Score: 93/100
Like most (if not all) Champagne houses, Taittinger only produces a vintage Champagne when the harvest conditions were judged ‘exceptional’ and capable of for delivering a unique expression of the year they were born.
Once it’s been decided a particular vintage is to be released, the wines then go through a long process of blending and maturation. This is why now in 2016, the 2009 vintage is the latest release.
The Taittinger Brut Millésimé 2009 sparkling wine is a blend of 50% Chardonnay from Grands Cru vineyards in the Côte des Blancs area, and 50% Pinot Noir from Grands Crus in the Montagne de Reims and the beginning of the Marne Valley.
Tasting notes :
This sparkling wine comes in medium lemon-yellow color, bright and a tiny bit golden.
Aromas are bright too; and shiny: fresh citrus, zesty lime, and deep minerality shine through the nose. A touch of nutty (hazelnut) and dough provide depth to the aroma profile. Intense and complex.
The palate is powerful and rather full-bodied, oily texture and fine bubbles balance out a solid yet delicate acidity. The nutty flavors that were discrete on the nose are here explosive and exuberant, delivering a kick of aromatic intensity of subtle and smooth leesy, doughy and buttery tones, like the smell you get when you enter a good bakery. That bakery has been cooking lemon tarts though as a bright ripe zesty lemon scent freshens up the flavors and make them feel lively.
Overall
A delicious super-refined Champagne bringing in the complexity we expect and love from Taittinger, with this distinctive elegant style. Smoothness of texture and flavors offer a relaxing tasting experience, yet filled with aromatic discoveries as every layer gets revealed delicately to your senses.
Plenty of minerality and finesse there, yet the signs of a relatively warm vintage (2009) are there, with powerfully intense flavors, ripeness of the fruit characters, and richness of the body and texture.
A fascinating world of bubbles I would happily lose myself into more often 😉
Please let me know your thoughts