TN to follow- as with 2008 clearly a great wine, but also with a bit more volume and sweetness than I am used to in a young Comtes. Anyone else notice this? Maybe an exception from the norm for both vintages, or has there been a subtle shift here? The 2007 was very much to my liking FWIW.
2012 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
bright light yellow color, attractive nose of rich ripe apples and roasted nuts, lime and floral notes, on the palate quite open like many 2012s with a generous and ripe orchard fruit- mostly apple with a bit of pear- and some crystalline mineral notes, grapefruit, broad and expansive but with the mousse notes that come with time still very much in hiding, good length with precise and lively acids to offset the grand midpalate, this is drinking well already and with a classic Comte profile but as with the 2008 I am getting more volume and sweetness here than I am accustomed to, a wonderful wine to be sure- but not in the lighter and more beaming style of vintages I favor such as 1995 and 2002 (and the latter an even bigger and richer vintage in general than 2012), and so as with the 2008- best to try it first if you have a long history of tasting Comtes young.
I recently had this, and yes, I would agree that it showed more sweetness too, but I also thought the same thing with the 2008, and also at the same time had 2006, which frankly blew the doors off of the other two vintages.
Glad to hear the style is shifting richer. Went deep on the 2012s for the richness of the vintage. Also looking forward to the 2013s being finer and more delicate, if they do release a 2013
I have had it several times since release, and don’t really agree with this. I think it’s a bit riper than the 08 which is more acid focused but that’s more a result of the vintage being a little warmer and broader. I think the house style feels very similar to me. I don’t think 12 is ultimately going to be as good as 08 but it’s still an outstanding vintage and every bit as good as the 2002 IMO.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. To clarify- my contention is that both the 2008 and 2012 seemed to be veering in more of a full-bodied and sweet direction, very slightly and in relative terms to their peers for a given vintage. But then again these are two singular vintages, hence my curiosity if others felt the same- it may need more experience with other vintages to really know for sure.
I think it depends on your frame of reference. If you benchmark 04 Comtes against any number of grower BdBs it is imo quite middle of the road in terms of acidity. Is it noticeably more acid driven than the average Comtes? Yes
I opened a bottle of this yesterday, for Mothers’ Day, without any prior experience with this vintage of this wine (have had '08 and '06), and found it exceptional and rewarding. Voluptuous and lively texture, complex fruit profile, balanced acidity to keep the wine from becoming ponderous, with a moderatly long finish. Yes, some sweetness but I’d expect that of any tete de cuvee with the typical higher dosage.
We were choosing between this and '12 Dom Perignon, which we have had before, and I’m very happy we choose the Comtes, as it was superior (more rewarding) to what I recall our last bottle of '12 Dom delivering.
I’ve had a bunch of the 12 comtes lately and I do think it’s gotten quite a bit better over the last 12-18 months. It’s starting to become more quintessentially comtes, with the acid/fruit ratio coming better into balance.
I’m happy to have a couple bottles of both stashed away. The 12s for my daughter; the 08s are for me (or more likely to trade for my other kids later).