SUMMER 2010
grill ’s Champagne tasting
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CHAMPAGNE taste
Champagne Taittinger Understanding excellence – appreciating quality By Keith Stewart
CHAMPAGNE taste
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From left: Clémence, Vitalie, Pierre-Emmanuel and Clovis Taittinger.
ROMANCE One of the fundamental themes of the romance that is Champagne is that the region and its wines are so deeply ingrained in French culture that it is impossible for modern people to imagine France without Champagne, or Champagne without France. So it is with the house of Taittinger, which boasts a story that is deeply entwined in the roots of France, indeed in the taproot that is language. The ancestor of Taittinger, Thibault IV, Comte de Champagne after which the luxury cuvée of the house is named, was not only credited with introducing the husbandry of roses to the Champagne region – thus initiating that other hallmark of French savoir vivre, perfume – along with the chardonnay
grape, he was also known as le chansonnier, the poet. Not just because he turned a goodly verse in his day, but because he was the champion of langue d’oui, the language of the north, which has become the French language. In Thibault’s time, langue d’oui, where the word for yes is oui, contested the position of France’s lingua franca with the language of the South, langue d’oc, which, as we know, langue d’oui won. Taittinger Champagne began life as Champagne Fourneaux in 1734, making it one of the oldest of producers. Apart from gaining the respect of fellow champenoise, and creating a reliable brand, Fourneaux’ greatest claim to fame was his blending prowess, which laid the foundations of the house of Veuve Clicquot where he helped the
widow Clicquot following the death of her husband. It was during the First World War that the idea of Champagne Taittinger was formed by a young Pierre-Charles Taittinger, a cavalry officer on the staff of General Joffre, who was stationed at the Château Marquetterie in the heart of Champagne country in the Côte des Blancs, close to the town of Epernay. Taittinger either fell in love with Marquetterie, or formed the basis of a great idea, depending on who is telling the story, and after the war he returned to buy, first the house of Foret-Fourneaux, then the remarkable estate of Château Marquetterie on which to base its wines, and finally Place Saint-Niçaise in Reims, site of the home of the Comtes de Champagne in the 13th century. www.grill.co.nz
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CHAMPAGNE taste
Making wine taste rich Champagne is full of bubbles, that much is obvious. But what purpose do the bubbles serve? The short answer is that they give champagne its rich texture, its taste of luxury. The mousse as the Champenoise call it, is only a successful component in the wine when it delivers a creamy texture, and essential richness that is much more than a simple fizz. Feeling the mousse is a critical function of all professional Champagne tasters, and a particular pleasure for Champagne fans.
So Taittinger was formed, and it quickly became one of the grand marques of Champagne with an international reputation for finesse based on the importance of chardonnay and the wines of the Côte des Blancs that were sourced from Marquetterie and other newly acquired vineyards of the Taittinger estate. Throughout Taittinger’s history, these vineyards have been the engine driving the quality of the company’s best wines. COMMERCIAL NOUS Champagne is the most industrial of all the world’s fine wines, made in large quantities and blended to a standard of consistent reliability using the most precise processes. Since its early days at the beginning of the 19th century it was the focus of considerable technological activity in refining processes of viticulture, crushing, winemaking and clarification that for the most part have
become part of the tradition that is now known as the method champenoise. Modern champagne is an extension of that method, utilising new technologies and refinement of both its sense of style and the nature of its market. Taittinger was at the forefront of this extension, indeed it could be reasonably argued that Taittinger initiated the wine style that the world now recognises as Champagne. Not just the processes by which Champagne is made, but the style of the wine and the way it is marketed. Pierre-Charles Taittinger probably had the vision of what he wanted Champagne to be, especially Champagne Taittinger, when he bought Côte des Blancs vineyards as the basis for his blend, and then invested in the history of Thibault IV. He recognised the cultural imperative that Champagne’s history represented in its largest market, France, and then he set about delivering a style of wine that was not the full flavoured, sweetened
Champagnes of history that were almost purely drinks of celebration. Instead he looked for a drier, more sophisticated style that would sit comfortably throughout the great daily French occasion, the midday meal. In doing this Taittinger seconded the nose and considerable taste skills of the great Fernand Point, whose restautrant, La Pyramid was considered the greatest in France. Point was not only the inspiration for the post-war generation of culinary artistry that acclaimed France as the world’s home of haute cuisine, he understood the essential contribution made by finesse. Together he and Claude Taittinger, Pierre-Charles’ second son, evolved the style that is now considered the Taittinger standard; a refined, elegant wine that has excellent mousse texture (see caption on pic above), deep, fine flavour that is persistent and a dry, lingering finish. In effect, the ultimate all-round table wine for fine dining.
