TN: Krug vert 85, 88, 90, 95

I rather like Krug !
And although I haven’t posted here in a while, thought this vertical, done for no particular good reason, was a good reason.

All bought on release and stored at 55deg F. Wish we had an 89 - the only 89 I’ve ever had blew me away and was much more like a White Burg (nothing wrong with that) with bubbles!

Krug 1985 - rated A/A-

The crowd favorite (not mine, but I loved it). It showed much better than last time, about 4 years ago (when it resembled a Belgian Ale, and Krug should not taste like a Belgian!). Splendid and had an orangeish tinge in its color.

The Nose was sherried, nice, round and earthy.

On the Palate it was lovely, round, spicy, with vanilla tones. It showed best the first 75 minutes.

Last bottle, otherwise I’d drink up (but in no hurry!).

Krug 1988 - rated A/A+

Young! Give this time!! Much younger than the 90!

A creamy, orange, and caramel nose.

The taste - ohhh my! Lemon and orange meringue, creamy, racy.

Krug 1990 - rated A

The nose was dusty and sherried, expansive, citrus fruits, a little vanilla
The palate was initially bigger than the 88 with orangeish zest and just intense and amazingly clear and pure.
With air this just got better and better!

Krug 1995 - rated A (and maybe I’m miserly here)

I believe many 95s are under appreciated and will live long and prosper and please those who drink them in the next couple+ decades.

The 95 Krug is no exception. Loved it! Super young but I enjoyed it immensely (not everyone did as it was quite young).

The nose has sweaty socks like a young Grand Cru White Burgundy and more but mainly a palate wine now.
The palate initially was “fireworks in the mouth” - think Jacques Selosse! An explosion in the mouth, wild citrus, lemon zest, wow!

Full Krug notes with pictures

Served with Truffled Lobster Salad in Fillo and followed by some old wine. From memory, 58/61 Barolos and some Ports - notes somewhere. Will write up!

nice. Love the 88. Your 85 sounds a bit oxidized–more than normal.

The 85 does. Every bottle I’ve had has though, although almost all were bought on release yet from the same source. It was soooo much better than the last bottle though!

Tedd, I’m farther north now…but once I’m back drinking regularly…hopefully we can get another tasting together. You have a great group you taste with.

90 and 95 ROCKS!! My two faves…from 76 on!

Kirk,

Will look forward to getting together again for sure!
Ted

Had a bottle of '96 last weekend - STELLAR! 2nd best bottle of champagne I’ve ever had. Just amazing.

I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by the 98, and 2000 and the 95 is pretty dang good too.

Krug - great stuff. Thanks for the notes!

Looking forward to trying the 96!

Premier Cru had a mag of the 96 which disappeared immediately. I did think about it . . .

The 98 is a real steal IMHO. 88 remains the mutts nuts though.

There’s some good 81 around too Dan…

Personally I am drinking up my 90, but in no rush to attack my healthy stash of 88!

Thanks for the tasting notes.

We opened a bottle of the 1990 in March and it was quite spectacular. Your description “The nose was dusty and sherried, expansive, citrus fruits, a little vanilla
The palate was initially bigger than the 88 with orangeish zest and just intense and amazingly clear and pure.” seems right on. The orange flavors were very pronounced in our bottle - all tasters noticed.

From the recent vintages dbailey is right the 98 is good. I liked the 2000 better than the 2003 as it was similar to the epic 1988 in flavor profile but not weight. The 2003 is a bit of a bruiser.

Last original 1981 that I had stole the show at lunch a number of years back… I wonder who brought that one (and it wasn’t me)?!?

Love the 81 Collection too, but my favorites for current drinking right now outside of the 81 are original releases of the 79, 82, and 85. Nothing against the collections, but I find the original releases a slight bit better for drinking right now (some of this is due to late disgorgement and some of this is due to aging in the Krug cellars; is should be noted that some of these collections are original disgorgements that never left the cellar).

I just bought two mags of the 89 collection. Wait ?

Nick,

No need to wait - you have two! Open one now and enjoy. Open another in a decade or so. I think it will be better in 10 years, but it is also marvelous now so all things are relative.

Still kicking myself that I didn’t hoover up all 5 cases of that 81 Krug at the price they were offered. Mine are all gone now. I’ve also finished my 90s.

Ive enjoyed all of these and within the past year or so for all but the 95. Your notes suggest a lot of aging character which I have yet to experience in any. Your cellaring description would suggest no allowance for early on oxidation so it begs the question of what happened prior to receiving the bottles from Krug on through.

My most recent 85` was so beautifully expressing its still youthful, vibrant essences and had no coloring or sign of oxidative notes whatsoever.

1981 Krug and Taittinger CdC still rock on big time. I`m wondering if Brad had his with Todd McGowan who owned and shared so much of both of these wines, mostly in mags.

Brad makes a great point about “some of these collections are original disgorgements that never left the cellar”.

Thanks Brad I think I will. I have a special event coming in the fall/winter so will be perfect. Then maybe number 2 at the 10 year anniversary !!!

I apologize if this is repetitive but, in the late 80’s early 90’s my wholesaler told me they had a special on Krug NV for a by the glass program. While my restaurant was not the type to pour high end anything I signed up and kept a bottle on premise in case anyone wanted to order some. I bought 6 x 6 packs and shared them with my friends. While I kept 2 for myself and drank most then I did lay a few away for a decade. When I went back to them they were amazing. To be honest I didn’t expect them to be that good given that they were non vintage.

love NV champagnes with age on them. Even just Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé. What’s the special event–coming to Orange County finally?

I’m beginning to think my 85 was less than perfect (but still wonderful)
Hmmmm, where did I buy it? I know it was on release

Ted, I think the first place to look is at the provenance history. Even when we get a wine from the “source”, it has already passed though some number of hands from the producer, especially wines from outside of the country. Another consideration is bottle variation which Im learning definitely comes into play more than Id prefer or expect.