Bubblefest - Taittinger Horizontal

What a great idea, source all the Taittinger you can get your hands on and line them up. We were missing the Comtes Rosé but nobody cared. Full disclosure: As a casual champagne drinker I had no idea Taittinger had such a broad line up. Heck, I just knew about the few you'd see in the grocery store and the Comtes, of course. I really enjoyed myself and I tied in the cork launching contest by sending one over the backyard fence from the porch. Touch all the bases!

Note: two bottles were corked. One mildly and the other fried.

• NV Domaine Carneros Brut Rosé

  USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros

  Light pale salmon color, actually very light. The fruit flavor, peach and berry,maws quite subtle. Medium acid. Fairly pedestrian rosé, not much to excite me.

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• 2011 Domaine Carneros Brut

  USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros

  Faint yellow hue. Nose is yellow apple and a bit of treetop apple juice sweetness. Hey, this is nice. Caressing mouthfeel composed of fine bubbles. Not sweet juice flavor, this is Granny Smith Apple and bright medium plus acid. Good stuff and nice QPR.

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• 2005 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut

  France, Champagne

  Another strong showing of the '05 and I'm excited to compare this with the '06 vintage. This bubbly always show multiple facets of traditional champagne like acid, bread, mineral, and fruit in idea proportions.
  
  As for the '06? TCA...

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• 2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Flawed

  France, Champagne

  Flawed, not marked as such since previously noted by the other taster. TCA infested causing strong wet newspaper aromas. Prayers that the palate wasn't affected we unanswered. The fruit was stripped and TCA ran wild. Had to rinse the glass.

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• 2008 Taittinger Champagne Brut Millésimé

  France, Champagne

  Quite nice one here. Light yellow and super fine effervescence. Lean yellow and green apple. Solid acid backbone provides a clean feel and adds tartness. Light bread note. Good stuff, top 3 of the tasting.

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• NV Taittinger Champagne Les Folies de la Marquetterie

  France, Champagne

  Hum...based on this tasting a very poor QPR. Just simple, lacking any complexity or intrigue. Preferred the '11 Domain Carmaros at 1/2 the price.

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• NV Taittinger Prelude

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Light gold colored. Great balance of acid and topical fruit, citrus with red apples. Light dough. Good all around champer.

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• NV Taittinger Champagne Brut Prestige Rosé

  France, Champagne

  Top three for me. Burnt orange color. Tangerine, lemon, lime peel. Tart and slightly dry. Lean and fresh. Very nice.

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• NV Taittinger Champagne Nocturne Rosé Sec

  France, Champagne

  Can't judge a book by the cover and at 17.5g/l who knew? Good stuff. The red fruit shows in this rosé, ripe strawberry and creamy mouthfeel. The bubbles are almost nonexistent, odd. I enjoyed this wine but it's at the edge of ripe scale for bubbles in my world. Another big crowd pleaser, I'd have no problem serving this on a hot day with a big chill.

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• NV Taittinger Champagne Nocturne Sec

  France, Champagne

  SEC bubbly? Yeah, I'm probably not going to like it. Yikes, 17.5 g/l dosage on the back label, I know I'm going hate it. Wrong wrong wrong. Really very nice. Sure there's a "sweet fruit" component but the wine doesn't taste sweet. Full, rounded out mouthfeel with acid balance. Everyone enjoyed this one.

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