Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2013

Notes of candied citrus fruits, Williams pears and apricots. This Comtes de Champagne 2013 unveils pastry and brioche aromas, including lemon meringue, nougat, and almond.

Critical Acclaim

99 James Suckling

This is a fantastic and refined Blanc de Blancs. So layered and complex, with lemon curd, chalk, hazelnuts, pastries, baked apples and almond croissants. Structured and tightly wound, with almost imperceptible bubbles. Delicious salty notes at the end. Beautiful. Drink or hold.

96 Jeb Dunnuck

From the Grand Crus of Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Mesnil-sur-Oger, and Oger, the 2013 Champagne Blanc De Blancs Comtes De Champagne comes back swinging after last year’s release and assumes a more noble and layered profile. Displaying a bright golden yellow hue, it has fantastic aromatic complexity, with wonderful custardy and classic aromas of lemon curd, crme brle, shortbread, and honeysuckle. The nose is hard to resist, and on the palate, its full-bodied, with a refined and pillowy mousse and a delicate warmth on the finish. It hits a lot of the right marks in this vintage, offering plenty of purity and balance, and will certainly provide a very wide drinking window for enjoyment. Its just such a pleasurable wine, 2013 marks an exceptional return for this cuve, which will have another 2-3 decades of life ahead.

96 Vinous

The 2013 Comtes de Champagne is gorgeous. Warm and resonant in the glass, the 2013 Comtes shows all the allure that makes this vintage so appealing. The combination of bright citrus, mineral and floral notes typical of Comtes, enhanced by the soft contours of the vintage, makes for an inviting, open-knit Champagne that is quite showy right out of the gate. Light tropical accents on the finish add an exotic flair. Usually I recommend cellaring just-released Comtes, but that wont be necessary here.

96 Wine Enthusiast

Mature and beautifully textured, this magnificent Champagne is just right. The wine’s minerality is tempered with acidity and touches of white fruits. This great wine is toasty and balanced, ready to drink.

96 Wine Spectator

A gorgeous blond bombshell of a Champagne, fragrant with roasted hazelnut, vanilla and smoke notes that waft through layers of poached pear and quince, pastry cream, pain d’pices and candied ginger. This is sculpted by a vibrant acidity that’s seamlessly knit to the plush, silky mousse and chalky underpinning.

95 Wine Advocate

The 2013 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is showing beautifully out of the gates, offering up demonstrative aromas of sweet golden orchard fruit, buttery croissants, peach and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and enveloping, it’s a rich, textural, vinous Comtes somewhat reminiscent of the brilliant 2002. If it gains in tension and cut (as the 2002 did and as I suspect the 2013 will) with more time on cork, it will make this initial rating seem conservative.