TN: 2008 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut (France, Champagne)

WINE TALK
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  • 2008 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut - France, Champagne (8/13/2024)
    Opened to celebrate our anniversary, we also saved a big glass for night two. On both evenings this was surprisingly powerful, and built from the bottom up - strong, broad base, the mid-palate reaching up from the depths, ultimately to a bright, shiny pinnacle that extended its light in all directions. We didn't even so much parse out what it tasted like, as the scale and form of the wine were impressive and dominated the focus. Haven't had a Comtes that showed so much like a Michelangelo sculpture before, but this one certainly has the form and class.
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It’s a very special wine and you summed up why very eloquently.

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This was my note a few years ago - we were clearly drinking the same wine. I think you will particularly appreciate some of the imagery.

6/12/2021 - I like this wine: (Edit)

Opened after dinner based on recent reports that it is showing well young. Served on the colder side and allowed to warm in the glass (GGGs), drank over about 2 hours. I swear I could smell the wine as JR was pouring it into the glasses as he sat at the other end of the couch. Just phenomenal, powerful and compelling nose, citrus driven, some floral elements, fresh baked pastry crust brushed with butter, maybe a little honey. It might as well have been a perfect lemon bar from the nose. On the palate the concentration is off the charts, amazing, firmly coilled but softly not tight. Like a perfect little package of cat when they tuck in all paws, head and tail. Plenty of taught acidity keeping everything firmly in place, reverberates across the tongue. There’s still a good amount of baby fat, as one would expect, that I expect will retreat and reveal more delineation. I believe this was the best young CdCs I’ve had, and perhaps the best young champagne period, though that’s less certain. I think this could have the bones and the beauty to give the great 1995 a run for its money in time, and that is my favorite vintage of my lifetime. Gorgeous and exciting and deeply, deeply satisfying. Great wine.

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good one, David!

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This was what i chose for my birthday a few weeks ago, a very fine bottle; sculpted beauty does describe this well. Cheers!

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2008 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut

Opened by Allred. I last had this in 2021 and called it the best Comtes I have ever had (the others being the 1995 and 2006). This bottle was even better. My top Champagne of the night. Medium yellow color. Fine bead. What stood out here was the great depth of character. Notes of stone fruit, chalk and yeasty dough. 97 points.

VM

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Thanks for the update. I need to check in on it this year. Maybe I’ll queue it up for my birthday on Sunday!

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I had this recently alongside 2008 Pierre Peters Chetillons. The Comtes is very impressive. It seems very similar to the 2012, including the fact that there is no evolution at all at this point. It’s plenty open, so an absolute joy to drink, but people who want some evolution will have to wait, probably a long time still. This is no surprise. If I’m nitpicking, the dosage on the Comtes stood out a little, especially compared to the Chetillons. Someone else noted this before I mentioned it, so it wasn’t just me. Overall, though, it’s a monument that will probably age for decades and transform into something literally awesome.

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What was your take on the 2008 Chetillons?

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Loved the 1995, but drank my last bottle a couple of years ago. I will be opening a trio of 2008s in September, Cristal,DP and Taittinger. Might be worthwhile trying to do blind but much tougher to do with Champagne.

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Beautiful. It’s just starting to show a little development. It’s very open, but probably 3-5 years from what I would consider peak (probably longer for some people). If you like it on the younger side, now is a great time. I actually preferred it to the Comtes for drinking now, even though I suspect the Comtes will surpass it with a lot more time in bottle.

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Thanks for the feedback. I have some but have not opened any.

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