A legacy

The destiny of a dynasty

The vitality and reach of the Taittinger brand is based on the values of those who embody it today. These values are inherited from those who created the Champagne House. Over three generations, a number of people have left their mark on the history, spirit and style of Taittinger and, beyond that, on the image of Champagne itself. Vision, inspiration, strategy, development and influence have all contributed to permanently shaping the destiny of the family and the reputation of the Champagne House.

The soul of a family business
Family Spirit
Taittinger's archives
Emotions, expressed …

Emotions, expressed …

Pierre Taittinger

Pierre Taittinger

Pierre

Pierre Taittinger

Pierre Taittinger

Pierre

In 1915, a young officer from Paris, Pierre Taittinger was assigned to the chief of staff of General de Castelnau, who was based at the Château de la Marquetterie, located in the heart of the vineyards in Champagne Pierre Taittinger fell in love with the château.

He could not have foreseen that one day it would become the start of a family destiny. He became a prominent politician and an MP for Paris. He was looking to set up home in the Champagne region when he bought the Château in 1932. He joined forces with his brother-in-law, Paul Evêque and two years later also bought the Forest-Fourneaux Champagne House, which was one of the oldest in Champagne. The foundations for the Taittinger venture in Champagne were now in place. Pierre Taittinger also loved French haute cuisine. With his understanding and vision in this area, he developed the style of the Champagne House’s wines. Pierre Taittinger was very involved in his life in politics until 1940, so he relied on Paul Evêque, and then his sons, François, Jean and Claude to run the business.

Read + : A passionate and committed man
Discover the Château de la Marquetterie
Château de la Marquetterie
Château de la Marquetterie
Pierre
Michel Taittinger

Michel Taittinger

The sense of duty

In 1940, second-lieutenant Michel Taittinger, the son of Pierre, together with a handful of men held a key position on the last bridge over the Seine to still be in French hands, located in Saint-Parres-aux-Tertres close to Troyes.

He refused to surrender despite being faced with an attack from an enemy much larger in number and with many more weapons. He died for his country on his 20th birthday. For the whole Taittinger family, Michel embodies the family values of duty, courage and honour, to the point of sacrificing their lives for the defence of France, their homeland.

Read + : To not bow down to force
Americans in front of Taittinger's headquarters
Americans in front of Taittinger's headquarters

François Taittinger

The Taittinger brand

François Taittinger and the famous Taittinger van

François Taittinger

The Taittinger brand

François Taittinger, Pierre’s third son, joined the business right at the start of the Second World War, whilst also completing his studies at Sciences Po.

He gradually took on more responsibility, despite his young age. He managed Taittinger from 1945 until his accidental death in 1960. After the war years, he planned the future of the Champagne House and prepared the business for it. He was already aware of international competition threatening the Champagne Houses at the end of the war, and the necessity for Taittinger to maintain its rightful place. In view of this, and in a move which was daring at the time, he renamed the Champagne House’s production so that it carried the family name. The Taittinger brand was born.

Read + : A strategic manager
François Taittinger
A strategic manager
Jean and François Taittinger (in the center)

Jean Taittinger

Politician and Builder

When Jean Taittinger, the son of Pierre, joined the Taittinger Champagne House in 1946, his brother François gave him the task of developing the land belonging to Taittinger and improving the quality of its vineyards.

Over the years, Jean regularly visited all the terroirs in the Champagne region and became very knowledgeable about the local land. At the age of 30, he became involved in politics and became the mayor of Gueux and then an MP for Marne. He was also mayor of Reims for 18 years. He demonstrated his management skills as Secretary of State for the Budget from 1971 to 1973, leaving behind the last balanced budgets the Fifth Republic has seen!), before becoming Minister of State and Keeper of the Seals. Jean Taittinger left politics in 1977 and returned to the family business. Under his chairmanship, which lasted 20 years, the ‘Société du Louvre’ experienced rapid expansion. In 2006, he gave his full support to his son Pierre-Emmanuel for the battle to buy back the Taittinger Champagne House.

