TN: 2008 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne

Can the comtes take the 2008 crown? Well, this will be an incomplete comparison until I decide to open the 08 Salon (spoiler alert: not tonight) but this doesn’t quite surpass the monumental 08 Cristal.

That said, this is spectacular and has immense potential.

Lemon zest with freshly toasted brioche on the nose.

Linearity is perhaps the best descriptor with crisp acidity and minerality. Very precise, with a somewhat muted finish. I get the sense that we’re still looking at this wine through a sheet curtain and only glimpsing its full potential. Glad to have a few cases put away.

Did you really lay out $8000 for that Salon package? I wouldn’t open that mag until at least age 20. You have to include Cristal in the running for best 2008, unless you are restricting it to BdB’s.

My take:

Cristal is the best for me right now, as I said in the post. I got the salon for a relative “deal”

The second and third day of my bottle were even better. The nose added a ginger note and the midpalate opened up to become creamier and integrated with notes of puréed pistachio. It’s a lovely Champagne.