2008 Taittinger "Comtes de Champagne" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
SKU #1501953
99 points
James Suckling
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.
(7/2019)
98 points
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
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. (WK)
(9/2020)
98 points
Vinous
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. (AG) 98+
(8/2020)
97 points
Wine Enthusiast
The balance between ripeness and acidity that is the hallmark of this fine vintage is expressed well in this impressive wine. Tangy, with a strong streak of minerality, it is crisp and rich at the same time. For its fruitiness, it is ready to drink; for more maturity, it will need to age until 2018. *#12, Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2018* (RV)
(12/2016)
94 points
Decanter
Lemon to gold ingot, bright and welcoming, an impression enhanced by a fabulous nose of sherbet, brioche, lemon posset and Mirabelle plum. All things nice. The palate is gently luxurious, its sophistication rippling with nuance rather than sheer vulgar power, yellow fruits, the gentlest hints of honey, crushed chalk and then a silky citric grip. In these rather claustrophobic times, the wine carries us along the Corniche in an open-top car, vintage naturally enough, the azure backdrop at its purest on this, the finest of Spring mornings. (SF)
(4/2020)
K&L Notes
This is just the 37th release of the Comtes, the first being the 1952. It is entirely grand cru, and only from the Côte de Blancs, made from a selection of the best lots from Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Mesnil and Oger. Only the cuvée is used, the first most gentle pressing, and the wine is fermented almost entirely in stainless steel, with just 5% going into oak. The wine is then aged for a minimum of 10 years on the lees, and is only just now being released at 12 years old, enjoying a bit of time on the cork as well. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)
