Taittinger

The current Taittinger identity dates to 1932, when Pierre Taittinger, a French politician and businessman, acquired the Château de la Marquetterie from the wine house of Forest-Fourneaux, a Champagne business founded in 1734 by Jacques Fourneaux. Pierre Taittinger had served in WWI in the Champagne sector, assigned in 1915 to the staff of General de Castelnau based at the Château de la Marquetterie, where he resolved to return to the trade after the war. He associated his name with the house and built it into one of Reims' major Maisons through the mid-twentieth century. The Maison remains owned and actively managed by the Taittinger family today.

• Pierre Taittinger acquired the Forest-Fourneaux house in 1932 and associated his name with it
• Forest-Fourneaux original founding dates to 1734 by Jacques Fourneaux
• Pierre Taittinger encountered Champagne during WWI service in the Champagne sector
• Maison remains owned and actively managed by the Taittinger family today

Taittinger's Reims cellars are the Saint-Nicaise crayères, established in the Abbey of Saint-Nicaise and built in the thirteenth century within Gallo-Roman chalk pits dating from the fourth century. The cellars hold vast quantities of bottles aging on lees, with the natural chalk thermal mass providing a constant temperature (around 11C) and near-total humidity for extended autolysis. The Saint-Nicaise crayères were inscribed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage 'Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars' designation in 2015. Visitors can tour portions of the Taittinger crayères year-round.

• Saint-Nicaise crayères built in chalk pits dating from the fourth-century Gallo-Roman era
• Vast quantities of bottles aging on lees in the chalk caves
• Natural chalk thermal mass provides a constant cellar temperature around 11C
• Inscribed as part of UNESCO World Heritage designation in 2015

Comtes de Champagne, the Maison's prestige cuvée, was first released from the 1952 vintage and remains one of Champagne's most respected blanc de blancs. The cuvée is 100% Chardonnay sourced exclusively from five Côte des Blancs Grand Cru villages (Avize, Cramant, Chouilly, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, principally Avize and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger), with extended bottle aging on lees (typically 8-10 years) before release. The Comtes de Champagne Rosé, an even rarer vintage cuvée, is a Pinot Noir-led blend incorporating still red wine, notably from Bouzy, alongside Chardonnay. Both Comtes cuvées sit at the prestige peak of Champagne blanc de blancs and rosé categories.

• Comtes de Champagne first released from the 1952 vintage
• 100% Chardonnay sourced exclusively from five Côte des Blancs Grand Cru villages
• Extended bottle aging on lees: typically 8-10 years before release
• Comtes de Champagne Rosé is a Pinot Noir-led blend incorporating still red wine, notably from Bouzy

In 2005, Groupe Taittinger was sold to Starwood Capital Group, an American investment firm. The sale to non-French ownership produced significant industry concern about long-term stewardship. The following year, on 31 May 2006, the Champagne house was bought back in collaboration with Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger and the Northeast Regional Bank of Crédit Agricole, restoring family ownership. The recovery was widely celebrated within Champagne as a model of corporate stewardship. The Taittinger family has retained ownership ever since; Pierre-Emmanuel led the house through the post-2006 era before stepping down as president on 1 January 2020, when his daughter Vitalie Taittinger succeeded him. Her brother Clovis Taittinger serves as general manager.

• Groupe Taittinger sold to Starwood Capital Group in 2005
• Champagne house bought back on 31 May 2006, led by Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger with Crédit Agricole
• Family ownership restored and continues today
• Vitalie Taittinger became president on 1 January 2020; Clovis Taittinger is general manager

Taittinger's house style is Chardonnay-led, distinguishing the Maison from Pinot-dominant competitors like Bollinger and Veuve Clicquot. Brut Réserve NV, the Maison's volume face, is roughly 40% Chardonnay (high for a major-Maison NV), with Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier filling out the blend. The Chardonnay emphasis gives Taittinger NV a lifted, chalk-driven character that contrasts with the riper Pinot-led styles. Beyond Brut Réserve, the range includes Prestige Rosé NV, Brut Vintage, Folies de la Marquetterie (the Maison's only single-vineyard wine, a Pinot-led Chardonnay-Pinot Noir blend from the Les Folies parcel at the Château de la Marquetterie in Pierry), Nocturne, and the Comtes de Champagne tier. The family also founded Domaine Carneros in California's Carneros region in 1987 as a Taittinger sparkling-wine venture. Taittinger's commercial position reflects this Chardonnay-led identity, with the Maison particularly visible in white-wine-friendly markets.