Trying Taittinger Brut Réserve NV Anew.

WINE TALK
1

I gave up buying Taittinger Brut Réserve NV many years ago. Well, except for the few magnums I got for a New Year’s party at home around 3 or 4 years ago when I needed some halfway decent champagne for lots of people. They used to be ok before, but I’m convinced the stock of our neighborhood European deli was a bad one - far too linear, angular, severely citric, acidic, yeasty and lean. These days, I tend to go more for Billecarte-Salmon for my reasonably-priced non-vintage bubbly fixes.

Today, we were to have crab cakes for dinner (from a ton of fresh steamed-live crabs we couldn’t finish the night before), and I figured a nice salad and some pan-seared salmon with dill would be nice additions. While at Säntis Filinvest this afternoon to pick up some fresh greens (a bag of mesclun and a bag of baby arugula) and salmon steaks, I figured I’d get a half bottle (375ml) of Taittinger Brut Réserve (equivalent to approximately US$29/half bottle) to go with dinner - just to give it another try, thinking this would most likely be from a different batch anyway.

Besides, I didn’t feel like finishing an entire bottle of white tonight and I really dislike leaving bottles unfinished (like I did last night with the steamed crabs).

Taittinger Brut Réserve (375ml) - Clean, dry and focused white fruit, citrus apparent but doesn’t jut out like before, no overt yeastiness; nice biscuit/brioche notes in the nose and past mid-mouth. Vagely/whitely floral. Good enough middle. Quite dry. Discreet mid-mouth froth from its fine mousse. Finishes cleanly with fresh lemon, not long - just medium - decent enough for a casual bubbly.

Just ok, pleasant enough all-around, but forgettable. That said, for a readily available half bottle for those nights I just want a little bit of bubbly, I’d buy this again.

As to the pairing, it (not surprisingly) clashed with my salad because of the arugula and did absolutely nothing for the salmon (which my wife and eldest son noted). With the crab cakes, it was a fair enough match.

2

I agree with your assessment of this wine and the sentiment of keeping half bottles of bubbles readily available. But even at a little more than half the price you paid ($18 per half bottle) I am not buying anymore of this wine. In this price category I have found others that are more interesting (Paul Bara Brut and Rose, Delamotte NV, Agrapart Terroirs).

I stocked up on these wines at the beginning of the year when half bottles of Champagne was being blown out the door at Half Wit Wines. Hopefully, Half Wit will have another Champagne sale at year end.

3

Now that’s a good idea, thanks!

4

I tend to find this rather ho-hum when it is young, but it does develop nicely over 3-5 years. It is never a barn-burner, but it gets quite tasty. I’m a big fan of the way the NV Rose Prestige ages and love that wine at 5 years post-disgorgement. The rest of the NV Taittinger range - Prelude, Nocturne, and Les Folies de la Marquetterie are all pretty nice wines and I would rather drink them than the basic NV Brut Reserve/La Francaise.

5

“Ho-hum” is a good way of putting it their NVs. I’d say the same for their NV rosé as well. I do like their Comtes de Champagne though. Their '96 I find pretty good, though I last tried it was around a year ago and still found it too young. I also like their '85 and '95.