Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017 - 63
Moutard Père et Fils
Krug released the 2002 Vintage Brut this year, the best wine yet from its new
team, led by Eric Lebel.
Working with rare local varieties, the Moutard family makes Champagnes with
verve and personality.
The Blend: While vintage-dated Champagnes are widely regarded as
higher quality than multivintage blends, Johann Joseph Krug evidently believed the reverse to be true. He established a multivintage
blend as the primary wine for his house, and would only consider
making a vintage-dated wine when he had adequate reserve stocks
for his first wine.
Aube Pride: The Moutard-Diligent family traces its winegrowing roots
in Buxeuil back to the mid-1600s. They started producing Champagne in 1927, the first year the Aube was included in the Champagne appellation. When Lucien Moutard took over in 1952, he created a syndicate to promote the region, and planted a plot of arbane,
a local grape that had fallen out of favor due to its tendency to ripen
late. His son, François Moutard, took over in the 1980s and continues
to promote the region and its grape varieties: Even today, the Aube
still battles for the respect given to the wines further north, in the
Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims.
The Reserves: His great-great-grandson Henri Krug was, perhaps,
more pragmatic, though no less a perfectionist. He and his younger
brother, Remí, added three wines to the Krug portfolio during their
tenure: Krug Rosé and two single-vineyard wines: a chardonnay from
Clos du Mesnil and a pinot noir from Clos d'Ambonnay. Henri's son
Olivier notes that, historically, Le Mesnil was the most important
source for Krug's chardonnay grapes, and Ambonnay was the most
important source for pinot noir. Today, Olivier works with Eric Lebel,
who joined Krug as chef de caves in 1998. Following Henri's retirement in 2002, they continue to ferment all of their base wines in
neutral barrels, the oldest wine dating to 1964, with an average age
of 25 years. They ferment with a selected yeast developed in house,
and allow the wines to decant naturally in barrel until December,
before racking by gravity. They maintain 150 reserve selections in
stainless-steel tanks; the oldest lots date to 1998. The consistent quality of Grande Cuvée, Krug's multivintage
blend, relies on those reserve wines. The release
we tasted last December was brisk and intense,
with rich notes of lime and seashells, lemon
and tangerine, lasting in resonant layers of
flavor-powerful, yet gracious in the end.
The 2002 Vintage: As for vintage, Krug
waited 14 years to release the 2002, the
first made by Eric Lebel, after Henri Krug's
Eric Lebel &
retirement in August of that year. It's a wine
Olivier Krug
that captures the energy of the vintage, building on its flavors over the course of several days
open, with the deep, complex scent of a white
truffle. Like the 2002 Clos du Mesnil, it is intense,
though the chardonnay is more severe and powerfully
chalky than the vintage blend. Both are extraordinary wines, the
kind that only come along once every few decades. -J.G.
Forgotten Grapes: With the purchase of several Champagne houses
in Buxeuil and Les Riceys, François Moutard expanded his family's
vineyards to 56 acres. He also built on his father's arbane planting,
adding petit meslier and pinot blanc to the mix. Today, Moutard's
Cuvée des 6 Cépages is one of Champagne's most fascinating wines.
A blend of arbane, petit meslier, pinot blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir
and pinot meunier, fermented in used Burgundy barrels and aged
in neutral oak before its second fermentation in bottle, its depth of
flavor matches its deep golden color. Sumptuously rich, with flavors
that run toward beef broth and gingerroot, this wine is structured
and firm, and it may inspire you to reconsider what's traditional in
Champagne.
Looking South: Today the Moutards also run a
domaine in Burgundy, which is not, in fact,
far from their southerly situation in Champagne. Whether it's the similarity in soil and
climate or house style, their Champagnes
often have a Burgundian feel to them.
The pinot noir-based Grande Cuvée drew
comparisons to Marsannay from our tasting panel, for its vinous red fruit and seashell minerality kept taut and bright by a
François Moutard
line drive of acidity. The Rosé de Cuvaison, a
pinot noir colored by a short maceration on its
skins, shares that verve and elegance, the ripeness of the fruit reading in the wine's exotic spice
instead of sweetness. Tight and savory, with a gentle,
quiet persistence, it's a testament to the possibilities in
Champagne's Côte des Bar. -T.Q.T.
DETAILS & TOP WINES
DETAILS & TOP WINES
Founded: 1843 * Winemaker: Eric Lebel * Owner: LVMH
Acres owned: N/A * Annual production: N/A * Estate
grown: N/A * Importer: Moet Hennessy USA, NY
Website: krug.com
Founded: 1927 * Owner/winemaker: François Moutard
Viticulturist: Edouard Laculle * Acres owned: 56 in
Champagne; 89 in Burgundy * Annual production: 15,000
cases * Estate grown: 40% * Importer: Polaner Selections,
Mount Kisco, NY * Website: famillemoutard.com
100 2002 Champagne Brut $259 (12/16)
98 2002 Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Clos
de Mesnil $800 (12/16)
94 Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée $169 (12/16)
95 2007 Champagne Brut Cuvée des 6 Cepages $62
93 Champagne Brut Rose de Cuvaison $48
92 Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée $40
(all 12/16)
F RANCE C HAMPAGNE
F RANCE C HAMPAGNE
WINE & SPIRITS
BUYING GUIDE 2018
63
TOP 100 WINERIES 2017
Krug
http://www.krug.com
http://www.famillemoutard.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017
Contents
Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017 - Cover1
Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017 - Cover2
Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017 - 1
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Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017 - 4
Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017 - Contents
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Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017 - Cover3
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