Last night went to an Acker/Krug dinner which was attended by several Krug people including Olivier Krug.
This turned into a two part event, with the regularly scheduled wines as follows-
Krug Rose - I always find this champagne interesting in that it’s not what I would expect a Krug rose to taste like. Based on the power of vintage Krug, I would expect an even more powerful Rose. But, instead it’s very elegant and soft. Not sure it’s worth the hefty pricetag, but it always delivers a good experience. Excellent
Krug Grande Cuvee - No need to rehash this wine other than say it was a pretty good example - maybe it had a year or two of bottle age on it. Very good
'98 Krug - Hadn’t had this wine since last November and had never been overly impressed by it. Always very good, but not what I thought a great Krug should be. Well, this has definitely put on some weight, with a very pronounced Krug signature green apple profile. Some chalkiness to it and crisp acidity. It’s moved up a notch or two in my book. Excellent plus
'96 Krug - Big and powerful as always, but it’s settled down a bit. A wealth of yellow fruit and a touch of green apple. Some spiciness to it. Seems like there’s more pinot in the '96 than the '98. Olivier commented that this vintage is unque in that it had both high levels of ripeness and acidity, where normally you get one of the other. Staggering minus
'95 Krug - Somewhere between the previous two wines as far as weight. Has never been my favorite vintage of Krug, but this was a good showing. Similar flavors to the '96, but in more toned down, less intense way. Excelllent minus
'90 Krug - Back to the powerful style of Krug. Very intense fruit, with good acidity, but I would like to see a touch more. Just starting to give a hint of mature flavors. Probably a 50 year life, not 75+. Excellent plus.
'89 Krug - There were two bottles, with one being much more advanced than the other, which also showed signs of too much maturity than it should. That’s my problem with this vintage, many bottles are overly oxidative for a champagne of this vintage. Not sure if it’s the wine, or widespread problems within the distribution for this vintage ( not unlike the '85). Better on the palate than the nose, but still not a stellar bottle. Good plus. The other bottle Very Good plus.
'88 Krug - The best and most consistant Krug from the 80’s forward. Time will tell if the '96 can catch it. A wealth of yellow fruit with the perfect amount of acidity. Powerful, yet isn’t overwhelming. Still extremely vibrant with a long finish. Staggering plus
'85 Krug - As mentioned above, I’ve come across some advanced bottles of this vintage as well. Not as much so as the '89, but not an inconsiderable amount either. Find some and pay up for bottles that were released in '99 for the millenium or buy the Collection to ensure a great '85 experience. However, this bottle was one of the better examples of the original release. Showing some mature flavors of nutmeg, a touch of coffee, creme brulee and even some s’mores. But not any more advanced than what it should be. Plenty of fruit still there which is complimented by the mature notes. Excellent plus.
Our regularly scheduled program ended, but a few of us brought some extra wines. The first was served to the entire group and then a group of six of us including Olivier Krug and the newly appointed CEO of Krug drank a few bottles at KOC’s apt. It was an honor to be included with the Krug folks.
'76 Krug Mag - Served blind, I thought it was a good showing (magnum factor) of the '81 Krug. Showed more age than the '85, with somewhat lacking acidity which made it a touch flabby. Served a little warm, so that probably didn’t help it. Certainly a pleasure to drink, but I’ve been spoiled by a number of perfect 750ml’s of this, so I didn’t love it or guess it to be what it was. Excellent minus.
'66 Krug - Olivier’s birthyear, so KOC opened a bottle for him last night. Olivier said the only other time he had a Vintage '66 was with KOC including a super rare Blanc de Blancs. A little darker in appearance with less effervescence than I was hoping for upon the initial pour. However, it was a bit misleading for there was little oxidative notes on the nose or palate. Still a fair amount of fruit, but it was slightly in the background to the mature notes of caramel, marzipan, and creme brulee. The impressive thing about this champagne was the intensity on the palate and the extremely long finish. Acidity was still there to keep things in check. As much as I liked it, others liked it some more. Staggering.
'34 Krug - This was extremely interesting for a number of reasons. First, I was unaware, until last night, that the was such a vintage of Krug. I sheepishly admitted that fact to Olivier who laughed and said until KOC had inquired to him about the vintage, he was unaware as well! He went through the Krug archives and discovered why he had never seen a bottle of it before. It seems the Krug family liked the '28 and '29 vintages of Krug better than the '34, so when the Germans ordered cases of Krug during the occupation, they would keep the former two vintages and ship them the '34, so much so that they didn’t have any reserve stocks of it. The history of this bottle gets even better. Once the foil was removed, there was a very hard substance around the seal of the cork and the top of the bottle. We couldn’t determine what it was, but it appeared to be either a paraffin wax or a melted metal that had rehardened. Olivier speculated that it was possibly a “tamper proof” closure to make sure that the bottle wasn’t poisoned on its way to possibly German High Command. Obviously, no one will ever know, but I found this bottle to be one of the more interesting wines I’ve ever drank due to its history and potential history. The wine itself showed a level of maturity you would expect from a '34, but not the complexity and depth of flavors you would hope for. Putting aside the historical aspects it was Very Good. Add the history Killer
Thanks to KOC for both of the above bottles.
'73 Krug was my humble contribution. Color of it looked great in the bottle, but there was some seepage showing after the foil was removed. I was pretty bummed for I never want a wine I bring to not show well, but I certainly didn’t want a bottle of Krug not show well in this company. Much relief when I tasted this outstanding bottle with somewhat subdued effervescence, but a plethora of pure fruit with the mature nuances of butterscotch and a touch of marshmallow. A perfect night cap to a fantastic and extremely interesting evening. Staggering plus.
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