CHAMPAGNE TAITTINGER

Have you heard about the Taittinger champagne family? Their story hit me differently with me from all the cellars we visited not only because Mael the lady doing the tour was super passionate and we had an interesting conversation but because their story is about what we realize only after we've let something go. In 2005, this family who'd built this beautiful champagne legacy together decided to sell everything. Not because they wanted to, but because life got complicated, 38 family members with different visions, mounting pressures, taxes, difficult conversations, choices that never quite resolved anything. So they sold their name, their heritage, their shared story to an American real estate investors for over a billion dollars.

Money in the bank, problem solved. Until it wasn't. Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, who'd fought against the sale, described that hollow feeling afterward realizing they were only interested in their hotels not in the legacy and the champagne. The family name was now just an asset on someone else's spreadsheet. The Americans were already talking about flipping the champagne business, they didn't care about the generations of history in each bottle, the legacy , employees, the vineyards tended by the same families for decades, the traditions passed down...

Their story made me realize sometimes we walk away from things thinking we're making the reasonable choice. The logical one, the right one. Only to discover later what logic can't measure. Less than a year passed before Pierre-Emmanuel couldn't bear it anymore. He gathered everything he had, found partners, banks...who believed in his vision, and bought back just the champagne house, he left the rest of their legacy to the American group paying more for that piece than what they he had received for the entire empire.

I keep thinking about that visit, how sometimes we need to lose something to understand its true value. How what seems broken might actually be worth fighting for. How the courage to say "I made a mistake" can lead to something deeper and more authentic than what existed before and how sometimes trying something new and realizing it didn't work also takes strength, we often focus on the issues never on the fact that there were lessons at every step. What struck me was how after the sale, they gained perspective. The family realized that their shared history had a value beyond any amount of money. How they found ways to gather the money to keep the family legacy.

Pierre-Emmanuel ended up buying back just the champagne portion fair enough but not to restore what was lost, but to honor what it taught him. I have ve been reflecting on my own journey lately. Like the Taittingers, I have come to appreciate how past chapters shape us even when they're complete.

Their champagne house is now one of the few still family owned, different but stronger for having gone through that transformation and taste amazingly nice + a UNESCO heritage.

Anyway, just thought it was a cool story about how endings and accepting that we can make wrong choices sometimes lead to unexpected growth. Some bonds, like good champagne, get better with time. Next time you have a glass of their champagne remember the story behind it ????❤️

And if you get to do the tour with Mael do say hi from Shake who found her knowledge and passion heartwarming.

Notre guide a été très très très professionnelle et super, la visite a été géniale... Nous avons apprécié son humour toute en délicatesse,...son accent Italien nous a fait rêver

Merciiii beaucoup, leatita????

La visita di questa meravigliosa cantina merita il viaggio in Champagne.
La cantina si snoda nel sottosuolo a più di 10 metri di profondità, fra vicoli, caverne, cripte… sembra di essere davvero in un posto surreale, invece è tutto vero!
La visita guidata in inglese con Francesca è stata super, lei bravissima a spiegarci tutto.
Degustazione con due ottimi vini, un bianco ed un rosè, anch’essi spiegati bene da Francesca e Letizia che ringrazio per la loro professionalità.
Consiglio prenotazione online prima della visita.

Une superbe expérience à la Maison de Champagne Taittinger ! Le lieu est magnifique, chargé d’histoire, et les caves impressionnantes par leur taille et par leur atmosphère. Un grand merci à notre guide Justine, qui a été exceptionnelle : passionnée, claire et très professionnelle. Elle nous a partagé de nombreuses informations intéressantes tout au long de la visite ; visite faite le jeudi 10 avril. Un moment aussi instructif qu’agréable — je recommande vivement !

Bellissima visita all'interno delle cave sotterranee, la persona che ci accompagnava molto preparata su tutti gli aspetti della cantine e dello champagne. Degustazione con due champgane in un sala molto moderna prima del loro shop.