Krug - Grande Cuvée 170ème Edition MV

Champagne Club by Richard Juhlin

A cuvée like Julie Cavil composed of 195 wines with a base from 2014 and 45% reserve wines from 11 vintages dominating 2013 down to a splash of buttery rounded 1998. The proportion of reserve wines is high because 2014 is a light and unobtrusive vintage that lacked some concentration even if the wines were subtly floral and elegant. A swirling stream of delicate little bubbles, vivid aromas and ecstatic equilibrium flows out of the glass like a perfect ballerina. One of the lighter editions, but so subtly beautiful that it forgives everything.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Krug's NV Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition is based on the 2014 vintage, complemented by some 45% reserve wines dating back to 1998, with the house drawing on, among many others, 2013 for structure and 2012 and 2003 for generosity. Opening in the glass with aromas of pastry cream, dried fruits, pear, warm spices, freshly baked bread and vanilla pod, it's medium to full-bodied, pillowy and fine-boned, with excellent concentration, racy acids and a precise, chiseled profile. But if the latter adjective could be applied to the 2013-base 169ème édition equally felicitously, the 2014-base 170ème is more giving and less tightly wound out of the gates and will offer more demonstrative drinking young.

Chef de Caves Julie Cavil and I sat down to taste the newly released 2008 Clos du Mesnil—alongside the 2008 vintage and 2008-base Grande Cuvée 164ème Édition—at the house's cellars in Reims last week. At the same time, Krug's 2021-base Grande Cuvée, the future 177ème Édition, was in tirage, a reminder of how slowly time passes in Champagne. And meanwhile, work is well underway in the house's new state-of-the-art winery in Ambonnay, which is rapidly taking shape.

Tim Atkin

Grandes Escolhas

Wine Enthusiast

The numbering indicates this is the 170th blending of this Champagne. This iteration has a fine poise—it's mature and toasty on the one hand and offers rich fruit on the other. It is a finely balanced wine that is ripe and full in the mouth. Drink this beautiful wine now.

Falstaff

Light golden yellow in colour with silver reflections and a medium, lively mousse. On the nose, hints of kumquat, delicate blossom honey and yellow stone fruit, with some biscuit notes and a touch of light nougat. The palate is taut and balanced, with fine yellow tropical fruit, and a touch of lemon on the saline-mineral finish. Energetic and persistent, a great food wine.

Revista Adega

Jeb Dunnuck

From vintages spanning from 1998 to 2014, the NV Champagne Grande Cuvee 170eme Edition is decadent and nuanced, with a rounded perfume of toasted brioche, lemon curd, and honeydew melon. Ripe yellow orchard fruits fill the palate with nectarine, fresh grapefruit pith, and a core of acidity. This is showing wonderfully now, although it still has the tension to go for the next 20 years.

Decanter Magazine

A lovely ferny nose and breezy seaside raciness. Bright yellow fruit on entry, a flicker of preserved lemon and cooked quince adding vibrancy. Then comes the Krug richness which spreads over the palate. The balance hovers tantalisingly between tactile precision and soft warm fruit and the finish reveals layers of cinnamon-tinctured blancmange, and the creaminess goes on. Rich but light on its feet. A definite buy and a keeper. The 2014 base harvest was hit by sour rot and mildew in mid-summer. Intense selection meant Krug had to reduce the amount of Meunier to half its Grande Cuvée average, and reserve wines (representing 45% of the final wine) back to 1998 buttress the balance and complexity; a triumph of blending. It also relies heavily on 2013 to add life and structure. Main harvest: 2014. 45% reserves. Aged for six years on lees. Disgorged: Spring 2021.

James Suckling

This is full-bodied and very rich with lots of dried and fresh lemons with lemon curd and delicate Italian croissant. Fine and flavorful. Drink or hold.