2008 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne
Buying options
Tasting Notes
The 2008 is one of the most celebrated vintages of the modern era and this 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay, a firm favourite amongst Champagne aficionados, is arguably the greatest rendition of this extraordinary vintage. This outstanding year is in fact one of the few in the last 20 years in which the harvest took place in October. Despite this "late" harvest, Taittinger’s Chef de Cave Alexandre Ponnavoy notes that the grapes retained a lot of acidity as well as concentration from what was an extended growing season. The Comtes 2008 carries this very contrasting climatology within it, between sun and freshness, as well as the distinct identity of the chalky terroir and the allure and precision you can get from the Côte des Blancs. Comtes de Champagne is sourced from all five Grand Cru villages situated on the Côte des Blancs – Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oger, with the main base of the cuvée coming from Taittinger’s house vineyard surrounding the Château de la Marquetterie just south of Epernay. Comtes de Champagne remains the epitome of elegance when it comes to vintage Champagne. With the wine’s extraordinary ability to age, this will provide years of drinking pleasure over the next two decades and beyond. The overriding distinction in the 2008 Comtes is its balance. The wine is effortless to taste, with a noticeable creamy, textural finesse. It is both rich in fruit and at the same time ethereally light, with the integrated backbone of acidity lifting and framing the wine, a counterpoint to the rich, honeyed citrus and lightly baked pastry notes. Scented, honeyed grapefruit and jasmine notes add delicate aromatic lift. Despite its obvious youth, it is already wonderfully settled and not at all skinny – with the acidity never overreaching or aggressive. With such perceptible balance, this will no doubt age beautifully, slowly taking on more weight.
Critic Scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Taittinger’s 2008 Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is simply breathtaking. I have tasted it many times over the years in various trial disgorgements and it has never been anything less than compelling. The final, finished wine captures all of that potential. Bright, focused and wonderfully deep, Comtes is a fabulous example of a vintage that expresses so much energy but with real fruit intensity, the signatures that distinguish it from other vintages (1996 comes to mind) that were similarly taut, but more austere in the early going. Although the 2008 impresses right out of the gate, it only really starts to open up with several hours of air. The 2008 Comtes represents the purest essence of the Côtes des Blancs in a great, historic vintage. Readers who can find the 2008 should not hesitate, as it is a truly brilliant epic Champagne that no one who loves the very best in Champagne will want to be without.
A slightly more luxurious nature to the 2008 than the great 2007. Full-bodied with a lovely framework of acidity and dry fruit, such as apples, pears and peaches. Opulent. Dense and muscular. Yet, it’s balanced and harmonious. Line of acidity at the end. One for the cellar. Release in 2020. Drink or hold.
Taittinger's 2008 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is being released this year, and it will be worth a special effort to track down. I wrote in August 2019 that this is the finest Comtes de Champagne since the brilliant 2002, and this tasting confirmed that. Offering up a deep and complex bouquet of citrus oil, crisp orchard fruit, warm brioche, crushed chalk, blanched almonds and smoke, it's full-bodied and incisive, with excellent concentration, racy acids and a long, searingly chalky finish. While this is already immensely impressive out of the gates, this 2008 is clearly built for the long haul, and three decades' longevity won't be a challenge.
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.