Winemaker Notes
Aromas of toasted brioche and pastries flavored with lemon meringue, hazelnut and almond. On the palate, the bubbles leave a gentle caress with a hint of zest and passion. This Comtes de Champagne 2014 offers a superb, mouthwatering freshness, an excellent structure and a long finish.
Pair with scallop carpaccio, blue lobster, salmon roe, sole meunière Brillat-Savarin cheese and spice-roasted apple/pear.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Apricots, hazelnuts, lemons, white flowers, sliced almonds and hints of licorice on the nose. It's creamy and layered, with soft, rounded bubbles that spread across the palate. Lovely balance of breadth, ripeness and freshness, with delicious wildflower honey and nut notes lingering. 100% grand cru chardonnay from Avize, Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Cramant and Chouilly. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Closed in style and character like the 2013, Taittinger's 2014 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne reveals aromas of ripe orchard fruit, confit citrus, dried flowers, herbs, spring blossoms and mirabelle mingled with customary autolytic notes. Full-bodied, seamless and enrobing, it has a delicate, elegant, fleshy core of fruit and racy acids, all enhanced by a saline, fresh and penetrating finish marked by finesse and elegance. This refined, chalky-inflected Comtes de Champagne has the potential to age gracefully over the next 30-40 years.
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Vinous
The 2014 Comtes de Champagne is pristine. In this tasting, it comes across as a mini-2008, similar in its linear personality, with just a touch more mid-palate creaminess. Readers will find a Comtes that plays in the realm of tension and energy. Citrus confit, white flowers, chalk, mint and chamomile are all finely sketched. Light tropical overtones grace the finish. What an absolute delight. The 2014 can be enjoyed now or cellared. Dosage is 9 grams per liter.
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Wine Spectator
A textbook blanc de blancs Champagne, with a rich waft of toasted hazelnut on the nose, plus a voluptuous range of poached apricot, quince paste, tangerine peel and brioche notes that expand on the finely detailed mousse. Focused by well-cut acidity, this is long and mouthwatering, with fragrant spice, mineral and floral accents on the finish. Drink now through 2040.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’