Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Grands Crus Blanc de Blancs Brut 2007

Lobenberg: Taittingers Spitzen-Cuvée kommt mit all der Reichhaltigkeit und geschmeidigen Üppigkeit eines beeindruckenden Jahrgangs. Der Grundwein ist immer ein Blend aus den fünf Top-Grands Crus der Côte des Blancs: Cramant, Avize, Mesnil-sur-Oger, Chouilly und Oger Dichte gelbe Steinobstfrucht bis hin zur Exotik, zerstoßener Kalkstein, Crème und Hefeteig, auch eine feine Meeresbrise darunter. Komplex, kraftvoll und tief. Ein monumentale Comtes. Aus dem sehr warmen Top-Jahr 2005 ist die Comtes jetzt in einer ersten Trinkreife angekommen und schmeckt in ihrer eleganten Opulenz einfach köstlich. Gerne aus großen Gläsern genießen für die volle Bandbreite der Komplexität! 98/100

James Suckling: This is a step up from the linear and fresh 2006. It shows subtle depth and power with a dense block of vivid fruit that's highlighted by lemon zest, green apples and hints of white peaches. Just the right amount of praline and nuts on the nose. The fine, tight bead provides a luxurious mouth feel. One for now or the cellar. Drink or hold. 98/100

Wine Enthusiast: Always one of the great Champagnes, this comes from a year that is generally regarded as good but not great. And yet, with this Champagne is magnificent. The wine has some good bottle age, hinting at toast while also keeping the tight, mineral edge of a great wine from the Côte des Blancs. Drink from 2020. 97/100

Vinous: The 2007 Comtes de Champagne is just starting to open aromatically, making it a very fine choice for drinking now. Hints of apricot, dried flowers, candied ginger, spice, chamomile, marzipan, brioche and lightly honeyed notes fill out the layers. There's gorgeous textural density and presence to match its generous personality. Soft contours wrap it all together in style. What a delight. 96/100

Decanzer: A plentiful, early harvest after a cool and rainy August did little for the reputation of the 2007 vintage. Still, I find that the quality of the Chardonnay this year is often underestimated. The Comtes de Champagne is, with Salon, the wine of the vintage, with an aroma of ripe Golden Delicious apples, lemon peel and linden flowers. There are very noticeable notes of saline minerality, smoke and toast. The wine is approachable and silky textured on the palate, with a lively mousse and rich, mouth-filling plumpness. 96/100

Jancis Robinson: Very tight and tense with strong lemon-cream notes. Still amazingly youthful. But with sore-throat-healing qualities. Firm acidity and some lime notes. 18.5/20

Robert Parker: Born of a long yet cold and damp growing season that yielded many wines from grapes harvested at the threshold of ripeness, the 2007 Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is a considerable success and has evolved little since I last tasted it a few years ago. Disgorged in 2017 with a dosage of nine grams per liter, it reveals a bouquet of pear, mocha and dried flowers mingled with cacao nib, and there's a touch of smoky reduction that is more overt in this rendition than in the 2012–2014 trio. On the palate, it is medium-bodied, elegant and taut, with a crystalline core of fruit, pinpoint mousse, incisive acids and a precise, long, chalky finish. Less demonstrative than both the 2006 and 2012 editions, this is a middleweight, more lightly structured Comtes—one that may stir a certain nostalgia for the Comtes of bygone years. 95/100