THE TASTING Taittinger – A modern champagne range Keith Stewart tasted the entire range of Champagne Taittinger currently available in New Zealand, as a sequence of samples from the ‘bottom’ of the range, the standard Taittinger non-vintage, to the top, Taittinger Comte de Champagne. TAITTINGER BRUT Fresh smelling wine with elegance and a nice harmony between firm fruit characters and mellow yeast. Length and quality of finish were perfectly enhanced by the rich mid-palate mousse. Very, very classy non-vintage that is way above what most houses have been offering recently. TAITTINGER PRESTIGE ROSÉ Fragrant and creamy, with a buoyant character right through. Uncharacteristically chunky in the mid-palate, but finishes fine and lengthy. Certainly packs a flavour punch. TAITTINGER PRELUDE GRANDS CRUS Again the fine balance between yeast richness, fruit intensity and fragrant bouquet lifts this well above the ordinary. Has terrific momentum for such an elegant wine, with a long but subtle finish. Silky textural points, good depth and excellent fruit intensity with a mesh of yeast details.
Taittinger also revised the way Champagne was marketed, with the same sort of revolutionary zeal that fired Madame Clicquot to send her salesmen off to Imperial Russia 150 years earlier during a trade blockade. Taittinger looked to the more sophisticated modern practice of marketing, rather than the old-fashioned word-ofmouth approach that was the accepted Champagne way. For the first time in the region’s history this meant placing full page, colour advertisements in leading magazines. The art of media brand building had arrived in Reims. The developments proved highly successful and Taittinger was soon established as one of the leading maisons of Champagne, with an international market. The wine also laid the foundations for Taittinger to become one of the world’s great luxury companies, owning a string of spectacular hotel properties, the Hermes luxury
goods company and other prestige brands. The luxury goods empire has since become the property of an American investment company, but under Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, Claude’s son, the family has remained in control of the Champagne house they built, continuing the tradition of elegance and depth, and continuing to innovate. This includes the development of a Grand Cru wine from selected grand cru vineyards, and the remarkable Folies de la Marquetterie, a wine against all accepted Champenoise practice – it is a single vineyard wine, unblended, nonindustrial, and a remarkable insight into what inspired Pierre-Charles Taittinger to create his own Champagne. • For the remarkable history of House Taittinger and an interview with Clovis Taittinger, fourth generation Champagne producer, go to www.grill.co.nz
TAITTINGER MILLESIMÉ 2004 BRUT Big and bountiful, quite out of character with the rest of the range in its almost assertive fruit character. Feels weighty and substantial, with a creamy mousse and deep fruit notes throughout. Finish suddenly reveals some fine details of yeast and more subtle fruit. Seems in need of another 10 years before it takes on delicacy. TAITTINGER FOLIES de la MARQUETTERIE BRUT Simply beautiful wine, high toned, fragrant and consummately elegant, with a mess of delicious detail and fine harmonies of fruit, yeast and rich/dry textures. Begins with grace and ends very long and subtle, but at heart has enough momentum and careful intensity to be never less than enchanting. TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE ROSÉ 2004 Ravishing wine from first sniff to last trailing flavour. No lightweight but a firmly structured, perfectly crafted wine of immense character and stature, it has excellent fruit concentration, a perfectly pitched, silky textured mousse and dry, trailing finish that is stained with a memory of sweet, ripe fruit and fine pastry. TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC DES BLANCS 1999 Looks and smells brilliant, this is firm flavoured, precisely balanced wine that glitters in the eye and on the tongue. Depth and length are both impressive, as is the exquisite detail that has built around these. Quite simply one of the great champagnes.