By: AJ McClellan
We had Garth Hodgdon in yesterday, the Krug ambassador, and he was terrific! The tasting was a blast but it ended up digressing into a Krug draft party while we were waiting to see where Johnny Football went.. We tasted a great lineup of this stunning Champagne starting with the NV Krug Grand Cuvee which surprisingly is a blend of wines as old as 1990 and as young as 2004. The Grand Cuvee was luscious on the palate with, full of apricot, lemon pith, limestone, and sourdough bread. The Grand Cuvee is the bottling that Krug is the most proud of and the one they work the hardest to produce. Garth actually told me a fun fact that Krug will not bottle a 2012 vintage, even thought it was a fantastic year, because they want to make sure their Grand Cuvee is fantastic and the previous years have not provided enough juice of sufficient quality to stock the reserves…
After the Grand Cuvee we tasted the NV Krug Rose. At first I was not overly impressed I felt that the Rose was a little hollow and lacking in richness. However as the wine warmed up and had some time to open it filled out and started to reveal some beautiful strawberry notes and great acidity that beefed up the wine and made it very pleasurable to drink.
Now we are getting into the Vintage wines! First was the 2003 Krug which I think would be best left in the bottle or even blended into the Grand Cuvee… It might eventually do something but I felt that it was lacking in body and rather flat in the fruit department. The wine seamed disjointed, like it would fall apart at any moment… Time may prove me wrong but as of now I am very disappointed in this bottling. Next was the 2000 Krug which was a stark contrast to the 2003. The 2000 was beautiful showing bright citrus fruit and a nice whole wheat finish. The palate was soft and creamy and the wine was surprisingly approachable for such a young wine. Last but not least was the 1990 Krug which was interestingly divisive among the group. Half of our group thought the wine was very good while the other half thought it was slightly past its prime. What made it even more interesting is there was a distinct bottle variation between the two bottles that we used for the tasting, and to make it more fascinating is that it seemed that each side of the table (one side got one bottle and the other side got the other bottle) was split between which one they liked… So there was no clear answer, some liked the more oxidative style of the Krug that seemed more advanced in age and some liked the slightly crisper bottle… all in all it was a very fun tasting…
After the tasting, as usual, the members popped some great bottles of wine. We had a great lineup but I feel that a special mention needs to go out to the 1981 Jaboulet La Chapelle, 1990 Lisini Brunello, 2001 Girardin Batard Montrachet, and 1996 Montrose. The 81 was nearing the end of its life but it still had plenty of smoky/meaty notes along with a load of earthy funk. I had a similar impression of the Lisini Brunello but with more rustic notes and less cured meats. I was extremely impressed with the 01 Batard which was close to being the best wine of the night with crisp honeyed pairs and great minerality that balanced the fruit wonderfully. I must say though that the 1996 Montrose was absolutely stunning! Great bright fruit ranging from ripe red cherries and raspberries all the way to dark plum and black currants. The tannic structure was firm but after some time in the glass it softened up enough to give a silky mouth feel. While the 96 was a stunner I can’t wait to taste it in another 5-10 years!