Read + : A true developer
Jean Taittinger with General De Gaulle in Reims
Jean Taittinger
Harvest time at Château de la Marquetterie
Harvest time at Château de la Marquetterie

Claude Taittinger

Art and communication

Claude Taittinger
Claude Taittinger

With the death of his brother in 1960, Claude Taittinger was appointed by the family to take over the reins of running the Champagne House. He fulfilled this role until 2006, and made a strong mark on the image of Taittinger, for which he acted as a tireless ambassador.

He was a globe-trotter, aesthete and art lover, and positioned the brand in a world of elegance and connections. This is illustrated by the creation of the Taittinger Culinary Award and the Taittinger Collection in particular. He also expanded the Taittinger domaine, by planting nearly 140 hectares of vines in the 1960s. In 1987, he grasped the opportunity to invest in Carneros in the United States, a wine growing domaine in the Napa Valley covering 40 hectares. He was convinced that its red Pinot Noir would be one of the great wines of the 21st century…

Read + : An ambassador for Champagne
Discover "Le Taittinger" culinary prize
Discover the "Taittinger Collection"
Taittinger Culinary Prize wih Joël Robuchon
Taittinger Culinary Prize wih Joël Robuchon
The full weight of Chef Pierre Troisgros supporting the Culinary Prize
The full weight of Chef Pierre Troisgros supporting the Culinary Prize
A team

Continue the discovery

A team

Family Spirit

A PASSIONATE
AND COMMITTED MAN

Pierre Taittinger was very affected by the Great War, for which he was decorated. He fought in the Battle of Flanders with the 11th Cuirassier Regiment. His bravery won him many commendations and the ‘Croix de Guerre’ medal. His experiences inspired him to write ‘Après la bataille’ in 1921.

Following the end of the war, he became involved in politics and was elected MP for Charente in 1919, and then for Paris in 1924 for multiple terms, becoming a very influential figure. In 1927, as a result of his deep concern for social welfare, he created a sanatorium on the île de Ré which was able to house 150 young people. This establishment was bequeathed to the city of Reims in the 1960s.

Pierre Taittinger first had links with the Champagne region in 1911. He was invited to join the ‘Union Champenoise’ that year. This was a trading company looking to develop sales in Paris. During the war, he spent some time at the Château de la Marquetterie as a liaison officer for the chief of staff of General de Castelnau. Although he fell in love with this residence located in the heart of the vineyards, he could not have foreseen that one day it would become the start of a family destiny. At the start of the 1930s, in the midst of the economic crisis, some country houses were experiencing great difficulties. Pierre Taittinger joined forces with his brother-in-law, Paul Evêque to create the Taittinger-Mailly group (named after his second wife). In 1932, Pierre and his brother-in-law went to view a château which was up for sale, and he discovered that it was La Marquetterie! He bought it, and this was just the starting point for his business as he did not stop there. In 1934, he bought the Couvert group, who owned the former residence of the ‘Comtes de Champagne’ and Forrest-Fourneaux, one of the three oldest Champagne Houses (after Ruinart and Chanoine) and created in 1734.

He was still very involved with his political life in Paris, so handed over the reins of managing this new venture to Paul Evêque. However, he played a part in deciding the style of the Taittinger House wines. Influenced by his vision and love of French modern cuisine, which was lighter and less fussy (as represented by Fernand Point), he created a composition of wine characterised by a high content of Chardonnay. The business started to grow, so he asked his sons François, and then Claude and Jean, to join him and help him to manage and expand it further. From 1954, Pierre Taittinger was chairman of the ‘Société du Louvre’ as a result of a policy of diversification into the hotel trade led by his son François on behalf of the Taittinger group’s management team.

TO NOT BLOW
DOWN TO THE FORCE

On 15 June 1940, Michel Taittinger, officer cadet of the polytechnic school number X 1938 and Second Lieutenant of the 66th African Artillery Regiment, was ordered to intercept the enemy at the last bridge over the Seine which was still free for supplying French troops, located at Saint-Parres-aux-Tertres, close to Troyes

Here, he lost his life on his 20th birthday during a final bayonet attack to defend the bridge. His heroic attitude, for which the Germans gave him military honours, led him to be awarded the ‘Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur’ and ‘Croix de Guerre’ 1939-1945.

