Every year since the foundation of the House of Krug, a new Edition of Krug Grande Cuvee is created to offer the most generous expression of Champagne. This bottle belongs to the 170ème Edition of Krug Grande Cuvee, a blend of 195 wines from 12 different years. The youngest is from the year 2014 and the oldest dates back to 1998. A stay of around seven years in Krug’s cellars gives this Edition its remarkable expression and elegance. Every glass poured from it is the fruit of more than 20 years of careful craftsmanship. Krug Grande Cuvee 170eme Edition was composed around the harvest of 2014, an erratic year that oscillated between hot dry spells, and cool rainy periods. Vines developed under good conditions, ensuring a generous harvest. The contrasting weather preserved freshness and resulted in great heterogeneity throughout the region, underscoring the importance of the House’s plot-by-plot approach. To create this Edition of Krug Grande Cuvee, the Cellar Master looked to accentuate the year’s elegantly diverse aromatic expressions with different plots’ reserve wines from 11 other years. The careful attention given to the vines and Krug’s unique respect for the individual character of each plot enabled the breadth of expression of this Edition of Krug Grande Cuvee.
Every year since the foundation of the House of Krug, a new Edition of Krug Grande Cuvee is created to offer the most generous expression of Champagne. This bottle belongs to the 170ème Edition of Krug Grande Cuvee, a blend of 195 wines from 12 different years. The youngest is from the year 2014 and the oldest dates back to 1998. A stay of around seven years in Krug’s cellars gives this Edition its remarkable expression and elegance. Every glass poured from it is the fruit of more than 20 years of careful craftsmanship. Krug Grande Cuvee 170eme Edition was composed around the harvest of 2014, an erratic year that oscillated between hot dry spells, and cool rainy periods. Vines developed under good conditions, ensuring a generous harvest. The contrasting weather preserved freshness and resulted in great heterogeneity throughout the region, underscoring the importance of the House’s plot-by-plot approach. To create this Edition of Krug Grande Cuvee, the Cellar Master looked to accentuate the year’s elegantly diverse aromatic expressions with different plots’ reserve wines from 11 other years. The careful attention given to the vines and Krug’s unique respect for the individual character of each plot enabled the breadth of expression of this Edition of Krug Grande Cuvee.
Ratings
D96
Decanter
"A lovely ferny nose and breezy seaside raciness. Bright yellow fruit on entry, a flicker of preserved lemon and cooked quince adding vibrancy. Then comes the Krug richness which spreads over the palate. The balance hovers tantalisingly between tactile precision and soft warm fruit and the finish reveals layers of cinnamon-tinctured blancmange, and the creaminess goes on. Rich but light on its feet. A definite buy and a keeper. The 2014 base harvest was hit by sour rot and mildew in mid-summer. Intense selection meant Krug had to reduce the amount of Meunier to half its Grande Cuvée average, and reserve wines (representing 45% of the final wine) back to 1998 buttress the balance and complexity; a triumph of blending. It also relies heavily on 2013 to add life and structure. Main harvest: 2014. 45% reserves. Aged for six years on lees. Disgorged: Spring 2021."
JS96
James Suckling
"Wonderful precision and depth right away on the nose, with dried pineapple, light apricot and hints of flint and slate. Medium-bodied palate that’s firm, bright and linear. Vivid,driven acidity adds focus and perfection. Dried lemon and a wonderful, creamy texture with a mineral undertone. Extremely long, almost endless. Sophistication here."
RP95
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
"Krug's NV Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition is based on the 2014 vintage, complemented by some 45% reserve wines dating back to 1998, with the house drawing on, among many others, 2013 for structure and 2012 and 2003 for generosity. Opening in the glass with aromas of pastry cream, dried fruits, pear, warm spices, freshly baked bread and vanilla pod, it's medium to full-bodied, pillowy and fine-boned, with excellent concentration, racy acids and a precise, chiseled profile. But if the latter adjective could be applied to the 2013-base 169ème édition equally felicitously, the 2014-base 170ème is more giving and less tightly wound out of the gates and will offer more demonstrative drinking young."
WS95
Wine Spectator
"A lovely, mouthwatering Champagne, with a vivid and finely detailed panoply of baked nectarine, lime blossom, ground coffee, mandarin orange peel, candied ginger and salted almond notes set in a lithe, limber frame. Seamlessly knit, with a sense of buoyant vitality, this has a harmonious, elegant frame for the richly expressive flavor range. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier."
