Wine Reviews
The 2021-based release of Taittinger’s NV Prestige Rosé, incorporating reserve wines from 2019, 2018 and 2016 and disgorged in January 2025 with a dosage of nine grams per liter, is showing well, revealing aromas of wild strawberry, raspberry and pink grapefruit mingling with brioche and timut pepper. Medium- to full-bodied, ample yet vibrant, it includes 14% still red wine, which lends attractive phenolic grip to its rich core of fruit. It is a blend of 35% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir and 25% Pinot Meunier. Its clear-glass bottle leaves it vulnerable to light strike, so it is essential to avoid exposure to direct sunlight.
The newest release of Taittinger’s NV Prélude Grands Crus, drawn entirely from the 2017 vintage and disgorged in June 2024 with a dosage of nine grams per liter, offers up aromas of toasted bread, pear, peach and almond paste, subtly framed by gentle reduction. Medium- to full-bodied, muscular and broad-shouldered, the wine possesses a rich core of fruit yet remains lively structured around racy acids, culminating in an enveloping finish. Sourced—as ever—from six grand cru villages (Mailly-Champagne, Verzenay, Ambonnay, Avize, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oger), it is a 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, though there is no question that 2017 favored Chardonnay, as red varieties faced considerable disease pressure throughout the region.
Derived entirely from the 2018 vintage and disgorged in January 2024 with a dosage of nine grams per liter, Taittinger’s NV Folies de la Marquetterie is the usual blend of 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay, with 30% of the vins clairs fermented in 42-liter wooden foudres. The fruit was originally sourced exclusively from the family’s Château de la Marquetterie holdings in Pierry but now incorporates 14 parcels from Pierry, Trépail, Hautvillers, Verzenay and Mailly-Champagne. One of the fuller-bodied, broader-shouldered wines in the range, it offers aromas of pear, lemon confit and warm brioche with a gentle reductive inflection, followed by a vinous, succulent palate with a sweet core of fruit, ripe yet vibrant acids and an enveloping finish, where delicate phenolic bitters assert themselves. It is a cuvée that never requires chaptalization—least of all in the warm, dry 2018 vintage, when harvest commenced at the end of August—and it delivers a more gourmand profile that benefits from a bit of time under cork to fully unfurl.
Disgorged in February 2025 with a dosage of nine grams per liter, the 2012 Comtes de Champagne Rosé opens with a flamboyant, perfumed bouquet of crushed raspberry, blood orange and cherry, mingling with sweet red plum and hints of timut pepper. The full-bodied palate is layered, broad and textural, its generous core of fruit sustained by ripe yet racy acidity and a pillowy mousse that lends liveliness, before the wine culminates in a long, enveloping finish with a touch of phenolic bitterness. Composed of 60% Pinot Noir—including 16% still red wine from Bouzy—and 40% Chardonnay, it can already be enjoyed with satisfaction, though one should reasonably anticipate that it will accrue additional complexity after a few more years under cork.
Occupying a stylistic middle ground between the incisiveness of the 2013 and the fleshier textures of the 2012, Taittinger’s 2014 Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne—disgorged in July 2024 with a dosage of nine grams per liter—has turned out beautifully. It offers aromas of orange peel, peach, pear and brioche mingled with hazelnut and burnt buttered toast. On the palate, it is full-bodied, ample and textural, with a layered yet crisp core of fruit, considerable tension and a long, chalky finish. Harmonious and racy-fresh though it is, this is a marginally richer rendition than the 2013 tasted alongside it, yet both promise excellent longevity and will make for fascinating comparative tastings in the years to come.
