I was at a wine dinner over the weekend with some seasoned wine drinkers. One such veteran made the claim that Krug was superior to Cristal and Dom. I pointed out that I just had a 1999 Cristal with some nice bottle age that really blew my mind. Same with a 1996 Dom. This gentleman was not buying what I had to sell. What do people think? Is Krug king?
It’s at the top of my heirachy for that trio in general.
Depends on what house style you like…For me I am a Krug guy but the 08 Cristal is supposedly bonkers hence all the hype. Have a bunch just haven’t cracked as Cristal and Dom P release wines very early on and most people drink them before they should. You also have to take in account what wines are you comparing from Krug? Is it the MV, Vintage, single vineyard, Krug collection, etc? I would take Dom P over certain editions of the MV Krug. Not sure that answered your question haha.
Leaving aside the tons of other amazing champers I’ve had the privilege of trying…
Krug instigated my love of Champagne (an 89 in particular). Cristal has kept that love burning (the 04 in particular). Taittinger Comtes and Ruinart would be near my top level as well if we’re going there.
I love Krug. I love the style.
Cristal is very fine, especially with age.
For some reason (must be another of my glaring character flaws) Dom has never done anything for me, even bottles with age, great vintages, etc.
IMHO, Krug is in a class by itself. Its flavor profile is completely different than any other super cuvee.
Salon should be part of this conversation
I love them all but, for my palate, Krug is in a class by itself. That’s true even when you include Salon. I have really loved Cristal in recent vintages. The 09 is so good right now.
That said, I don’t have enough experience with well-aged examples across the producers to comment on, say, whether I prefer 1970s Krug to 1970s Dom.
It really depends on how you structure your ranking and also if you like certain styles and dislike others.
The top of my hierarchy is DP due to how many great wines they made from '47 through '76 and how many really good as well as some great wines they’ve made since.
Krug has the recent advantage of having Clos du Mesnil as well as the more recent addition of Clos d’Ambonnay to go alongside their regular vintage but they’ve had a number of vintages where the house imo underperformed such as '85, '89 and '95. Also, their Rose doesn’t reach the heights that DP or Cristal does.
Cristal doesn’t go back that far - first commercial release in '45 and very small releases for a few decades plus the rose was introduced starting only in '74. DP has a 24/15 year head start there. Additionally historically Cristal hasn’t aged as well as either Krug or DP. To make things a bit murky however is that Roederer made some great wines in the fifties, sixties and seventies.
That said, I am a big fan of all three but for me it’s Dom Perignon first, Krug second and Cristal third.
I’m a krug guy through and through.
However I did enjoy the 69 Dom more than the 73 Krug the night we had them side by side. Both were in great shape.
Krug for me. I’ve only had Crystal a couple of times but the style wasn’t one I thought was a good fit for my palate. Seemed to have more RS (but it was a while ago)
Just recently had my best champagne ever, 82 Krug that tasted incredibly youthful in its vigor and freshness while delivering mature flavor components. Not always gonna be like that, I had an 85 Krug a few months ago that while delish, was not youthful at all.
Not to thread drift, but how would the single vintage or reserve Billecart’s stack up?
Do their top wines play at the Krug/Dom P level or are they always a notch (or two) below?
That 85 krug is tricky. Seems mature, even too mature to start but picks up acidity and youthfulness after 1-2 hours of air. I try to save at least half the bottle to revisit.
None of them are and that’s my issue with that vintage for Krug.
I bought a bunch of late disgorged '85 Krug (disgorged circa 2003) that was delicious for about ten years (the original disgorgement was already tired) and now is also sliding into the abyss.
Salon usually doesn’t get brought up because not everyone knows about / tasted Salon. Cristal and Dom, you can find basically anywhere; same with MV Krug and at times, vintage Krug.
For me, it’s Salon, Krug, and everyone else. Fred and I always debate 96 Salon or 96 Krug.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Dom - personally think it’s one of the best champagne made given the quantity they produce. Tat CdC is also in the great given the price point.
How about Selosse amongst Salon/Krug/etc?
I think the Cristal rose wins hands down. I’ll defer to Ray on the rest.He’s probably had more vintages of each than 99.999% of champagne drinkers out there.( probably could’ve added a couple more 9’s )
Totally agree
TOTALLY AGREE
For me, Salon is tops.
I hope you argue for 96 Salon 
So Ray definitely has WAY more experience with champagne than I do, but this is how I would rate them as well. Probably my top wine ever was a bottle of 69 Dom. When it’s on, it’s REALLY hard to beat DP with some good age on it.
I agree. I’m not much for Champagne, but a Salon that Antonio served at a dinner in New York one time blew me away. I probably prefer the Krug style to DP, but it’s splitting hairs.