Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016 - 65


TOP 100 WINERIES 2016

F RANCE
XXXXXXXX
C HAMPAGNE

Eric Lebel
Founded: 1843
Chef de cave: Eric Lebel
Owner: LVMH
Acres owned: 49
Annual production: N/A
Estate grown: 22%
Importer: Moët Hennessy USA, NY
Website: krug.com

Krug
Krug's perfectionism in the northern climes of Champagne has led to
an opulent range of wines that deliver at the region's highest level.
The Blend Comes First: When Johann Joseph Krug founded his Champagne house, he believed the greatest wine-and the most consistently great wine-could be achieved through blending. His talent
resided in the intricate blending of wines from different sites and different vintages. And he would only consider a single-vintage wine
when the reserve stocks for his first wine had been met. It was this
philosophy that drove his great-great-grandson, Henri Krug, to build
on the family's collection of reserve stocks, sustaining the firm's multivintage Grande Cuvée, a wine he described as symphonic.
Variations: Eric Lebel, who worked with Henri Krug and took over
as chef de cave in 1998, now tends a reserve cellar with wines stored
in stainless steel vats, 150 separate lots from 14 vintages dating
back to 1998. With each vintage, he develops three potential blends
of Grande Cuvée to present to the tasting team, searching for the
reserves that best complete the characteristics of the year's base wine
and bring it closest to the ideal of the blend. In great vintages, he produces up to four other wines, including two single-site, single-variety
bottlings-Clos du Mesnil and Clos d'Ambonnay-as well as a rosé,
all introduced during the tenure of Henri and his brother, Rémi.
Unlocking the Code: Maggie Henriquez has been researching the diaries of Johann Joseph Krug since she became CEO in 2009. His belief
in the primacy of the wine that is now Grande Cuvée led her to a
radical decision: She set out to make all the information about the
blend, long a closely guarded secret, readily accessible to Krug drinkers, creating a code on each bottle that specifies the vintage on which
the blend is based, as well as the disgorgement date. That code can
be entered into the Krug app, to find detailed information on the
makeup of each disgorgement of Grande Cuvée. The information
adds depth to the experience of drinking the wine, but it's not crucial

to appreciating it. When we taste Grande Cuvée blind
with our panels, we don't know any of those details.
The code to the particular bottle we opened for our
blind panel is lost to time, but the wine clearly left its
mark on the tasters: Its opulent scents hinted at wildflowers and honey, while bass notes brought a deeper
spice. Complex and densely flavorful, it felt open and
yielding through the sunny finish.
The Delicate Color of Pinot: Krug Rosé, which also
benefits from the firm's stock of reserve wines, may
be the most ephemeral Champagne in the current
range. One of our 100 Best Wines of the Year, it
delivers the resonant depths of flavor you might
find in a grand cru Vosne-Romanée, yet the weight
of the wine is no more than an effervescent mist.
The Power of a Vintage: One is left to wonder what
Johann Joseph Krug might have thought of the
2003 Clos du Mesnil, from a walled chardonnay vineyard in what
may be the grandest village of the Côte des Blancs. Barrel fermentation of the base wine in neutral oak, one marker of the Krug style,
brings out the pale earthen power of chardonnay grown in limestone,
even as the heat of 2003 makes the wine more accessible than most
vintages of Clos du Mesnil on release. Compared to other 2003s, it's
remarkably tight, bringing a wine that edges toward the outer limits
of the Krug style firmly into line. -J.G.

TOP-SCORING WINES
96
XX Brut
'XX Xxxxxxxx
Rosé $299
Xxxxxxx
(12/15)Xxxxx $XX (XX/XX)
94
XX '03
'XX Brut
Xxxxxxxx
BlancXxxxxxx
de Blancs
Xxxxx
Clos$XX
du (XX/XX)
Mesnil $899 (12/15)
93
XX Brut
'XX Xxxxxxxx
Grande Cuvée
Xxxxxxx
$169
Xxxxx
(12/15)
$XX (XX/XX)
WINE & SPIRITS

BUYING GUIDE 2017

65


http://www.krug.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016

Contents
Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016 - Cover1
Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016 - Cover2
Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016 - 1
Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016 - 2
Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016 - Contents
Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016 - 4
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Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016 - Cover3
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