Champagne Taittinger An institution !

Champagne Taittinger

The story of Taittinger Champagne is a long one; its origins go back to the year 1734, when a Champagne wine merchant by the name of Jacques Fourneaux decided to create a trading house…The house proposed wines, both still and sparkling, but it is the latter which insured the rise of the business. During the 19^thcentury, the trading house flourished and moved to the House of the Counts of Champagne.

Getting there

A dream, a destiny

However, the Fourneaux and Forest families suffered greatly during World War I and the Crash of ’29…Having discovered the region as a young liaison officer, Pierre Taittinger vowed to return there and make the Château de la Marquetterie his family home. In 1932, he achieved his dream when he purchased, with his brother-in-law, the Fourneaux and Forest empire including the House of the Counts of Champagne in Reims. Taittinger’s destiny was now in place. Pierre-Emmanuel, the current Taittinger at the helm of the family champagne house, never ceased to try to buy back the brand created by his grand-father and has been joined by his two children, Clovis and Vitalie. The House has been infused with a wind of revival which has carried it straight to the success it enjoys today.

A unique heritage

In order to better understand Taittinger Champagne, we hike to the top of the Saint-Nicaise hillside where its headquarters are installed. Everything happens at the center of the earth…we descend 18 meters (60 feet) into the depths of the Crayères, the chalk quarries typical of the Champagne region which were dug to extract stones for construction during the Gallo-roman period (4^th century). While allowing our imagination to roam freely through these mysterious underground tunnels, we cross, here and there, a few praying monks honoring the sepulture of Saint-Nicaise, where the sparkling wines are fermenting and maturing … We have travelled back to the 13th century! Of the original abbey only crypts and vaults remain, typical of the Gothic style of Champagne. But here also lie, gently aging, the mythical cuvees of the Counts of Champagne. A remarkable site that was preserved thanks to the Taittingers and the installation of their business.

The Tattinger style

All year round, Taittinger opens the doors to its history and cellars (which are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List under the name Coteaux, Houses and Cellars of Champagne) offering visitors the secrets of the soul and style of the champagne house through a tailored tasting. At the end of the both beautiful and surprising visit, we find ourselves savoring the different expressions of the Taittinger style. A specialist enlightens us on the tasting techniques for each of the cuvees. He then invites us to find the fleshy sweetness of red fruit in the Prestige rosé, or the bursting mineral notes of the Prélude grands crus, the roundness of Nocturne, and the extreme finesse of the Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs, which have been aged for more than 10 years in the depth of the Saint-Nicaise caves. Instant Signé, Instant Absolu, or Instant de Grâce: three exclusive and titillating tasting formulas to discover.