At the start of the football world cup, Olivier de Lagarde receives the marketing director and ambassador of champagne Taittinger, official champagne of the competition: Vitalie Taittinger. The brand is thus renewing its partnership with FIFA, after Brazil in 2014.
The Taittinger house is the third oldest champagne brand in France. Today, the company produces more than 6 million bottles per year thanks to its 288 hectares of vines located in wine-growing Champagne, from the Côte des Blancs to the Montagne de Reims.
The origins of the Taittinger house
In 1734, Jacques Fourmeaux was one of the first to launch into the marketing of champagne wines. A century later, his family joined forces with Antoine Forest and created the company “Forest & Fourmeaux”. It was not until 1932 that Pierre Taittinger bought the house “Forest & Fourmeaux” following his discovery of Champagne and Castle of the Marquetterie during the World War One. The Taittinger house then specialized in champagne and gained its fame there.
In 2005, the family decided to sell the company, to the disapproval of one of the heirs, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, who decided to take over the brand. “While Taittinger is owned by the Starwood Pension Fund and while he works at Taittinger Champagne under the chairmanship of his uncle, he begins to work secretly on the buyout of his own house. “ says his daughter, Vitalie Taittinger.
The international market
If Taittinger exports more than 70% of its production worldwide, to Russia, the United States, Asia and Africa, it is england which remains its biggest customer.
Last year, the company decided to plant new vines in Kent. “Our importer in England absolutely wanted to produce a “sparkling wine”. One day he arrives in my father’s office and asks his permission to start an adventure on his side. My father said to him: ‘Never in my life, if you make a sparkling wine in Kent, we do it together at 50-50’. This is how the adventure began, ” explains l‘brand ambassador. The first cuvée will therefore make its appearance in 2020.
Official champagne of the FIFA World Cup in Russia
This year, the Taittinger house is teaming up with FIFA to become the official champagne of the World Cup. “We provide them with bottles, it doesn’t cost us anything. But it also brings us a lot of pleasure, and the prestige of being associated with this competition, which is truly one of the most popular in the world. “