Taittinger champagne

The House we know today has its origins in a Champagne wine trading house founded by Jacques Fourneaux in 1734. At that time, the Taittinger family were Champagne wine merchants. In 1932, Pierre Taittinger acquired the famous Château de la Marquetterie not far from Epernay. Today, thanks in particular to Pierre's many successors, the Taittinger Champagne House is one of the leading champagne houses not only in Reims and France, but also worldwide.

This success is due to the family motto: excellence. Indeed, "Having our family's name on a bottle imposes a responsibility and a requirement of every moment." (Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger)

First and foremost, it's worth noting that Taittinger is distinguished by its use of Chardonnay, which has become a hallmark of the House, as most other houses use mainly Pinot Noir. There are many reasons for this choice of Chardonnay, not least its freshness, delicacy and elegance, incomparable to other Champagne grape varieties, which always produce wines of a certain restraint.

Now let's talk about the House's legendary cuvées!

Let's start with Cuvée Comtes de Champagne, a famous 100% Chardonnay! This Blanc de Blancs champagne has always been made in good years. Recent vintages in bottle are: 1990, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 20082.

There's a Comtes de Champagne Blanc, but there's also a rosé version, called Comtes de Champagne Rosé.

Champagne Taittinger is just as well known for its Blanc de Blancs as for its Rosés. The Prestige Rosé is one of the House's flagship cuvées! This Rosé stands out for the shimmering color of its generous robe, which owes the secret of its bewitching color to its methodical composition of different grape varieties: 12 to 15% red wine from the best Pinots Noirs in Champagne give this champagne great intensity on the palate. There's also 30% Chardonnay, which gives Prestige Rosé Taittinger the elegance so typical of Taittinger Champagnes, and a few touches of Meunier, which give the wine its bind and deliciousness.

Next up is Les Folies de la Marquetterie, a cuvée made exclusively from grapes grown in the Taittinger vineyards. It's a wine with aromas of peach and apricot compote.

This champagne was created because Claude Taittinger wanted to pay tribute to the Château de la Marquetterie, the cradle of the House's history, by creating a wine made from the surrounding Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines. What's more, the name comes from the word "folie", meaning a steeply sloping plot of land, so steep that it seems mad to grow vines there.

And don't forget that Maison Taittinger publishes a special series called the "Taittinger Collection", created by Claude Taittinger. The concept: call upon some of the greatest masters of art to enhance the bottles of the House's vintage Grands Crus. The latest edition of this "Taittinger Collection" dates back to 2016 with the 13th bottle, whose image was redesigned by French-Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado.

The name "Taittinger Champagne" also appears in artistic works in its own right. It is regularly mentioned in the SAS series of novels, but is also cited in several James Bond books, notably in Ian Fleming's "James Bond, Casino Royale", (1951) "Give me some Taittinger blanc de blancs... It's not very well known, but it's the best champagne in the world."