Taittinger Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne 2004

98 points Tyson Stelzer (The Champagne Guide): "(disgorged February 2012; Avize, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Chouilly, Cramant, Oger, Bergères-lès-Vertus and Vertus; 5% aged in oak barrels; 9 g/L dosage). The 2004 Comtes brings back all the innocence of a joyful childhood, of scaling lemon and lime trees to plunder their tangy fruits, of a free-as-air dash through fields of daisies in endless blue daylight, of freshly roasted cashe nuts mounded in market baskets, and of a breathless plunge into an icy mountain rock pool. Then, nougat, pepper, gunflint and rising minerality of iceberg proportions. Such is the nervous tension, racy endurance and sheet stature of 2004 that it best be left until it at least attains adolescence. Do you really want to live forever, forever, forever? (2014-2015)"

97 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "A wine of cool, steely reserve, the 2004 Comtes de Champagne bristles with salivating energy. Citrus, white flowers, slate and mineral notes all grace the palate, but it is the wine’s crystalline freshness and tension that stand out above all else. The 2004 has not budged much since it was first released. It remains pointed, tightly wound and built for cellaring. I have said it before, but I will say it again. Comtes de Champagne routinely delivers the highest level of quality for the money in tête de cuvée Champagne. Drink: 2016-2044. (Jun 2016)"

97 points/'Top 10 Champagnes of the Year,' Tom Hewson (Decanter): "Comtes de Champagne 2004 is in an utterly magical spot now, poised between brown butter, coffee cake and the almost parmesan cheese and umami-like development that this classic blanc de blancs shows on cork. Plush yet zingy fruit ranges from lemon marmalade to mango and dried apple, all brightened with a touch of oyster-shell breeziness. It’s lithe, silky-smooth and layered, perfectly pitched for current drinking. Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs grands crus. Drinking Window: 2024-2040. (5/21/24)"

97 points Essi Avellan, MW (The World of Fine Wine): "Medium-deep lemon color. Gorgeous, toasty nose, with such sweet charm: vanilla, coffee with cream, cotton candy, and lemon meringue pie. Full-on, sweet, and expressive palate, with fine intensity and a degree of refinement. Still perky by bubbles and perfectly energetic, the creamy palate carries long. A complete and instantly impressive whole, with no signs of weakening or negative aromatic development. A very strong wine, with further improvement potential. 2023–33. (Jan 2025)"

96 points Antonio Galloni (Wine Advocate): "It’s fascinating to taste the 2004 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne after the 2002, something I have been able to do on a few occasions. The 2004 is all about minerality, precision and tension. It doesn’t have the sheer richness or power of the 2002, but it makes up for that with its crystalline purity and sheer energy. Bright hints of lemon oil, white flowers and crushed rocks are layered into the pointed, vibrant finish. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2034. (Nov 2012)"

95+ points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "Like so many of the top 2004 bottlings from Champagne, the ’04 Comtes de Champagne is showing all the signs of a very long life of utterly classic evolution for this bottling. At our vertical here in New York in October, the wine was showing great potential, as it wafts from the glass in a blossoming mélange of pear, white peach, very complex, chalky minerality, brioche, a touch of vanilla bean, orange zest, discreet floral tones and a lovely, smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, and racy, with a very fine core, laser-like focus and grip, elegant mousse and great cut and bounce on the very long and still fairly youthful finish. Comtes de Champagne is always so well-balanced out of the blocks, that it always seems accessible, but this wine really deserves at least a solid handful of more years of bottle age before starting to drink, as it is only at the outset of its vinous journey. 2018-2045+. (Sep/Oct 2014)"

95 points Jasper Morris, MW (Inside Burgundy): "A wine of cut and vigour, 2004s had an atypical pumped-up sweetness to the fruit on release (often with a flowery-herbaceous edge). Now fully mature, the wine possesses a quilty, toasty bouquet. The oily Chardonnay maturity on the finish combines with the wine's underlying richness to give that succulent lemon-sweetness aroma to die for (a common feature of 20th-century releases of Comtes, less so in the 21st!). It will hold at this sublime level for the next few years, but it is definitely at its peak! Drink from 2023-2032. Tasted: 15-Dec-22. (Dec 2023)" -Steve Pritchard