His posthumous dispatch describes Michel Taittinger’s sense of sacrifice. ‘A young officer with a fierce patriotism who took his sense of duty to the point of complete self-sacrifice. Ordered on 15/06/1940 to intercept the enemy at Saint-Parres-aux-Tertres, close to Troyes at the last bridge over the Seine which was still free for supplying our troops, he kept up a heroic resistance for five hours against attacks from the enemy, who was inflicting severe losses on him. When ordered to surrender, and with the village in ruins and just a handful of men still beside him, he refused to bow down to force, and in fulfilling his duty, died the glorious death of which his young, heroic soul had dreamed. ’

In 1990, Claude Taittinger paid homage to him 50 years after his death by writing a book dedicated to his life and memory.

A STRATEGIC
MANAGER

At the end of the war, and with the purchase of Forrest-Fourneaux, the business created and developed by Pierre Taittinger and his son-in-law, Paul Evêque, started to make its presence felt in Champagne.

It was based on a vineyard covering 50 hectares, the historic cellars in the site of Saint-Nicaise and a stock of high-quality wine. However, in order to really develop in a time of full economic recovery, the company needed to be better known and better recognised. The Forest and Fourneaux families had no heir, so instead of purchasing a prestigious champagne house which would soon be up for sale, François Taittinger made a daring move. His father was about to retire from his political career, so he decided to make the family name the name of the brand and added the word “Taittinger’ to all the labels! In order to ensure the success of this new brand, his brothers Jean and Claude came to join him in 1946 and 1949. From 1949, François put Claude in charge of first travelling to the United States, and then across the whole world in order to make the Champagne House known and to sell its products. This resulted in some useful partnerships, particularly in the USA with a partnership established in 1951 with Rudy Kopf and his Kobrand group.

With strong support from his brother Jean, François Taittinger also increased the business’s ownership of land. In order to ensure the continuation of the style of Taittinger wine, he bought 110 hectares of vineyards in 1955, mostly in Chardonnay. He sensed that modern consumers would increasingly appreciate the lightness, sophistication and elegance of the wine. This was when the real style of Taittinger first emerged, which can be found in the Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs cuvée, the first 1952 vintage of which appeared in 1957. With the setting up of an office in Paris, François Taittinger embarked on the diversification of the Champagne House by investing in 1954 in the hotel industry with the ‘Société du Louvre’. He did not have the chance to enjoy the success of this enterprise as he died in a car accident in 1960.

A TRUE DEVELOPER

“He was not interested in medals or honours. He was a man of great personal humility. My father was someone who could not abide poor management, and President Pompidou made him Secretary of State for the Budget. Between January 1971 and March 1973, Jean Taittinger prepared and signed the last balanced budgets France has seen”, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger recalls. This achievement led to Jean Taittinger becoming Minister of State and Keeper of the Seals from 2 April 1973 to 27 May 1974.

Before taking on these governmental responsibilities, Jean Taittinger was very involved in the political and business life of Marne. Between 1946 and the end of the 1950s, when Jean Taittinger was in charge of the development of the Taittinger Champagne House’s vineyards, he learnt about local concerns and became very interested in political matters. At the age of 30, he became Mayor of Gueux, then an MP for Marne in 1958, which was a position he held until 1973, as well as Chairman of the Finance, General Economy and Planning Committee from 1968 to 1971. In March 1959, he was elected Mayor of Reims. At the age of 36, he was the youngest mayor of Reims since 1804. Over the 18 years he was in office, the city saw strong growth across many areas, including road infrastructure, economy, urban planning, higher education and culture.

