It was 1932 when a young cavalry officer named Pierre Taittinger fell head over heels in love with Champagne – in no small part because of the delectable wines produced there. He purchased the historic Château de la Marquetterie and developed a Champagne business with the help of his brother-in-law, Paul Eveque. Step by step, generation by generation, the Taittinger family has created one of the greatest houses of Champagne. 

“Comtes de Champagne” is the very top of their portfolio, with one blanc de blancs and this rosé produced, and only in the finest vintages. Their history is too long to recall here, but my favorite part of the story is that the winery was sold in 2005 to a U.S. investment group Starmont (global real/hotels, etc.) As you might imagine, the entirety of Champagne, and France, nearly revolted. The remaining branches of the Taittinger family unified to bring the house back under family control just over a year later. And then 2007 happened. What started as an ideal harvest turned exceptionally difficult by mid-summer, with cool temps, hail, and rot decimating yields throughout the region. There was discussion of de-classifying the entire vintage, and many houses were unable to make their top cuvées. But this was the first vintage back under the family’s ownership, and failure was not an option. The decision was made to cherry pick the very best of the best – holdings of pinot noir from Grands Crus in the Montagne de Reims, and chardonnay from Grand Crus in the prestigious Côte des Blancs – all to make an even more limited than usual wine that would serve as notice that Taittinger is not going anywhere as a top gem of Champagne. With universal praise heaped on the 2007 rosé – 99, 97, Double 96s from all the top critics – it seems this was a brilliant call! 

Forged in the deep silence of the chalk quarries of Saint-Nicaise, where the only sound is the muffled steps of the riddlers carrying about their turning, this wine sat contemplatively, developing over 12 long years. 70% pinot, 30% chardonnay, with color provided by 15% of a reserve still wine made in Bouzy, this is an amazing achievement of highly complex, vinous Champagne that one critic compared favorably to top flight Volnay in Burgundy, “but with the magic of Champagne.” Wizardy, witchcraft, or some form of dark arts is the best explanation for this utterly compelling bubbly, and when you consider that we scored twelve bottles, and we’re offering them to the world at 50% less than the retail price – well, that is some straight up magic, too!

Rudolph Nureyev, long-time ballet legend famously said, “When I drink Comtes de Champagne Rosé, I no longer dance, I fly...”