Magnum Comtes de Champagne 1996 - Maison Taittinger

Maison Taittinger

Champagne House from Reims

Before the House Taittinger was born, there was a Champagne wine trading created by Jacques Fourneaux in 1734. He used to work with the local Benedictine monks, who owned the majority of vineyards. In 1932, Pierre Taittinger, the patriarch of a family of Champagne wine merchants living in Paris since 1870, bought the Château de la Marquetterie (a jewel of architecture built in 1734 near Épernay, located in the middle of a huge vineyard) from the Champagne House Forest-Fourneaux. It was love at first sight for this former French military officer turned politician.

The purchase was not enough for Pierre, though. As the man was always quite fond of wine and winemaking. So, in 1934, he and his brother-in-law Paul Evêque also bought the entire Forest-Fourneaux company. As Pierre was unfortunately too occupied with his job as a member of the French Parliament, he convinced Paul to let his three sons help them with the estate. Claude, François and Jean Taittinger entered the picture.

Together, the siblings managed to breathe new life into the Reims Champagne house. François had an innate talent for management, and he led the troops from 1945 to 1960. The young man was the one who created the Taittinger brand as we know it and who developed the international side of the business. As for Jean, he was put in charge of expanding the vineyard in 1946, scouting for new locations. A few years later, he left the estate to become a politician like his father, ending up as one of the ministers of French President Georges Pompidou, in 1973.

After the tragic death of François, his second brother Claude took the helm of the House Taittinger, from 1960 to 2005. He continued the work started by his sibling, that is to say expanding the brand internationally, and bought 140 hectares of new vineyards. This marketing genius turned Taittinger into a synonym of style and elegance. In 2005, the House Taittinger was sold to the American investment firm Starwood Capital Group. It would only last one year, though: in 2006, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, son of Jean, bought back the family estate from the investors.

Taittinger is once again the sole owner of the Château de la Marquetterie, its caves (that house more than 12 millions of bottles) and its 290 hectares vineyard. Claude left the group in 2006, to enjoy his well-deserved retirement, after nearly 50 years of hard work. Today, Pierre-Emmanuel's daughter Vitalie Taittinger is leading the family business since 2019, with the help of her brother Clovis.

Discover the Champagne from the Maison Taittinger.