Luxury Valentine – Krug

Jancis Robinson

Friday 13 February 2009

For those who want to make a real fuss of their Valentine tomorrow, here is an amalgamation of notes taken on various Krug champagnes since October 2008. You will see up to three notes on individual wines, which, as usual, vary according to the condition and provenance of bottles – especially of course for the non-vintage-dated wines, which may come from different bottlings. The notes appended ‘BBR’ were taken from Berry Bros stock in October and are accompanied by their per bottle retail price then. Berrys, incidentally, are offering a specially packaged half bottle of Krug Rosé with pink Moleskin notebook and Ladurée chocolate almonds for £100 a pop.

At a Krug dinner organised last October by Decanter magazine, I had the pleasure of sitting next to Olivier, son of Henri Krug. (My notes are littered with the initials OK.) He endeared himself to me by admitting that the Krug headquarters look ‘like an Irish prison’. On the other hand he was bubbling over with the enthusiasm over the 2008 vintage, which he described as ‘fantastic’ with sufficiently healthy grapes after a difficult, odium-plagued start to the summer. Old vines in the Marne Valley produced particularly conservative quantities but I felt Olivier was rather less obviously enthusiastic about the Pinot Meunier grapes grown there than his father was for so long.

We talked quite a bit about the relative merits of 1995 and 1996. Olivier is convinced that the 1995 will outlive the 1996. He also observed that the 1990, once so opulent, is merely in a bit of a dip at the moment but 'like the 1961, it will recover’. I was surprised to learn that in 2006 Krug champagne was offered in the famous French Foires aux Vins September wine sales in the French supermarkets.

I apologise for not being able to give you a tasting note on Clos d’Ambonnay 1995, Krug’s exceptionally expensive Pinot Noir counterpart to Clos de Mesnil, but I have not tasted this rarity. There is a 1996 in the wings but Krug are, understandably, not in a hurry to release such a luxury at the moment.

Krug Grande Cuvée NV Champagne 17 Drink 2008-12
50% Pinot Noir, 32% Chardonnay, 18% Pinot Meunier. Tasted at Decanter Krug dinner.
Lively and dense and very zesty. Quite dry and savoury on the finish.

Krug Grande Cuvée NV Champagne 17 Drink 2009-12
A bit green and tart on the nose, even a bit astringent. Smoky nose and certainly very dense. It tasted much richer at the Decanter dinner with a tuna tartare and chilli and salt than it had done without food.

Krug Grande Cuvée NV Champagne 17.5 Drink 2009-12
Quite tight on the nose. Lots of acidity. I’d wait before enjoying this at its best. Certainly denser than most with impressive length. 12%
£115 BBR

Krug Rosé NV Champagne 17 Drink 2009-11
Tasted at Decanter Krug dinner.
Pale salmon pink but much darker than it used to be. Correct, tight nose then rather strawberry and soft on the palate before a slightly tarry finish. Not as delectably fine as I remember it.

Krug Rosé NV Champagne 16.5 Drink 2009-11
Much deeper and bluer than it used to be. Smells like a very Pinot champagne. A bit chewy – not smooth and flattering. Krug seems to have become a bit of a Ryanair – like it or lump it.

Krug Rosé NV Champagne 18 Drink 2008-12
Attractive dense Pinot fruit on the nose. Very tight and lively – already drinking well. Extremely neat. 12%
£220 BBR

Krug 1998 Champagne 18.5 Drink 2010-25
Tasted at Decanter Krug dinner.
Straight up the nose smokiness. Extremely youthful for a 10 year old wine. Fresh and tight with a certain hint of creaminess to come. One of only two vintage Krugs with a majority of Chardonnay, along with the 1981 described below. (My notes then say, inexplicably, ‘Ray, like an RAF plane’. Any ideas? Ah – I think that ‘Ray’ is in fact ‘Racy’. ) Hint of mushrooms too. Olivier Krug described this vintage as very atypical with a particularly warm August during which 15% of the grapes burnt on the vine. Then there was rain that forced them to pick early.

Krug 1998 Champagne 18 Drink 2008-23
Very firm, very ‘8’ (almost reminiscent of 1988 in its slightly austerity on the nose). Tightly laced – actually on the palate it is much much richer than the 1988 was at this stage – really very approachable and attractive. More obvious pzazz than the 1995 at this early stage. Creamy – embroidered somehow and very dense and layered. I like it!

Krug 1998 Champagne 18+ Drink 2010-20
Lemony tight on the nose. Very taut with some greenness but correct and more focused than, say, the 1995. More in the style of the 1996. 12%
£230 BBR

Krug, Clos du Mesnil 1998 Champagne 17 Drink 2008-18
12,000 bottles and 200 magnums produced. Tasted at Decanter Krug dinner.
Much more open and developed on the nose than the regular 1998 vintage Krug. Really quite light and toasty, but without the density of the regular 1998 and without outstanding refreshment value.
£720 BBR

Krug 1996 Champagne 18 Drink 2010-20
Quite a bit of development on the nose of this bottle and then notable 1996 acidity on the finish. Just a slight lack of weight in the middle and a very dry finish.

Krug 1996 Champagne 18.5 Drink 2008-22
Tasted at Decanter Krug dinner.
Really zesty nose – fantastic life to this bottle, Tight knit and fresh. Lively. Extremely focused and persistent. Much higher acidity than the 1995. Drawstring tautness. Tingly excitement. Olivier Krug maintains this is outstanding and the only year like this in the entire 20th century, even including the 1928.

Krug 1995 Champagne 17.5 Drink 2008-13
Tasted at Decanter Krug dinner.
Bit angular and dry but it has come round and acquired more complexity since I first tasted it. Very savoury and with strong vegetable array of flavours. The product of a particularly cool September.

Krug 1995 Champagne 17.5 Drink 2005-12
Lovely steady fine bead – very fine bubbles. Delicate on the nose then a very slightly oxidised note (perhaps oak related) on the palate. Lovely tiny bubbles but dry on the palate with a hint of ginger and a rather drying finish. More juice please. Slightly short to be picky about it. Lemony.

Krug 1989 Champagne 18.5+ Drink 2001-12
Very rich, gorgeous, full and winning. Broad but persistent and sufficiently vibrant. Like all 1989 champagnes, more amply proportioned than most, but this has real zest too.

Krug 1981 Champagne 18 Drink 2008-13
This is a classic vintage for Krug, indeed one of the finest wines made in this not-especially-celebrated vintage. Dense yet filigree. Dry and deep-flavoured. At its peak now.