Taittinger Champagne
ChampagneFrance
The most popular Taittinger Champagne brands are rated and compared to other brands. Detailed descriptions along with tasting notes are provided.
Taittinger is one of the few family owned houses remaining in Champagne. The Taittinger group also owns Domaine Carneros in California.
Brut White Blend
Non-vintage
Vintage
Brut Rose
Non-vintage
Vintage
Brut Blanc De Blancs
Vintage
About
Taittinger is Champagne’s sixths largest house. The general style of Taittinger is light, elegant and fruity. Taittinger also owns Domaine Carneros in California. It is one of the few family owned houses remaining in Champagne and sells about 6 million bottles per year. The group also owns Domaine Carneros in California.
Taittinger is the third oldest champagne house, established in 1734 as the House of Fourneaux. The primary development has been since 1932, when it was purchased by the Taittinger family and given their name. The first wines were still red and white, then sparkling followed. The vineyard holdings that have been acquired over time now supply almost half of Taittinger's production needs.
Annual Production
Five to six million bottles are produced annually. Actual production numbers are proprietary.
Producer Style
The typical style for Taittinger Champagne is light, elegant, fruity and floral.
Producer Type
Taittinger has more than 700 acres of vineyard land for their champagne production but they also purchase about half the grapes used in production from other growers. The French regulators designate Taittinger as a Negociant Manipulant (a producer who buys grapes from growers).
Producer Website
www.taittinger.comPeople
Current Owner
Family owned (repurchased by Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger in 2006 from Starwood Capital).
Cellar Master
Alexandre Ponnavoy
Managing Director
Vitalie Damien le Sueur
History
The Taittinger Champagne House was established in 1932, some 200 years after it was originally established by Jacques Fourneaux as Forest-Fourneaux in 1734 after the Fourneaux family joined forces with Antoine Forest. The business was originally located in the Hotel le Vergeur, then the Residence of the Counts of Champagne. The son, and later the grandson of Jacques, were often advisors to Veuve Clicquot. Reliable documentation after the original establishment of the house up to World War I is scarce.
During World War I, Pierre-Charles Taittinger, a calvary officer, visited the Château de la Marquetterie and the neighboring vineyards that were maintained by friar Jean Oudart during the late 17th and early 18th century. Friar Oudart was making wine at the Saint-Nicaise Abbey during the same time period when Dom Perignon was making wine at the Abbey in Hautvillers. The Saint-Nicaise Abbey was destroyed during the French Revolution. The original crayères excavated during Gallo-Roman times that were below the original Abbey can still be visited. These are the cellars where Taittinger ages their famous prestige cuvée, Comtes de Champagne.
During his visit in World War I, Pierre vowed to return someday and make the Château de la Marquetterie his home. He returned with his brother-in-law, Paul Evêque, and purchased the firm of Forest-Fourneaux in 1932. Additional purchases included the Residence of the Counts of Champagne and the Château de la Marquetterie. The name was changed to Ets Taittinger Mailly & Cie. In the depressed economy, he also purchased vineyards throughout the area at inexpensive prices. The Residence of the Counts of Champagne was almost destroyed during World War I. In 1933, the firm was relocated from a location in Mailly to the Residence of the Counts of Champagne in Reims after it was restored. The Counts of Champagne or "Comtes de Champagne" was the name given to Taittinger's prestige cuvée in honor of a descendant of Charlemagne, Thibault IV, for whom the residence was built in the 13th century in Reims.
The building on top of the cellars where the Saint-Nicaise Abbey was located was constructed in the 1920s originally as the Binet Champagne House. In 1942, when Francois Taittinger became head of the firm he moved the primary headquarters from the Residence of the Counts of Champagne to this location at Place St-Nicaise. The Residents of the Counts of Champagne is reserved for special events.
In 2005, American based Starwood Capital acquired the holdings of the Société du Louvre. The holdings included the Taittinger Champagne House. Starwood's primary focus has been the hotel business, so they put Taittinger up for sale. Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger bought back his family's business in 2006.