Fine lemon, meringue, marzipan, subtle smoked stone and toast is chiseled by lemon pith and peel, and run by driving minerality. The core is quite generous, though shaped and bracketed by chalk, which lingers on the buzzing, saline finish.
95 POINTS GISMONDI ON WINE
98 POINTS WINE ENTHUSIAST
(2013 vintage) "Comtes is a remarkable wine, very vintage dependent, but hallmarked with undeniable finesse. For a tête de cuvée, very little of this is produced (around 150K bottles), and certainly not every year (there will be no Comtes 2022 or 2023). 2013 was the 38th vintage of Comtes since 1952.
With GC fruit from Côtes des Blancs' Chouilly, Cramant, Avize, Oger, and Les Mesnil-sur-Oger, this was primarily fermented in stainless, though 5% from estate vineyards in Chouilly was fermented in new 225L barrels for 6 months. Once in bottle, this spent 8 years on lees, and was dosed with 9 g/L when disgorged in 2022.
The ’must-read’ legend of the ‘Comtes de Champagne’ (Counts of Champagne) from the 16th century is a marvellous narrative of an assumed reality, combined with the storyteller’s imagination and poetry. Its relevance today is not so much down to its historical accuracy; it is more an emotional tale, with new adaptations which continue to flourish to this day. The flamboyant legend of Thibaud IV le Chansonnier is very much connected to the unique Comtes de Champagne blend by Taittinger.
A refined Chardonnay
In 1952, the Taittinger Champagne House created the Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs - its most exclusive and premium cuvée - in honour of the Comtes de Champagne and in particular Thibaud IV, whose seal proudly adorns every bottle of Taittinger.
Maturation: This cuvée is created using juice from the first press only. A small percentage (5 %) of the blend is aged in fresh oak barrels to create the very delicate balance of toasted notes in the final wine. Taittinger knows it must be patient with these great Chardonnays, which are the crowning glory of its terroir; the Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs remains for up to 10 years in the chalk quarries beneath Saint-Nicaise, before emerging to ignite and delight the palates of wine-lovers.
