Taittinger Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne 2005

99 points Gilbert & Gaillard: "Bright pale yellow with green tints. Delicate, subtle nose showing a mix of floral, fruity, mineral and creamy perfumes. Remarkably silky, fresh and ethereal palate. Full, fat and persistent. A consummate Champagne. (Jun 2014)"

97 points (19.25/20), Richard Juhlin (Decanter): "A truly wonderful wine from the start but slow to develop in the glass this time. As usual, Taittinger succeeds very well in warm, acid-weak vintages, when the neighbours' wines often appears flat and simplistic. Despite the fact that the acidity is not particularly accentuated here either, the wineyards' aromatic citrus fresh touch leaves a fresh, uplifting side to the creamy, fat smoothness. The finish is certainly chalky and elegant, but it raises to heavenly heights with a 1976-like butterscotch soft, warm, sweet flavoured embracing pillow. Drink: 2014-2025. Alcohol 12.5%. (Dec 2014)"

96 points Tyson Stelzer (The Champagne Guide): "(tasted in 2019 in Australia) ‘It was harder to make Comtes de Champagne in 2005, as the still wines were more mature and more dried-out right from the start, and these are the same characters we see in the wine now,’ responded Damien Le Sueur, when I queried the decision to release Comtes in this challenging season. I found its dry extract, dusty, bitter almond character and the grip of 2005 pronounced on release in 2013, interrupting the otherwise seamless flow of the finish. I was impressed at how admirably the wine had grown into itself by 2015, but never has it looked more impressive than it does today. At a full 14 years of age, it holds its head high, with stunning poise. The grilled toast reductive signature of the house is impressively prominent amidst the toasty, smoky, nutty, honeyed complexity of maturity. Its primary citrus, apple and pear spectrum has progressed to a secondary, spicy complexity. This is a Comtes of flamboyant intensity and masculine strength, rejoicing in the texture of lees age, at once soft and creamy, chewy and full. It’s got the grit to age for many more seasons yet. (2020-2021)"

96 points Jasper Morris, MW (Inside Burgundy): "This wine feels like an old friend, having drunk dozens of bottles over the past few years. In the UK, a famous high-street supermarket decided to delist this wine and offer some extraordinary discounts. For myself and other savvy enthusiasts, this was a unique opportunity to study the wine, the vintage, and the differences between subsequent disgorgements on a grand and affordable scale. Early examples were delightfully restrained and even austere (2006 is a ripe vintage; though it is perceived as a "low acid" year, the combination of ripe tartaric acidity and high natural ABV gives the wine structure and precision). In the interim, the pear-like fruit has gained a layer of succulent, stone-fruit creaminess, though the aspect remains intense, fresh, and youthful. A long, mineral finish completes the experience. Evolving at a snail's pace, this is genuinely a brilliant effort from Taittinger and possibly wine of the vintage! Drink from 2023-2038. Tasted: 15-Jun-23. (Dec 2023)" -Steve Pritchard

95 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2005 Comtes de Champagne is a stunning young wine. The bouquet is deep, pure and youthfully complex, as it offers up a very classy blend of pear, delicious apple, fresh almond, incipient notes of crème patissière, chalky minerality, brioche and just a whisper of vanillin oak in the upper register. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and rock solid at the core, with exquisite balance, refined mousse, crisp acids and simply superb length and grip on the seamless, youthful and oh, so promising finish. The style of the 2005 vintage gives this some early accessibility that was not evident with the more tightly-knit 2004 out of the blocks, but this wine has the structure to also age long and very, very gracefully. It has been a year since I last tasted this wine and it has started to show more precision to go along with its early generosity and is a classic in the making. My gut feeling today is that it will be superior to the 1989 version, to which I compared it to a year ago. Brilliant wine. 2015-2045+. (Jul/Aug 2015)"

95 points Wine Enthusiast: "With just a touch of bottle age giving a toasty character, this impressive wine is already showing some maturity. That said, the apple and citrus character, the mineral tight texture and crisp acidity promise some aging. The wine conveys a sense of elegance, intensity and richness. Drink now, but the wine will also age. Alcohol 12.5%. (Jun 2014)"

95 points Ulrich Sautter (Falstaff): "The Chardonnay grapes for Comtes de Champagne are sourced from the best vineyards of the Côte des Blancs, and the Champagne is crafted in the historic vaulted cellars of the former Saint-Nicaise Abbey in Reims, which dates back to the 13th century. Five percent of the base wines mature for a few months in new oak barrels before being cuvéted and fermented in the bottle. The 2005 vintage was warm and dry in Champagne, as it was almost everywhere in Europe. It produced wines with power, yet balanced by a sturdy nerve and rich-extract. Delicately scented yeasty notes, hay, and closed mineral-iodic tones, very fine mousse, mild yet structured flow, compact, a rather powerful body absorbed in mineral freshness, vinous in the mid-palate and finish. A very rich but not viscous Champagne at the very start of its evolution. Intensely tactile-minerality and reverberant. (10/18/16)"

94-95 points Essi Avellan, MW: "100% Chardonnay. Rich, ripe white fruit nose coming with a seductive charred, toasty nose. Plenty of pristinely clean fruit. Caressing, smooth silky palate with baking spices and yellow apples. Fresh, zesty palate of fine intensity. Long lingering and appealing. (Jan 2017)"

94 points Wine Spectator: "[$175 list] Shows lovely balance, with a chinalike backbone of acidity, finely meshed with a creamy mousse and rich and toasty flavors of roasted hazelnut, creamed apple, lemon parfait and spun honey. A vein of smoky minerality echoes on the finish. Drink now through 2028. 700 cases imported. (11/30/13)"