2008 Champagne Taittinger, Comtes de Champagne, Blanc de Blancs, Brut

The perfect blanc de blancs. Full-bodied with a lovely framework of acidity and dry fruit, such as apples, pears and peaches. Opulent. Dense and muscular. Yet, it’s balanced and harmonious. Line of acidity at the end. Totally in tune. Superb. Deep and complete. Has everything. One for the cellar. It is the greatest Comte ever. It has everything. A perfect upgrade from two years.

Disgorged 3 June 2021. Deep gold. Great breadth and richness of flavour but still, texturally, it is tight as anything. Rather an unusual mixture! Incredibly impressive length and the crème-pâtissière note often found in Comtes. But no real hurry to drink.

Drink 2022 - 2034

After a cool, rainy spring and unsettled flowering, the weather in 2008 cleared in time to deliver a large crop of ripe, balanced grapes with lovely balancing acidity. The Comtes from 2008 is a fantastic success, with aromas of ripe pear, peach, bergamot and chamomile. There is a luxe style to the rich, creamy texture with its gentle yet persistent mousse. The fresh acidity and a subtle, pleasant bitterness bring balance and impressive length to the wine.

Drink 2022 - 2050

The 2008 Comtes de Champagne is every bit as stunning as it has always been. The first signs of aromatic complexity are starting to appear, while there is a bit less of the youthful austerity that was present at the outset. It will be interesting to see how the 2018 continues to develop. It is certainly not the austere, bracing Champagne it was a few years ago. Hints of apricot, slate, mint, crushed rocks and light tropical accents build into the salivating finish.

Drink 2022 - 2048

Constructed from a tapestry of vineyards from the Cote des Blancs, 5% is vinified in new oak. Tasted several times since 2013, due for release sometime this year 2020). It has been interesting to follow this wine as it has developed on its lees, the earliest iteration was buried under a mountain of fruit esters and acidity, while slowly revealing itself over the years with successive trial disgorgements.

When last tasted in 2017, a nervy, unyielding wine, that tingles with energy and potential, possibly one of the wines of the vintage. Precise, citrus fresh, with complexity and impossible length. Chablis-like minerality with a weightless, juicy density, certainly a wine to lose in your cellar for a couple of decades. Superb!

Served from magnum, the 2008 Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is stunning. Vivid citrus fruit on the nose with crushed stone, this is initially quite taut but then develops gorgeous scents of orange pith and citrus peel. The palate is very concentrated, perfectly balanced, extremely pure with an almost penetrating finish that has the salinity to beckon you back for another sip. I would be interested to juxtapose this with a 750mls bottle as it felt quite backward. Both formats surely have a very long life ahead.

Drink 2021 - 2045

Taittinger's 2008 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is being released this year, and it will be worth a special effort to track down. I wrote in August 2019 that this is the finest Comtes de Champagne since the brilliant 2002, and this tasting confirmed that. Offering up a deep and complex bouquet of citrus oil, crisp orchard fruit, warm brioche, crushed chalk, blanched almonds and smoke, it's full-bodied and incisive, with excellent concentration, racy acids and a long, searingly chalky finish. While this is already immensely impressive out of the gates, this 2008 is clearly built for the long haul, and three decades' longevity won't be a challenge.

Drink 2021 - 2048