Ratings & Tasting Notes:

95 points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (Antonio Galloni, September 2010)

This review describes layers of lime peel, flowers, and oak in a rich, creamy style, praising the wine’s “exceptional length and a refined finish,” noting it was “singing” at the time of review.

Cult Wines International Notes:

Taittinger has been family-owned since 1932 and remains one of the last major independent houses in Reims. Comtes de Champagne, first produced in 1952, stands as the family’s prestige cuvée — a Blanc de Blancs made entirely from first-press Chardonnay sourced from five Grand Cru villages in the Côte des Blancs, aged for eight to ten years in the chalk cellars beneath Reims before release. Because it’s only declared in years the house considers truly exceptional, a bottle of Comtes de Champagne represents Taittinger’s most exacting standard of quality.

According to the estate’s own account, 1986 followed the devastating frosts of 1985, and the vines responded with a remarkable recovery — flowering within the space of a single week and producing generous, healthy bunches. The resulting wine was notably well-balanced, with the ideal acidity that gives Comtes de Champagne its signature sophistication and elegance. Now approaching four decades of age, this 1986 has settled into a fully mature character, showing the toasty, honeyed complexity that only extended bottle age can produce.

Bottle Size:

750 mL

Storage History:

Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.

Condition:

Please note: The bottle shown is the exact bottle being sold.

Outstanding condition.