Taittinger Comtes De Champagne 2011 (750ML)

97 JS / 97 VP / 96 FS / 95 DE / 94 WA / 93 JM / 18 JR

Vinepair Best Champagnes of 2021

A firm, fresh Comtes with a tight and composed palate. It’s full-bodied with a racy mid-palate. Long and persistent. Very structured with phenolics and acidity. Minerally. Floral, too. Refreshing and energetic. September 2021 release. Drink or hold. - JameSuckling .com

With a near-perfect balance between residual sugar and bright fruit — plus a soft brioche quality — this Champagne is inviting on the nose and clean on the palate. With the added complexity gained from both lees and in-bottle aging, this is a beautiful, complex wine with soft bubbles that let its pastry notes shine. With an almost perfect balance between sugar and fruit, you can tell how clean and balanced this wine is from the nose alone. The perlage (bubbles) is all finesse, with thin, elegant streams. It is mouthwateringly good, with a nice saline quality running through without sacrificing complexity. If you are looking to ball out, this is one for the books. - Vinepair

Exquisite candied lemon and the first stirrings of blossom honey play on the nose before green apple and freshly toasted white bread appear. The body is slender but concentrated, a shimmering, silvery thread of freshness is woven throughout. The bubbles are creamy and smooth, An intriguing aftertaste of liquorice and subtle chalkiness pervade the zesty, smooth finish. A citric highway of beauty. - Anne Krebiehl, Falstaff

2011 is a year that continues to surprise. Warm and dry conditions from March into May set up an early harvest, but the growing season was cool and wet, dashing grower’s hopes. Despite the dreary summer, however, some lovely wines were made. The Comtes is voluptuous and almost dense, with aromas that blend green apple and nectarine with floral notes and a hint of toast. A slightly lower dosage, fresh acidity, and a touch of bitterness bring balance and length to this wine. Much better than I dared hope.--Charles Curtis MW, Decanter

After the tightly coiled, hyper-concentrated 2008, Taittinger's 2011 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne represents a more immediate, charming rendition of this cuvée. Bursting from the glass with aromas of orchard and stone fruit mingled with notions of pastry cream, blanched almonds and mandarin, it's medium to full-bodied, pillowy and fleshy, with a soft and enveloping profile, lively acids and a pretty pinpoint mousse. Readers might think of the 2011 as a somewhat less reductive and less intense stylistic sibling of the 2006, and as it takes on more toasty complexity with bottle age, it will make for immensely seductive drinking. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

A better example of the 2011, although from cork, appears to be from a later disgorgement. Classically-lean champagne with a structure and flavour profile with 20th-century resonance. The nervy citrus fruit is long and linear; the mid-palate should fill out over the next few years. But this is undoubtedly a step in the right direction in terms of presentation. Expect some aromatic up-lift and increase in complexity. Good!-Steven Pritchard, Jasper Morris' Inside Burgundy

From grand cru vineyards in Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oger. Aged for nine years in Taittinger's particularly deep cellars. Dosage 9 g/l.
Quite a deep greenish primrose yellow. Meaty, substantial, quite savoury evolution on the nose. Bone-dry finish but no shortage of rather captivating fruit before then. Very appetising with good steady bead and no aggressive froth. A very successful Comtes with a deep undertow. This may have been a challenging vintage but the Taittinger team seem to have risen well to the challenges. - Jancis Robinson