- The 11th time made in over 4 decades
- Only 2,000 cases imported
- 2012 & 2008 = Battling as Two All-Time Greatest Vintages in Champagne
Dear Artisans,
Just in time for Valentine's, we bring you our favorite ways to say I Love You, Taittinger's tete de cuvée Comtes de Champagne 2012 & Piper Rare 2002 - and not a moment too soon, as there is a global Champagne shortage looming according to multiple sources!
Below are excerpts and links to just a few of the many articles we've seen lately:
- "We do expect a decline in volume for champagne," says Cyril Delarue, a 6th generation Bollinger family member." (Town and Country)
- "Explosive growth in global demand for champagne as well as supply chain and logistics issues are contributing to the shortage" (Sydney Morning Herald)
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"...there’s a Champagne shortage, which is pushing prices of that region’s bubblies higher." (Bloomberg)
About Taittinger: When it comes to the top vintage Champagnes, a mere handful reach the top level in the Blanc de Blancs pantheon: Krug, Salon and Taittinger Comtes de Champagne. When you consider the company Taittinger keeps in this elite Champagne category, the value here is unreal.
In the prestigious company of Krug and Salon, the Comtes de Champagne more than holds its own, excelling with its powerhouse golden fruit structure and layer upon unctuous layer of baking spices, iron- and chalk-laden minerals. The 100% Chardonnay - sourced entirely from grand cru villages Avize, Le Mesnil, Oger, Chouilly and Cramant - makes for a can't-help-itself sense of overarching elegance.
Taittinger is one of the few remaining family-owned and operated large Champagne houses: it was founded upon a promise that Pierre Taittinger made to himself in 1915 when he was a young cavalry officer serving in the First World War, with his company headquarters at the Château de la Marquetterie, two miles from Epernay near the Marne River. Captivated by the lovely 18th-century residence, the young Taittinger was determined to purchase it should the opportunity arise. By September 1930 he had acquired the venerable Champagne firm of Forest-Fourneaux, founded in 1734 and the third oldest Champagne house in existence at the time. He began to restructure the firm and to expand its vineyard holdings in some of the finest producing areas of Champagne. Two years later, Pierre Taittinger kept his promise to purchase the Château de la Marquetterie and its surrounding vineyards-as well as the Comtes des Champagne residence in downtown Reims. Today the house is run by his grandson Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger with help from his children Vitalie and Clovis.
Taittinger ‘Comtes de Champagne’ is the finest example of the Taittinger style and the 2012 release is one of the most impressive to date. Consider the price you might pay for a 99-point wine from a legendary vintage in Bordeaux or Burgundy, and you’ll better appreciate the relative value Champagne can still offer in the world of fine, collectible wines. But even forgetting the "value" of the price...It's just unbelievably delicious.
About Piper Rare: This tete de cuvée is only made only made in years when weather conditions are considered perfect for what their cellarmaster Regis Camus calls 'an extraordinary cuvée', when the grapes receive enough heat to become truly lush. The first Rare vintage was made in 1976 after an incredibly intense heatwave. Since then, there have only been 10 more Rare cuvées: 1979, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2006, 2007 (their first-ever rosé) and this long-awaited 2008 release offered today.
Rare cuvées can contain up to 17 crus, from some of the best sites throughout the Champagne region. The blends can be different from one vintage to another, too: their Cellar Master blends among the different crus just like an artist would use different colors in his painting palette. The style remains the same but the components will change according to the vintage.
We've done several wine dinners and tastings over the years featuring 1988-2007 vintages. Everyone was always blown away — so much so, that an attendee served the magnum release of 1998 at his wedding.
In case you haven't heard yet, 2008 was a phenomenally great vintage for Champagne, as you can see in this quote from Antonio Galloni:
"The 2008s are racy, energetic and tense, in the style of cool years like 1996, but with more fruit depth and less austerity. At the top end, the finest 2008 Champagnes are viscerally thrilling, chiseled wines that will soon be recognized as modern-day icons. Temperatures were never too hot during the summer and ripening was gradual. 2008 is a year with high acidity, approaching 10% in some cases, and also high potential natural alcohol (because of the improved weather in September), a combination that yielded vibrant, crystalline Champagnes. Of course wine is much more complex than numbers alone, but the first 2008s I have tasted point to an exceptional, and perhaps even legendary, vintage."
From Tom Stevenson (co-author of the Christie’s World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine and founder of the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships):
“2008 is one of the greatest champagne vintages of my lifetime...So fine and focused, unbelievably long, with great precision, purity and intensity, yet barely perceptible weight.”
Alastair Woolmer of Farr Vintners had this to say:
“From what I have seen so far, 2008 is the best young champagne vintage I have ever tasted...The 2008s have a very similar energy and intensity to the great 1996s, but with arguably better balance and more consistency. It could well prove to be the best champagne vintage since 1988.”
Most of the important 2008s have been completely sold out for years by now.
We have only been able to obtain an extremely limited allocation of this epic Rare 2008 - plus we've got a few bottles of the (regular but still delicious!), just in time for Valentine's Day. Treat yourself or your special someone.
Cheers,
—James Tran
