Pierre Emmanuel Taittinger

How would you define the Taittinger style?

It is closely linked to Chardonnay, a grape variety and wine that we all love. The Taittinger style is elegance, sophistication and a pinch of femininity.

What are the house’s values?

Our values are naturally and historically rooted in Chardonnay and the Saint Nicaise Abbey, which is still home to the Maison Taittinger cellars. It was in fact Theobald I of Navarre, Count of Champagne, who came back from the crusades with the first Chardonnay grapes. We have a deep attachment to history and family, and a longstanding respect for humanity and nature.

How much champagne do you produce every year?

Our annual production capacity is somewhere between 5 million and 6 million bottles, depending on the yearly harvest. We will never increase this capacity as we want to preserve a consistent quality. A client who enjoys Taittinger will find the same quality of champagne whether they are at the Imperial Palace in Annecy, or in Hong Kong. If I consider the fact that a friend of Taittinger champagne drinks six bottles per year, my role is to find one million friends among the world’s seven billion inhabitants (smiles). We are also very proud to be the family-run champagne house that registers the highest sales.

Where are your leading markets?

France is still the leading market for all houses in Champagne, followed by the UK, the United States, Japan and the major European countries. But the rest of the world is also catching up. I run our company according to a main principle: I want us to be present wherever people know what quality really is.

 What is your favourite stage in the champagne-making process?

All of them! From growing the grapes to selling the champagne – and I am particularly fascinated by the latter. When I started out in the Haute-Savoie region, I was just a kid and didn’t know what I was doing. There was an excellent young salesman who was selling a very poor-quality champagne. I realised that a great salesperson could sell bad champagne, but a bad salesperson couldn’t even sell good champagne…

When do you know if it will be a good year or not?

You start getting an idea during the harvest. A very good year implies picking healthy, extra-ripe grapes, meaning they have been left on the vine right up to the last second. And how is 2017 looking? Up until 30 July, 2017 was phenomenal. Then in August there was a lot of heat and humidity that created the ideal environment for botrytis (rot). We had to sort the good grapes from the bad, but what we harvested was of the highest quality. This year we will have an excellent non-vintage brut, but I can’t yet say [as of November 2017] whether we will produce a Comte de Champagne this year or not. We will know after the analyses in December.

What is the best bottle of champagne you have ever tasted?

 That’s a difficult question. I have tasted many exceptional bottles, but the best ones are always linked to a context. Every time I drink champagne with people I love, it always seems excellent. However, if I had to choose one, it would be the bottle I shared with Pierre Gagnaire in Paris when I acquired Champagne Taittinger just a year after the Taittinger Group (Le Crillon, Le Martinez, Cristallerie Baccarat, etc.) had been sold to the American investment firm Starwood Capital. I bought it at auction, and we didn’t think we could do it. We all battled it out against 40 internationally influential buyers to acquire our champagne house and the company I had worked in for 30 years. I have to say that the glass of Comte de Champagne had a quite particular taste to it that evening. What’s more, it’s a vin de garde that can be aged for a long time to develop its aromas…

Are you involved in local life?

 I certainly am. It’s something I see as essential. You cannot succeed in your profession if you do not take care of things on a larger scale. I make champagne, but I also focus on what’s happening throughout the region. If you restrict yourself to your profession, you will miss out on things that can help in finding fulfilment, both for you and your products. I think it is important to spend between 10% and 15% of your time on other things. We all have other qualities and talents, and should find a second way of contributing and making ourselves useful.

Can you talk about the Taittinger International Culinary Prize?

 It was created by my uncle Claude, and we have continued it despite everything. It is enormously costly for us, but it is a truly remarkable prize for connoisseurs. All of the world’s chefs say that Taittinger is perfect. The prize is extremely difficult to win, but also very honest. Taittinger does not take part in the evaluation process. It’s a bit like the “Meilleur Ouvrier de France” title. It’s not very well known, except among the specialists.

Did you ever consider moving away from the family business?

Yes, but I have always done things out of a sense of duty. I inherited a taste for the fantastical from my mother, an artist, but my father passed down his dutiful nature. Taittinger was my duty more than my passion. You can’t just let a name like that be forgotten.

Do you remember tasting champagne for the very first time?

I can’t remember the first time I tasted it, but I can clearly remember the first time I enjoyed it! It was when I was back at boarding school on a Sunday with my friends, including Thierry, from the Perrier-Jouët family. It was the first time a champagne had stirred up emotion in me. We drank very little of it at home, and my father was more interested in politics than champagne.

What do you do in your spare time?

 I daydream. I’m a great dreamer; it’s something I adore doing. I also enjoy reading, and looking at beautiful women. That’s a real pleasure. And if I feel depressed, I watch television (laughs).

How do you feel about growing older?

I believe that death is something quite beautiful, and you need to prepare for it. I wouldn’t have thought that a few years ago, but I now find that nature is very well-made. I have always thought about death, on a daily basis. And I have heard that those who often think of death are generally happier.

What question would you like to be asked?

 Who my favourite actress is. To which I would reply: Cécile de France!