Vitalie Taittinger

Vitalie Taittinger’s appeal as a woman in charge in Champagne is part of the winds of change blowing ever so gently across the region. But she is more than a figure of interest for the sake of being a woman. It goes beyond to a deep belief in carrying forward Taittinger’s patrimony - which is now four generations old - albeit with improvements and modernisations. Sara Underdown takes a closer look at how Vitalie Taittinger is making her mark in the era of COVID-19.

It’s been just over one year since Vitalie Taittinger took over from her father as President of Champagne Taittinger. Remarkable, though this may be in the history of the House, it is also for Champagne - the region - still dominated by a patriarchal culture of men at the top.

What should have been a honeymoon of sorts, celebrating the House’s first female leader - also family member - got swept away with the onslaught of COVID-19. She would be forgiven for her shortcomings, if she had any, but Vitalie has shown nothing of the kind. She has a resilience and optimism borne of her father, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, who orchestrated the audacious buy-back of the Maison, in 2007 for a cool €550 million, after other members of the family voted to sell it off to US investment firm, Starwood Capital.

Vitalie, who trained as an artist and didn’t intend on joining the business, was moved by the plight of her father. She refers to it as a light bulb moment when, suddenly, it all made sense.

“My father is crazy about the history of our family, and he was so sad,” she says about the difficult period surrounding the sell-off. “He pushed to revive it in 2006 and chose the right partners and people to succeed. Then Clovis [my brother] and I decided to join him to pursue our family history.”

The Taittinger estate has a special place in Champagne as one of the finest Grandes Marques, with a history that can be traced back to 1734. But it wasn’t until 1932 that Pierre Taittinger – Vitalie’s great grandfather – bought its epochal Château de la Marquetterie in Pierry, just south of Epernay, which belonged to champagne producers, Forest-Fourneaux. He had fallen in love with its beauty and grandeur, when he was sent there as an officer during World War I, seizing the opportunity to make the Château his own when the fortunes of its owner began to dwindle. It came complete with vineyards, planted with chardonnay and pinot noir, which eventually went into making its eponymous cuvée, Folies de La Marquetterie.

Taittinger entered its golden era when Pierre’s third son, François, took over in 1945 and ran the business until his death in 1960. He was the one who established their glorious cellars, in the Abbey of Saint-Nicaise, built into 13th Century Gallo-Roman chalk pits, known as Crayères. Today, Taittinger is one of only six Maisons to store their wines in these chalk cathedrals originally excavated by the Romans. François' brother, Claude, superseded the leadership until its eventual sale in 2005.

Though transition may have been the unintended consequence of buying back Taittinger two years later, Vitalie’s appointment has continued the family’s ‘ID’ – as she calls it – with a new generation and modern twist. But it nearly didn’t happen.

“I asked my father in the beginning, but he was not comfortable – he thought it was a little bit weird,” she smiles, referring to her creative beginnings as an artist. “But he decided to include me – it has become a passionate cause for me.”

Though transition may have been the unintended consequence of buying back Taittinger two years later, Vitalie’s appointment has continued the family’s ‘ID’ – as she calls it – with a new generation and modern twist. But it nearly didn’t happen.

Vitalie joined her father after the buy-back in the marketing department, alongside her brother Clovis, who took on responsibility for exports. Over some 15 years, father, son and daughter have re-modelled Taittinger into a House of remarkable strength and character with a clear vision for the quality of its cuvées.

They’ve secured prestigious deals with the British Academy Film Awards and FIFA World Cup and, over the last twelve months, demand for their premium cuvées has reached fever pitch.

These are all superlative rewards, of course, for the toil and trouble that has befallen them. But the higher pursuit is for continuous improvement in their champagnes.

Estate-grown chardonnay is supplemented with purchased grapes, which have been organised with more scrutiny in recent years.

Environmental certification, and generally reducing reliance on pesticides and herbicides, has re-framed Taittinger’s approach to viticulture. A staggering 288 hectares belongs to the Taittinger domaine which services around half of their needs. Most are located in the Montagne de Reims and Côte des Blancs, planted primarily to pinot noir, followed by chardonnay and a little meunier. It has its challenges, says Vitalie, but allows them to ‘go further into precision’.

“My personal victory is what we are producing by ourselves [estate vines] – it makes me proud. The precision comes from our own vineyards. I’m more and more impressed every time I taste vins clairs. We improve every year. I think what we’re doing works.”

