TAITTINGER Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 2014 Bottle

Description

Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 2014, a beautifully defined release from this historic house. Sourced exclusively from Grand Cru vineyards in the Côte des Blancs, this pure Chardonnay is a brilliant example of the crisp, open character of the 2014 vintage. The winemaking includes ageing a small portion in oak barrels for five to six months, adding a lovely, creamy texture.

Highly praised by critics, this vintage boasts an impressive 99 points from James Suckling and 97 points from Vinous. It is incredibly pristine, offering an aromatic profile filled with white flowers, honeysuckle, zesty roasted grapefruit, and sweet clementine. You will also notice classic, mouth-watering notes of toasted brioche, grilled sourdough, and a touch of meringue.

On the palate, it delivers a wonderful sense of tension and racy energy, balanced perfectly by a creamy, elegant mid-palate. Flavours of juicy white peach, crunchy green apple, and lemon sherbet are beautifully intertwined with chalk, mint, and subtle tropical overtones. It feels wonderfully clean and lifted, maintaining a tight, focused structure that leads to a long, seamless finish.

While it is already an absolute delight to enjoy right now, possessing a youthful vibrancy and fresh charm, it also has fantastic cellaring potential. With a little more time in the bottle, that classic toasty richness we love in Comtes will continue to unfurl. This is a truly spectacular Champagne that we know you will absolutely love discovering and sharing with your friends today. Enjoy!

Critics Reviews...

JAMES SUCKLING 99 points/100
Wonderful aromas of cooked apples, bread dough, meringue, honeysuckle, lilacs and some lavender. Medium-bodied with density and focus, a tight palate and a lovely texture. Creamy mouthfeel. Long and seamless finish. Pure chardonnay. Aged for five or six months on the lees in 228-liter barrels. Disgorged January 2025. 9 g/L dosage. Drink or hold.

VINOUS 97 points/100
Drinking window: 2026 - 2044
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.

DECANTER 96 points/100
Drinking Window: 2026 - 2040
Taittinger's Comtes de Champagne shines in 2014. It's a vintage that offered crisp yet open and beautifully defined wines from the grand cru Chardonnays of the Côte des Blancs. This is still primary and youthful, its zesty roasted grapefruit, sweet clementine and pineapple flavours meet juicy white peach and gentle ageing flavours of demerara sugar and toasted brioche. It's a little less intense and dynamic than 2013 but equally fine in its restrained, racy energy. With even a short time on cork the classic toasty Comtes richness will start to emerge.

JANCIS ROBINSON 17.5++ points/100
Not just toast but that grilled sourdough aroma you get in fancy cafés – mouth-watering! Savoury umami notes too: perhaps there's Marmite on that toast. Crunchy green-apple fruit which is surprisingly perky for its age, and a lighter body than I remember from previous vintages of this. The autolytic complexity continues on the palate, while the fruit becomes more like lemon sherbet. Not quite a long finish yet: this feels like there is more to unfurl. Wonderfully clean and lifted, none of the dried fruit of some vintage champagnes. Richard Hemming MW