’ aromatic citrus fresh touch leaves a fresh, uplifting side to the creamy, fat smoothness.
The finish is certainly chalky and elegant, but it rises to heavenly heights with a 1976-like butterscotch soft, warm, sweet-flavoured embracing pillow.
Drink 2014 - 2025
Richard Juhlin, Decanter.com
The 2005 Champagne Blanc de Blancs Comtes De Champagne is a deep, rich, full-bodied beauty that packs serious amounts of fruit and texture while never seeming heavy or rustic. Loaded with notions of orchards fruits, toast, caramelized citrus and distinct minerality, it has a broad, expansive, yet fine mousse, beautiful mid-palate depth and a great, great finish. It’s well worth seeking out.
Drink 2017 - 2032
Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com (December 2017)
About this WINE
Champagne Taittinger
Taittinger is one of the few family-owned independent Champagne houses in Reims. It produces a very classy Non-Vintage blend and complex Vintage Champagnes as well.
Its top Champagne is Comtes De Champagne - first produced in 1952, it is made from 100% Chardonnay grapes from 6 Grand Cru sites in the Côte de Blancs. This is finely aromatic, rich, creamy Blanc de Blancs at its best, though patience is required as the wine should not be approached for at least ten years.
Blanc de Blancs
In Champagne, the term Blanc de Blancs designates Champagnes made only from white grape varieties, either as blends or single-varietal wines. The vineyards located between Cramant and Mesnil-sur-Oger in Côte des Blancs yield the best examples of the style.
A classic Blanc de Blancs is restrained and elegant when young, yet with ageing it develops a mouth-coating brioche richness that overlays an intense expression of fruitiness. Blanc de Blancs are endowed with longer ageing potential than a typical Blanc de Noirs.
Recommended Producers: Salon, Billecart Salmon, Jacques Selosse, Dom Ruinart, Krug, Le Mesnil Grand Cru, Guy Larmandier
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.
It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.
Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
2005 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne is finely aromatic, a rich and creamy Blanc de Blancs at its very best. Although the 2005 can be enjoyed from release, a decade of patience will be well rewarded. When Pierre Taittinger first discovered the Champagne region, he was a young officer during the First World War. He returned several years later to invest his energy into developing a family-owned independent Champagne house in Reims, which is still managed by the Taittinger family today.
Francois Taittinger chose Chardonnay as the dominant grape because he believed that modern tastes would increasingly appreciate the lightness, finesse, and elegance of the Chardonnay grape in their flagship offering, Comtes de Champagne, first produced in 1952. “We will never produce a large quantity of Comtes de Champagne because the technical characteristics we require so that this cuvée can be a great wine are essentially unique in Champagne and very financially demanding. The Comtes de Champagne displays an eternal youth derived from our province’s greatest Chardonnay, a triumphant blend of force and elegance. Connoisseurs will appreciate it.”
Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger
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