Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2014

The 2014 Comtes de Champagne is pristine. In this tasting, it comes across as a mini-2008, similar in its linear personality, with just a touch more mid-palate creaminess. Readers will find a Comtes that plays in the realm of tension and energy. Citrus confit, white flowers, chalk, mint and chamomile are all finely sketched. Light tropical overtones grace the finish. What an absolute delight. The 2014 can be enjoyed now or cellared. Dosage is 9 grams per liter. (Drink between 2026-2044)

Already open for business, the 2014 Comtes has a beautiful, broad nose built around pristine Blanc de Blancs fruit. Lemon, yuzu and white stone fruit shine at the core, surounded by intense notes of brioche, gunsmoke and pastry dough. Despite this rich, powerful bouquet, the palate immediately shows the vintage's cooler side, a streak of acidity cutting through the heart of that same yellow-white fruit. Time on lees has benefited the mousse, which is very fine, creamy and persistent but not obtrusive to the fruit. The leesy, bready tones build again through to the finish, adding body and gravitas together with that same reductive smoke quality. Narrowing to a point on the finish, which is long and very pure, you can see the potential for cellaring in this wine. But, it is absolutely delicious now, moreish and complex, classically Comtes with the purity that varietal Chardonnay Champagne does best. Excellent.

Apricots, hazelnuts, lemons, white flowers, sliced almonds and hints of licorice on the nose. It's creamy and layered, with soft, rounded bubbles that spread across the palate. Lovely balance of breadth, ripeness and freshness, with delicious wildflower honey and nut notes lingering. 100% grand cru chardonnay from Avize, Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Cramant and Chouilly. Drink or hold.

Lusciously creamy nose. Tiny, dense bead and still quite a bit of tension and marked acidity on the palate. There's no hurry at allt to drink this! Strong lemon notes on the end. Very densely wound. You could drink it now but I think it will be even more rewarding next year. Impressive length on the palate.

Frankly, who cares about the specs – for the record, this Chardonnay hails from Grands Crus Avize, Cramant, Chouilly, Oger and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger; it spent 10 years in the cellar; its dosage is 8-9g/L. Nothing new here. What is showstopping about this wine is that it is an absolute beauty from the tips of its toes to the last fibre of its being. While the world and its aunt went tonto about the 2013, I held my cards close to my chest. It was a wine I liked on release and still like (yes, just like) today. It is impressive, towering and structured, but for me, it doesn’t resonate deeply in my psyche on account of scale and muscle alone. The building blocks are too rigid and brusque to conjure up a sense of true wonder, and Comtes is a wine I have been enchanted with in the past, so when four-square vintages come along, I find myself sitting on the sidelines while other commentators dance their jigs. So, with a couple of ounces of trepidation, I approached the 2014 release on Monday afternoon, only to be told to jog off and come back when it was the right temperature. Easy enough, but this only served to heighten my expectations. One hour later, and perfectly chilled, it was poured into my glass and the world, for a minute or two, became a glittering kaleidoscope of effortless, cleansing, elegant and sophisticated Grand-Cru-born, and perfectly balanced Chardonnay. This is the world of Comtes, as I know it. I demand, and only react to, an exultant level of pristine fruit and seamless palate texture that this 2014 (and a handful of previous vintages) offer, and in addition, the finish, tension, and, ultimately, the pay-off, which is evinced in a sensational flavour memory which encapsulates the legend of this wine and its reputation, is complete. This is Comtes. This is the Taittinger House in a sip! It is a phenomenal Chardonnay from the historic Côtes des Blancs, and it is not only drinking now, but I venture it will roll for a further decade and more without breaking step. If you, like me, have missed ‘classic Comtes’ of late, here she is. And this is why this beautiful wine has pushed all others aside to stand in the spotlight this week.

Closed in style and character like the 2013, Taittinger's 2014 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne reveals aromas of ripe orchard fruit, confit citrus, dried flowers, herbs, spring blossoms and mirabelle mingled with customary autolytic notes. Full-bodied, seamless and enrobing, it has a delicate, elegant, fleshy core of fruit and racy acids, all enhanced by a saline, fresh and penetrating finish marked by finesse and elegance. This refined, chalky-inflected Comtes de Champagne has the potential to age gracefully over the next 30-40 years.