Just like stock investments, dont chase wines.
‘11/‘12/‘13 are priced lowest to highest in that order in both the UK and US. ‘11 is trading around $110 in the UK! Is ‘14 release confirmed?
I have had the ‘12 four times, really liked the first 2 bottles, the 3rd and 4th bottles seemed shut-down. Just one bottle of the ‘13 a couple of days ago and that seemed dominated by the dosage at the moment, but great texture/chalk/acidity. I think they are both going to great in time and at current pricing, best value high-end Champagne available.
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Perhaps, but it might just have been that Taittinger released the ‘12 at an aggressive price just as the high end of the fine wine market started to cool across the board. Just bad timing…
I hear that, makes sense and may grab 6 more but for ppl that average 6-12 bottles of wine per vintage, it’s hard to “cost average down”.
Jon,
Did you notice the lot number on the bottle for the approximate disgorgement date? Mine were early 2023 so they had around 9-10 months of post-disgorgement age before I tried them. The 9 g/L dosage is a bit on the high side for today’s prestige wines and it did have a slightly sweet or honeysuckle character, but I think that will help the wine out in the long run.
Timing is everything, but they also released very little first tranche in the UK and the price was under $130 US. They could have sold mass quantities at that price. However, it was highly allocated at the time. Shortly before the ‘13 was released large tranches of the ‘12 showed up at various merchants at around $150 US I recall. ‘13 however was not allocated and available at $150 US at the release price. You could buy as much as you wanted, no allocations. Ironically, I now own more ‘12 than ‘13, most of which I bought earlier this year. I am fine with Taittinger pricing their product however they deem appropriate, but I think a large part of their appeal to folks who actually drink it was what a great value it was and how easy it was to acquire. When the value proposition changed so did demand.
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Brad,
I picked up a 6-pack locally so I will check the bottles when I get home later this week. Drinking a young ‘22 Sangiovese at Troquet on South in Boston at the moment. Great wine list but as a solo diner, I can only drink by the glass.
I thought I sensed a little heat on the backend of the ‘13. I never paid attention to ABV on Comtes before but I checked this bottle said and listed 12.5%. Is that typical for Comtes?
Jon,
All my Comtes bottles since the 2005 vintage have 12.5% alcohol on them although there could be regional variations. In general, 12.5% is an estimate as the real level could be a little lower or higher. In general, the larger producers try to be pretty uniform with keeping the alcohol in the 12-13% range, but there are exceptions. 2013 was neither a low nor high alcohol potential year (at least in modern terms). Most folks brought in Chardonnay grapes in the 10-11% range.
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Ok, then definitely not alcohol. Maybe just picking up on some spice flavors fooling my palate. Otherwise the texture/acidity/chalk were very impressive.
Jon,
Early 2023 disgorgement which is all that I have seen out in the wild so far.
Thanks Brad. Does the E stand for early (seems too obvious) or does something else indicate when in the year it was disgorged.
I have a couple of wine dinners in early January and I am tempted to bring a bottle with me to see what others think.
Taittinger’s lot code used to be really easy to decipher it was typically LYDDD with Y being the last digit of the year and DDD being the day of the year. They changed it up this year and now you have LE23CEG00500 translating to 23 = 2023 and 005 being the 5th day of the year. Also, remember that the lot number has more to do with labeling and getting the bottles ready to ship than disgorgement, but gives you a rough idea of when disgorgement was within a possible 2 month backwards running window.
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I’m very disappointed by the bottle variation in 2006 CdC. Too many taste over-dosed and flabby. So much so that I’ve severely cut back my CdC purchases. I have a dozen ‘13 sitting in London and likely won’t buy any more.
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Had a bottle of the 12 today and thought it was great, if young.
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I haven’t opened any ‘12 yet. Does the dosage stick out?
This is my note from March 2023. It was sweet, but it had a lot of fruit as opposed to just tasting like sugar water.
This was a great bottle of Comtes. The nose displayed honeysuckle, lavender, ocean breeze and spice. The palate adds toast, lemon, lime, white peach and honeydew. The finish brings it all home with light brown sugar, almond pastry and cotton candy as well as bright, mouthwatering acidity. This does remind me of the '02 on release, like WK mentioned, but a bit more acidity. Great to drink now, but should age nicely.
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$164.99 @ Zachys, 6 pack pricing
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Thanks but I’m only seeing $230. Is there a trick to get the 6-pack pricing as I didn’t see that option.