Magnum of Krug Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition, composed around the 2014 harvest from 195 wines over 12 years. Reserve wines make up 45% of the blend, a high share that shows how much the cellar had to draw on its library this year.
About This Champagne
Spotted-wing drosophila, a fruit fly, did serious damage to Pinot Noir on the Montagne de Reims in 2014, and Krug lost its Clos d'Ambonnay crop and red wine plot that year. To rebuild structure, the blend draws on lively 2014 Pinot Noir from plots across the region, fruity Chardonnay from the Montagne de Reims, Sézannais and Côte des Blancs, and a deep bench of reserves back to 1998. The grapes are 51% Pinot Noir, 38% Chardonnay and 11% Meunier.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Flowers, dried and ripe fruit, lemon, marzipan and warm gingerbread.
- Palate: Full and layered, with hazelnut, barley sugar, candied citrus and almond, then brioche and honey.
- Finish: Wide and lasting, with freshness carrying the richness a long way.
Serving & Food
Stand the magnum in an ice bucket for about 20 minutes to reach roughly 10°C, then pour into large tulip glasses. It will keep developing for years in magnum. Krug suggests Jabugo ham and mature Comté to start, and it copes well with Indian or Moroccan spice or tarte tatin.
How to Enjoy
Big tables, weddings and celebrations where a magnum makes the occasion.
Product Details
Producer: Krug
Origin: Champagne, France
Edition: Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition
Composition: 195 wines from 12 different years (1998 to 2014)
Base Harvest: 2014
Reserve Wines: 45% of the blend
Blend: 51% Pinot Noir, 38% Chardonnay, 11% Meunier
Volume: 1.5L
About the Maison
Krug's reserve library is the backbone of Grande Cuvée. Wines from past harvests are kept separately, plot by plot, so that each new blend can call on them. The house rule is that every Édition uses more than 120 wines from at least ten different years.
All of this takes time. Counting the years the oldest reserves have waited, the seven or so years the blend rests in the cellar, and a further spell after disgorgement, Krug reckons each Édition of Grande Cuvée represents more than two decades of work.