Chardonnay is at the heart of Taittinger’s unmistakable elegant style, majestically framed around the pillars of purity, precision and finesse. Every cuvée, with the exception of Folies de la Marquetterie, flatters with chardonnay and uses pinot noir or meunier to add additional structure.

Estate-grown chardonnay is supplemented with purchased grapes, which have been organised with more scrutiny in recent years. Special importance is placed on grower contracts using a dedicated resource to develop relationships and provide technical advice. Non-estate grapes are most important to Taittinger’s Brut Reserve – the ‘promise of the House’ says Vitalie - on which they are first judged. The aim here is energy, precision and cleanliness, which they’ve been getting more of under this rigorous approach.

At 80 percent of production, comprising 35 crus, it’s a prodigious undertaking to be this fastidious – and it’s working. The current release has a 2017 base – one of the most challenging and rot-riddled vintages in recent Champagne history – not that you would know it. There is a lovely freshness and purity that can only come from quality fruit, and attentive vinification, which takes place exclusively in stainless steel tanks below 18°C. Malolactic fermentation is completed, to soften out the sharper edges, and reserve wines are added – notably from Avize and Le Mesnil – to impart harmony and generosity. Aging on lees is at least three years and dosage around 9g/L.

Prelude, which is decidedly more vinous, is actually a vintage, dressed as a non-vintage. The current release comes from 2014.

“The idea is not to tell the story of the year,” says Vitalie on why they decided against marketing it as a vintage. “Its identity is grand cru - 50 percent chardonnay and 50 percent pinot noir. We want to demonstrate the history of Champagne as a blend of different plots – playing with all shades of vines.”

To the senses, Prelude reverberates its grand cru origins with concentration and finesse. It has energy, vitality and acid drive, but also roundness. Parcel selection is important for imparting minerality and tension when juxtaposed with succulent fruit. The northerly provence of Mailly-Champagne lends this kind of freshness when blending with grapes from more sun exposed sites.

Taittinger’s Folies de la Marquetterie, also a non-vintage, is most sentimental for its historical significance to the foundations of the House ‘because everything started at the castle’.

It is the only ‘terroir’ wine in the range, and the only one with a majority of pinot noir at 55 percent. Partial vinification takes place in large oak foudres which Vitalie says imparts a ‘warm feeling’, the same you get when entering the castle. The style is not too big but there is an obvious presence of wood. She admits that the terroir is not the best, which inspired some changes here and there, drawing on other Taittinger-owned vineyards to improve quality and complexity.

“It was a bit frustrating for us,” she says of her father who was reluctant to make any alterations. “We wanted to create something more elegant and accurate…more about food as well. So now, we take some pinot noir from Verzenay and Hautvillers to give greater precision.”

Taittinger’s legendary Comtes de Champagne sits at the top of the range - a testament to the majesty of grand cru chardonnay into which the House has a deep reach. Five crus, principally Avize and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, but also Cramant, Chouilly and Oger, go into every blend. Avize and Mesnil are strongest in terms of identity, imparting structure and tension. Cramant contributes authoritative chalk and finesse. Chouilly is expressive and round, and Oger, fresh with citrus.

Only the first press juice is used for its purity. Five percent of wines are aged in oak, for four months, to bring subtle complexity to the blend; one-third is new and the rest up to four years old. Aging on lees takes place underground, in the Saint-Nicaise cellars in Reims, for at least eight years prior to release.

The delicate and bracing beauty of Comtes de Champagne is never more apparent than in its 2008 incarnation, its latest release. It has produced a ‘sweet spot’ for Taittinger’s prestige offering where a legendary House finds its match in a legendary vintage. Energy, purity and tension defines its reductive slant. The nose is pronounced with sweet floral overtones, menthol, grass and orchard fruits. And the palate, delicate and finely chiselled, with chalk. There is a generosity to this champagne yet to come in other 2008s, which makes it so very approachable, even now.

The magnificence of this champagne, which promises even better things to come, sparked a feverish-cultish interest from champagne lovers on release. Supply has not been nearly enough to compensate demand as global stocks sell-out long before it hits distant shores.

Comtes de Champagne’s massive success has been a ‘huge pleasure’ for Vitalie who is now turning her eye to releasing 2011.

More than one year into the COVID crisis, Vitalie has not only navigated some of the biggest challenges in the history of the House, which employs 260 people, she has performed with aplomb.

“It has been a tough year with COVID but also a great opportunity to transition. Today I feel very calm and honoured by the trust of people working with us,” she says. “It’s about working together. Today, in Champagne, we have that.”

This will be her legacy.

Words by Sara Underdown
Photography supplied by Taittinger