In July 1962, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was invited to Reims by General de Gaulle as part of his official visit to France. Reims was the place where the armistice between France and Germany was signed 17 years earlier and the visit was to celebrate the reconciliation between the two countries with a mass for peace. The official procession then went on to the City Hall, where the two Heads of State were welcomed by Jean Taittinger. General de Gaulle reminded the mayor that he had asked him to come back to Reims when a major event happened. “Your wish has been granted”, he told him, “as the Federal Chancellor coming to Reims is indeed an important event. “

In 1977, when his third term as Mayor of Reims concluded, Jean Taittinger retired from political life, having never been defeated, and rejoined the family firm by becoming CEO of the ‘Société du Louvre - Groupe du Louvre’ whose reputation and activity he greatly increased (restoration of the Crillon, Lutetia and Louvre hotels, acquisition of the Martinez hotel in Cannes and the Ambassador in Paris, development of the Envergure Group with chains Campanile, Première Classe and Kyriad and co-investment in the Disneyland Paris hotel complex operated by Euro Disneyland. Jean Taittinger withdrew from the business world in 1997 and retired to Switzerland. He supported the re-purchase of Taittinger Champagne by his son Pierre-Emmanuel with support from the Nord Est Crédit Agricole Bank. When he passed away in 2012, François Hollande, President of Republic said: “Our country has lost a great public servant and a great businessman”…

AN AMBASSADOR
FOR CHAMPAGNE

When his brother, François, gave him the task in 1949 of travelling throughout the United States and then throughout the world to promote the brand and the Champagne House’s wines, Claude Taittinger assumed the mantle of a roaming ambassador with relish.

One of the first conversations he had in New York with Rudy Kopf, who became a partner of the Champagne House for the distribution of Taittinger champagne on the other side of the Atlantic, showed the direction in which Claude would take the Champagne House 10 years later when he would be managing it. “In tomorrow’s world, there will only be space for giant corporations and artists. Which role will you choose for Taittinger champagne?  “, Rudy Kopf asked him Without hesitating, Claude Taittinger replied “The artists! “  This image would be reinforced a little later in Africa, when Leopold Senghor told Claude Taittinger, “Your wine is the spirit of France in a bottle! “. Claude Taittinger always looked for ways in which to gain a better appreciation of the countries he was exploring. This is best illustrated by the fact that, whilst in Asia in 1954, he became a war correspondent for the ‘Union de Reims’ newspaper, covering the conflict in Indo-China! Whilst fulfilling this function as an international ’purveyor of joy’, Claude Taittinger was always happy to be an ambassador not only of the Taittinger Champagne House, but also of the Champagne region itself, which he said he loved whatever the circumstances as much for its impropriety as for its respectability’.

This love of Champagne led him to work for the business, and in 1962 to instigate a comprehensive survey on how the French viewed champagne - which was a revolutionary idea back then. Under his guidance, Taittinger was to be one of the first Champagne Houses to communicate with the public using publicity campaigns which were both effective and sophisticated. For Claude Taittinger, communication meant ‘trying to convince by first capturing the mind, and then the soul’. Because, Champagne is also about the soul. The soul and artistic creation are just one step away from one another, and Claude Taittinger made that connection in 1967 in homage to his father - such a knowledgeable food lover - by creating the ‘Pierre Taittinger International Culinary Award’. Having forged strong links with several artists, Claude Taittinger created the Taittinger Collection in 1983. He received the support of some of the greatest names in contemporary art to showcase the best vintage Grands Crus produced by the Champagne House. The Hungarian artist Vasarely was the first to contribute and his unique design decorated the bottles of the prestigious 1978 vintage.

Claude Taittinger was also a great business manager for the Champagne House. During the 1960s, he planted nearly 140 hectares of additional vines in just 5 years. As a result, by 2006, he had built up a domaine covering 288 hectares, making Taittinger one of the key businesses in the Champagne region. In the same way as his father and his brother, François, he was strongly committedto preserving the style of Taittinger and ‘to remain true to oneself’. It was partly in this spirit that in 1990 he grasped the opportunity to invest in Carneros in the United States, a wine growing domaine in the Napa Valley covering 40 hectares. He was sure that its red Pinot Noir would be one of the great wines of the 21st century…

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