2008 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rose
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Tasting notes
Exclusively made with Grand Cru fruit, the impressive and powerful 2008 Comtes de Champagne Rosé is a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay, with 12% still red wine blended in to give the wine its gorgeous colour and phenolic framework. Tight at this stage, the 2008 Comtes is slow to reveal itself on the nose, but gradually the rich, leesy notes are complemented by vibrant red cherry, redcurrant, crème pâtissière and a citrus note – almost grapefruit pith. After an astounding 12 years on lees, the wine has a remarkably fine, persistent mousse, with a savoury autolytic note. Alongside a tight core of sweet berry fruit, there’s a steely, saline minerality that runs through the wine, building to a citrus-led finish scented with strawberry and cherry blossom. Rich and precise, this regal wine will reveal even more with a decade in bottle.
Critic scores
Average Score
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
Yohan Castaing, Decanter
More reviews and scores
Full bottle 1,708 g. Mid orangey pink. Fully developed, beautifully aged with notes of almonds and bitter oranges. A really fine champagne with delicacy and pungent intrigue. A real treat and incredibly persistent. A sore-throat wine. (JR)
The 2008 Comtes de Champagne Rosé is bright, steely and finely chiseled right out of the gate. It shows quite a bit or energy and also more overall tension than the Blanc today. It will be interesting to see how the 2008 ages, and if the fruit ever emerges. I suspect the 2008 will always remain a rather nervous Rosé, even if it is quite striking today. Crushed red berry fruit, mint, chalk and white pepper build into a finish supported by bright, salivating acids and plenty of steely minerality.
Offering up a deep bouquet of blood orange, wild raspberry and plum, mingling with brioche and hints of Sichuan pepper, the 2008 Comtes de Champagne Rosé—disgorged in 2019 with a dosage of nine grams per liter—has developed nicely since I first tasted it that same year. Medium- to full-bodied, elegantly muscular and vinous, with a tauter core of fruit in the context of its siblings and laden with bright acids, it culminates in a long, chalky finish. Currently showing more depth than the 2012 and more incisiveness than the 2009, it stands out as one of the more complete renditions of this cuvée. A blend of 63% Pinot Noir and 37% Chardonnay, it derives from a harvest that took place in late September and extended into early October.
About the producer
Champagne Taittinger is one of the region’s leading Grande Marque Champagne houses and also one of the largest, when it comes to vineyard ownership. It is also the producer behind one of the region’s best loved vintage Blanc de Blancs: Comtes de Champagne.