Refined, elegant and superbly fresh, Maison Taittinger’s newly released Brut Millésimé 2018 is the reflection of an exceptional harvest.
Champagne wines are like children. They are pampered and showered with love and care for years by parents who wait for them to “enter the big wide world” with a mixture of anticipation and anguish. For the Brut Millésimé 2018, Alexandre Ponnavoy, Cellar Master for the Maison Taittinger, is showing no signs of apprehension. The child was born into a noble family, has grown up and “is simply dazzling.” This is the first word that springs to mind when he is asked about the main characteristic of a wine which follows in the footsteps of its predecessors and epitomises sheer elegance. The 2018 Brut is the fruit of a very wet winter followed by “one of the hottest springs on record”, the Cellar Master explains. The waterlogged ground was able to give the plant everything it needed during the drier periods, acting like a sponge. This situation illustrates “the prevailing climate of contrasts in Champagne today.”
Alongside 2011 and 2017, summer 2018 was one of the hottest ever witnessed in Champagne region, with harvests taking place early, from late August onwards. And yet, a small miracle happened at the time of picking. Several spells of rainfall in the days before were followed by lovely weather, producing exceptionally fine grapes. “Most significantly, the nights were cool, which is very important for both grape quality and aromatic development.” Thanks to these conditions, everything came together to produce “rather fresh, fruity and beautifully elegant wines.”
And so the miracle occurred with this Brut Champagne, which “showcases aromas of white fruits, lightly candied yellow fruits, pear and apple” to lend this wine its main characteristics. “The nose is very appealing and spicy, with notes of hawthorn blossom.” On the palate, the 2018 Vintage reveals “great energy and a relatively fresh attack, with notes of peach and citrus fruit” which gradually give way to “some initial toasted aromas and a degree of minerality” then “a lovely bitterness” on the finish. This Vintage Brut Champagne from Maison Taittinger is, in the words of Alexandre Ponnavoy, “a relatively deep and complex, fruity wine which is also relatively open, with a fairly fresh aromatic expression dominated by the Pinot Noir. This indicates a very elegant wine, a very open champagne which over time will develop toasted, brioche notes and acquire more minerality as the Chardonnay in the blend slowly brings new balance to the wine over the next three to five years.” Be that as it may, we’ll be tasting this dazzling Champagne wine now, and with great interest.
