Taittinger is a Tasty, Entry-Level Champagne 

When I picked Taittinger (pronounced “Tay-ton-zshay”) to be my New Year’s Eve champagne, it was for simple reasons — it cost under $70, was on sale, and wasn’t Veuve Clicquot, a bubbly I have mixed feelings about. While a non-vintage champagne (not a bad thing as I love Pol Roger, another non-vintage) my hopes were marginally high, as I’d heard good things about Taittinger, but hadn’t had a chance to try it myself.

That said, when you’re buying something upscale, price generally does tend to correlate with quality — especially when you can’t lean on a brand name as heavily as Veuve does. So when I popped the bottle, poured a glass, cheersed the ending of a shitty year and took a sip, I was pleasantly surprised just how good this champagne really was.

Here’s what I thought:

Taittinger Champagne Review

There’s a lot of qualities that define champagne from other sparkling wines, and one thing I look for — particularly in “budget” varieties — is that it demonstrates all these traits. For instance, I don’t think I’ve ever described a prosecco as “minerally” but I’d be disappointed if my champagne wasn’t at least a little.

The great news about Taittinger is it has all those qualities and delivers a refined and well-balanced champagne experience. It pours a lovely pale yellow, with large and lazy effervescence. On the nose, Taittinger smells strongly of lemon peel and yeasty bread dough. There’s also a hint of nuttiness, but it plays second fiddle to the citrus.

The taste of Taittinger is lovely — plain and simple. The citrus is still strong, and it has a positively bracing acidity, which I absolutely loved. The fresh yeast of the nose tastes deeper than it smells — almost like toast. There’s also some lovely floral undertones, and even some green apple. The finish is long and wonderful, as this wine likes to cling to your tongue. All in all, Taittinger exceeds its price point in quality, and is a champagne I can heartily recommend.