Krug - A Tasting to Remember

Quality is something that Krug know a fair bit about, having made nothing but Prestige Cuvees every single year since 1843. Olivier Krug is at the helm of this great house and is committed to driving quality to ever greater heights.

We had the pleasure of Olivier’s company last Thursday. He kindly hosted a tasting in our cellar and a lunch for a few very lucky clients. We had the good fortune to learn all about the complexity of Krug’s Grand Cuvee, the Rose and the latest vintage, Krug 2000. They are fascinating Champagnes and ones to be enjoyed for the unique, complex styles they portray.

The Grand Cuvee is a blend of 10 vintages and over 120 different wines from numerous parcels and villages. Between 30 to 50% is produced from the most recent year and the rest a blend of up to nine vintages from the previous 15 years. We had examples of the Krug Grand Cuvee from the 2005 vintage, 2001 vintage and the 2000 vintage (as the base). Each was beautiful and individual. Since 2012, every bottle has a unique ID code, which allows the owner to learn about the cépage of their wine. Please click here to learn more.

Their superior and sophisticated rose is a rich blend of three different grape varieties and a wide range of vintages. It is remarkably versatile and is probably at its best accompanying food, allowing the structure, texture and beauty of the Cuvee to stand out. The Pinot really shows though giving plenty of red fruit character and spice; the Chardonnay the elegance.

Our final wine was the latest Vintage release, the 2000. This is already remarkably approachable, showing richness and intensity on the nose, the palate is indulgent, complex and precise. It is known by the Krug family as the, ‘stormy Indulgence’, due to the unusual climatic conditions the vintage experienced. You get the tell-tale biscuit and toasted brioche notes, with hints of smoke and oak on the pallet. It is rich and powerful, but is still young and tightly wound. This is underpinned with chalky minerality and citrus fruits making for a lively lift out of the brooding complex richness. The fresh but balanced acidity and fruit will let this age very gracefully and leaves a haunting, long finish.

Olivier spoke passionately about his wines and Krug’s heritage. Each wine is an individual and should be embraced and enjoyed to the full. It was a great pleasure to listen and learn from such an inspirational man. We look forward to organising more events with this wonderful house and enjoying their fabulous wines together in the future!

- Georgina Crawley, Private Client Sales Manager

Krug - quality obsessed and please don't mention the oak!

Last week's visit to Krug was an enlightening and inspiring trip.
I am very sensitive to the silver-tongued and often very skillfull marketing speak of many Grand Marque Champagne houses. Together with marketing smoke and mirrors, their skill lies also in blending and producing Champagnes that meet people's expectations with impressive consistency. Krug, however, are supposed to be a little different and, reassuringly, my trip confirmed exactly that. They may be owned by a giant of the luxury goods industry but it has been sensitively kept in family hands, with Olivier Krug at the helm. Talking passionately about the vineyards in the middle of a visit to Krug Clos du Mesnil, Olivier made the close connection of the Krug family to the vines and their terroirs very clear.

A tour of the cellars revealed the incredible parts that can make up Grand Cuvee. First stop in the winery is the barrel room, where all Krug undergoes the primary fermentation. These are old barrels so the aim is not to bring any direct oak flavour or "fat" to the wines, Olivier stressed, they are more a function of Krug's painstaking plot by plot approach to harvest and vinifcation. These smaller vessels also add complexity by allowing a certain limited amount of oxygen contact. This approach is further highlighted by the battery of micro steel tanks in the cuverie. The oldest single wine there being a 16 yo parcel of Grand Cru Bouzy, waiting for its call to the Grand Cuvee stage.

Apart from tasting a fascinating Grand Cuvee from bottle and magnum, which as of next year will have id codes on the back of each bottle from which you can tell disgorgement date, we were also introduced to the 2000 vintage of Krug and Clos Mesnil. The former was stylish, impressive, rich but composed and already very user friendly now but with the guts to suggest a good ageing potential, the latter was a sheer delight - the mineral, chalk and lemon-stuffed green olive character of Clos Mesnil is so strong and ever present in all of its wines. The 2000 has this in spades whilst showing the round, pliable character of the vintage. Another example of Krug's fastidious approach to quality was the 1999 Clos du Mesnil, having disgorged it they took a very late decision not to release it. Its a good drop but Krug just simply did not feel it had the requisite Clos du Mesnil character to warrant an official release.

The final piece de resistance was the Clos d'Ambonnay 1998, an excellent red fruited Champagne of great intensity and, no doubt, with a price tag to match!