The Taittinger Champagne collection is presented below along with ratings and price classes. Brut Champagne is presented first followed by sweet Champagne. Compare Taittinger ratings and prices to similar brands by clicking on the link.
Brut Champagne has a dosage of 0 to 12 grams per liter. Brut nature and extra brut are sub-designations within brut. Click on the link for detailed ratings, price class, tasting notes, and characteristics.
Brut Reserve is a white blend of pinot noir, chardonnay, and meunier.
Taittinger Brut Reserve - rating [na] - price class [$50-$74]
Prelude Grands Crus is a white blend of pinot noir and chardonnay. Production is entirely from grands crus vineyards.
Taittinger Prelude Grands Crus - rating [91] - price class [$75-$99]
Folies De La Marquetterie is a white blend of pinot noir and chardonnay.
Folies De La Marquetterie - rating [90] - price class [$75-$99]
Taittinger Prestige Rose’ is a blend of pinot noir and chardonnay.
Taittinger Prestige Rose’ - rating [90] - price class [$50-$74]
Taittinger Vintage is a blend of pinot noir and chardonnay.
Taittinger Vintage 2015 - rating [93] - price class [$75-$99]
Comtes De Champagne Rose’ is a blend of pinot noir and chardonnay. Production is entirely from grands crus vineyards.
Comtes De Champagne Rose’ 2009 - rating [94] - price class [$200-$299]
Comtes De Champagne Rose’ 2008 - rating [95] - price class [$200-$299]
Comtes De Champagne Blancs De Blancs is produced entirely from grands crus chardonnay vineyards.
Comtes De Champagne Blanc De Blancs 2013 - rating [97] - price class [$150-$199]
Comtes De Champagne Blanc De Blancs 2012 - rating [96] - price class [$200-$299]
Comtes De Champagne Blanc De Blancs 2011 - rating [94] - price class [$200-$299]
Sweet Champagne has a dosage greater than 12 grams per liter. Sweetness levels include extra sec, sec, demi-sec, and doux. Taittinger offers a sec white blend, a sec rose’, and a dem-sec white blend.
Sec has a dosage of 17 to 32 grams per liter. Click on a link for price class, tasting notes, and characteristics.
Nocturne is a sec white blend of pinot noir, chardonnay, and meunier. It has a dosage of 17.5 grams per liter.
Taittinger Nocturne - rating [na] - price class [$50-$74]
Nocturne Rose’ is a sec rose’ with a blend of pinot noir, chardonnay, and meunier. It has a dosage of 17.5 grams per liter.
Taittinger Nocturne Rose’ - rating [na] - price class [$75-$99]
Demi-sec has a dosage of 32 to 50 grams per liter. Click on a link for price class, tasting notes, and characteristics.
Taittinger Demi-Sec is a white blend blend of pinot noir, chardonnay, and meunier. It has a dosage of 35 grams per liter.
Taittinger Demi-Sec - rating [na] - price class [$50-$74]
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.
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).
The typical style for Taittinger Champagne is light, elegant, fruity and floral.
Five to six million bottles are produced annually. Actual production numbers are proprietary.
Family owned (repurchased by Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger in 2006 from Starwood Capital).
Alexandre Ponnavoy
Vitalie Damien le Sueur
Champagne Taittinger
9 Place Saint-Nicaise
51100 Reims - France
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.