Experience Champagne Excellence: Krug Selections Available

If you want to experience some of the greatest Champagnes that money can buy, look no further than Krug. Few estates in Champagne are more closely identified with the art of blending than Krug. These are some of the most profound Champagnes that we have ever tasted here at GRW - The crème de la crème, in our humble opinion. 

To enjoy Krug is a treat in every sense of the word – From their Grand Cuvee to their vintage bottlings to their single vineyard Mesnil and Ambonnay, everything they touch turns to liquid gold.

Today we have a nice variety of key vintages available to you, as well as a great selection of their Clos du Mesnil, a Champagne that showcases the unique character of a single plot of Chardonnay harvested in a single year.

Krug’s 1.84 hectare Clos du Mesnil vineyard is located in the heart of Mesnil-sur-Oger, perhaps the most iconic village for Chardonnay in the Champagne region.  The Krug family purchased the vineyard in 1971 and the early vintages were blended into their Grand Cuvee. Over the course of the years, Krug noticed that the wines from the Clos were unique, and in 1979 bottled a trial version of Clos du Mesnil as an experiment. It was the first single-vineyard wine Krug had ever produced. The wine was released in 1986 and the rest, as they say, is history. 

“There are Champagne lovers and then there are devotees of Krug. Krugists. Does any other Champagne, any wine, have a word to designate their adoring fans?” 

If you’re not already a Krugist, here is your opportunity to become one!

1996 Krug -

It's hard to imagine how a wine of this power can sustain perfect balance. What is now a more nonchalant intensity in the aroma was, in fact, too much to handle when we tasted this last year, as if the wine had no time for mere humans with their limited sense receptors. If you stop to taste ripe pear, ginger spice, apple blossom and butterscotch the wine leaves you lost in random flavor descriptors as it soars off into a vinous glow that lasts for minutes. This may well be the greatest vintage wine of Henri Krug's career (unless it is challenged by the 2002). It is impossible to predict how long this wine will thrive in bottle, though considering the current fine condition of the 1959 Krug, the first 50 years are a given. -WS100

2000 Krug -

Very fragrant. This has developed bright, ripe red cherry fruit aromas, vanilla cream, sweet roasted almond biscuits, some marzipan, tobacco, lemon meringue and chalky minerals. The palate has an assertive core of fine acidity with more yellow fruits expressed on entry, like peaches and nectarines. Good ripeness, superfine acidity. The redder fruits build as it goes; cherries and raspberries, yellow plums to close. Full of life. -JS98

2002 Krug -

It is hard to believe that two and a half years have now passed since Champagne Krug unveiled its long-awaited 2002 Vintage Brut. I do not know if there have been different disgorgements of this bottling, but this one is the same as the last bottle that swept me off of my feet back in the spring of last year, having been disgorged in the autumn of 2015. The wine is a blend of forty percent Pinot Noir, thirty-nine percent Chardonnay and twenty-one percent Pinot Meunier in 2002 and is already one of the legendary vintages of Krug ever produced. The bouquet is deep, pure, ripe and vibrant, wafting from the glass in a marvelous blend of pear, apple, almond, a stunningly beautiful base of soil tones, subtle spice shading, patissière, a touch of citrus blossoms and that signature Krug smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine rock solid, mineral-driven and shows off stellar purity, with its full-bodied format seamlessly supported by great structure and grip. The mousse is impeccable, the complexity still youthful and growing with each visit and the finish, long, refined and absolutely perfect. This will last almost forever and I suspect at age fifty-seven, I will never drink it at its absolute zenith of evolutionary perfection. But, I admit very much enjoying my occasional visits as the wine is in climbing mode to that future peak! (Drink between 2022-2095) -JG100

1989 Clos du Mesnil -

The 1989 Clos du Mesnil, from a warmer year, makes for a fascinating contrast to the cool inward 1988. It is a bigger, fatter wine that caresses the palate with layers of expansive, generous fruit. Sweet scents of caramel, hazelnuts and honey add complexity to the fruit. Despite its burnished, textured fruit, the 1989 remains light on its feet and superbly well-balanced but it is at, or close to, peak. To put things in perspective, the 1989 was harvested at the beginning of September -- the 7th and 8th to be exact -- while the 1988 was harvested between September 30th and October 2nd. –AG96

2004 Clos du Mesnil -

The 2004 Clos du Mesnil captures all the pedigree of this epic Blanc des Blancs vintage. A soaring, majestic Champagne, the 2004 dazzles from the very first taste with its crystalline purity and brightness. In two tastings so far, the 2004 has been nothing less than a total showstopper. The vertical structure and pure, tightly-coiled power are the stuff dreams are made of. There is little doubt the 2004 is one of the very finest Clos du Mesnils in recent memory. Will it join the 1979, 1988 and 1996 as one of the all-time greats? Now, that is a tasting I would love to do! -AG98+

2008 Clos du Mesnil -

Krug's 2008 Clos du Mesnil, tasted from two bottles, is a very, very special Champagne. Soaring aromatics, fine, chiseled fruit and understated depth are the signatures of a Champagne that is immediately captivating. Bright, salivating acids run through a core of citrus fruit, lemon oil, slate, chalk, mint and white pepper. A touch of reduction and a superb, fine mousse move the 2008 into a realm that straddles Champagne and a distinctly Burgundian expression of Chardonnay.  -AG99