A LOOK AT CHAMPAGNE TAITTINGER WINES

NOCTURNE "CITY LIGHTS"

A blend of more than 35 different crus from a variety of harvests, this wine spends four years on the lees before being disgorged. A 18 g/l dosage of cane sugar combined with the slow cellar aging creates a round, mellow, smooth Champagne that is perfect to enjoy with a dessert or late in the evening.

Tasting Note

This distinctively sweet "sec" Champagne (with 18 g/l residual sugar) is pale yellow in color with shimmering highlights and bubbles that form a delicate ring of fine foam. On the nose there are aromas of white flowers, yellow peach and dried apricots. The palate is smooth and creamy yet very crisp and gives way to flavors of raisins and fruit in syrup. This mature, rich and round wine culminates in a long, smooth finish.

Food Pairing

Nocturne is the perfect accompaniment to fruit desserts or lightly sweet pastry or cakes as well as rich pâtés with toasted brioche.

PRESTIGE ROSÉ

This elegant and racy cuvée is crafted with superb Chardonnay and Pinot Noir fruit harvested from Montagne de Reims and Les Riceys. The majority of the grapes are pressed in vineyard press houses. At the winery the must undergoes a cool-temperature fermentation. 85% of the blend is vinified as white wine and the remainder is vinified as red wine. The delicate color and intense vibrancy on the palate is obtained by adding a small proportion of still red Pinot Noir from Ambonnay, Bouzy and des Riceys. The final cuvée is blended from an extensive range of at least 15 diverse crus, and usually more, of the Champagne region as well as young reserve wines that express the blend's fresh, lively Pinot fruit. After second fermentation in the bottle, the wine spends three years on the lees in the bottle to develop complexity and bouquet.

Tasting Note

This cuvée is a vibrant pink color with fine bubbles and persistent foam. The full and wonderfully expressive nose delivers aromas of crushed raspberries, cherries and black currants that lead into crisp, fresh red fruit flavors on the palate. Velvety and full-bodied, this wine is lively, fruity and fresh.

Food Pairing

A subtle accompaniment to fruit desserts, including fruit tart or fruit salad.

COLLECTION SERIES: SALGADO 2008

Salgado is produced from selected Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes grown in vineyards in several of the finest microclimates of the Champagne region. It is produced only in vintage years when the harvest yields fruit of excellence equal to Taittinger's rigorous standards of quality. The Chardonnay grapes are harvested from the Grands Crus of the Côte des Blancs and the Pinot Noir comes from the Grands Crus of Montagne de Reims and the edge of Vallée de la Marne. Following harvest, the grapes are pressed immediately in press houses located among the vineyards, yielding a first pressing which is the only juice used for this wine. At the winery, fermentation takes place under temperature-controlled conditions. Blending occurs after the primary fermentation, and thereafter the final cuvée undergoes the secondary fermentation in the bottle in Taittinger's cool cellars. Aged for five years on the lees, the wine acquires complexity and the fine, pinpoint bubbles characteristic of its sparkle.

Harvest Note
After a mild, rainy winter, with no particularly cold periods, an overcast spring began with a few very localized frosts. While there was some flower abortion and uneven grape size, especially in the Chardonnays in mid-June, the growing season, with relatively little sunshine, was not overly troubled by the usual vineyard diseases. The harvests officially started on 12th September but many waited a few days to star t picking, which paid dividends in terms of ripeness. The weather was pleasantly cool and dry during the picking period, resulting in a fine, very healthy harvest. The Chardonnays are refined and vigorous, with good minerality. The Pinot Noirs are fruity and vinous, with finishes that are still lively. The 2008 wines stand out for their remarkable freshness and vivacity. The acidity is very firm and well-integrated, suggesting a good potential to age.

Tasting Note

The 2008 vintage has produced wines characterized by freshness and vivacity, with a perfectly integrated acidity that suggests they will age very well. Intense and mineral, the nose combines floral and citrus notes (lemon and grapefruit). On the palate, fruit, vinosity and richness predominate.

Food Pairing

Makes an ideal aperitif and is a versatile pairing with a wide variety of foods such as seafood and shellfish, lamb and veal, risottos and white sauces.

COLLECTION SERIES: ROY LICHTENSTEIN

The Taittinger Collection Series was conceived in the late 1970s by Claude Taittinger. Long a patron of the arts, with a passionate interest in the modern schools of painting and sculpture, he perceived a natural alliance between the creation of the artist and the art of the great winemaker. Thus, in 1983, Champagne Taittinger introduced the first of its revolutionary Collection Series, uniting art and Champagne in the design of a special bottle with a laser-sealed sheath that visually expresses the artist's concept of the magic of Champagne. Featuring the work of artists such as the French surrealist André Masson, American pop artist Robert Rauschenberg, and more recently the renowned Senegalese painter Amadou Sow, these exquisite bottles are commissioned well into the 21st century, and will perpetuate Champagne Taittinger's affiliation with the greatest artists of our time.

The Taittinger Collection Series bottles are released only in great vintages, from a selection of the year's finest cuvées. The wines are made from Chardonnay mainly from the Grands Crus of the Côte des Blancs, and Pinot Noir from Montagne de Reims and Vallée de la Marne vineyards. The fruit is pressed in the vineyards and the first pressing is transported to the winery for fermentation, followed by a second fermentation in the bottle. Aged for five or more years on the lees, the wine acquires complexity and the fine, pinpoint bubbles characteristic of its sparkle.

COLLECTION SERIES: VASARELY 1978

The first bottle design in the Taittinger Collection Series, for the 1978 vintage, was commissioned from Victor Vasarely

(1906–1997), the Hungarian French Op Art (or Optical Art) master whose visual experiments informed the aesthetics of our digital age. Op art was a movement beginning in 1964 that involved mathematically precise optical illusions that often seem to be moving.
The Taittinger Collection Series bottles are released only in great vintages from a selection of the year's finest cuvées.