First taste: Krug Grande Cuvée Edition 168

Based on the magnificent 2012 vintage, Krug’s latest Grande Cuvée is its 168^th outing, now formally labelled as Edition 168. It can be seen as an ongoing celebration of visionary founder Joseph Krug, whose prescience in 1843 framed a philosophy of uncompromising excellence to such an extent that Krug is the only house in Champagne to have released a prestige cuvée in every single year of its existence.

It’s also the first prestige cuvée to have been launched to the press by means of a Zoom webinar!

Be that as it may, Edition 168 is one of the very best Grande Cuvée releases, albeit not for want of competition. The growing season was far from straightforward, however; nature threw pretty much everything at the vines – hail, frost, rainstorms and even a little rot – so much so that chef de caves Julie Cavil recalls, ‘my nerves ended up more damaged than the grapes’. Nerves were held, however, the grapes survived and and an Indian summer crystallised a crop which was small but perfectly formed, its fruit intense and of the highest quality.

Cavil took over from Eric Lebel as chef de caves in January of this year, having joined the company in 2006. Her mission? ‘To change everything!’ she jokes, before adding ‘No, not really! Not at all in fact’!

Her’s has been a long education, time and experience alone required to comprehend and assimilate the Krug philosophy, which is every bit as complicated as the wines themselves.

‘My aspiration,’ according to the sixth generation’s Olivier Krug, ‘is to demonstrate that every year the inspiration is the same, but that the creation itself will be totally unique and different.’ If one understands the paradox of consistency through diversity, one has almost unlocked the secret of Krug. 

Cavil underlines the significance of each and every plot of land, each one now faithfully documented every year via the Krug App. The six-strong tasting panel then takes five months to finalise the blend, with Julie ending up with over 4,000 individual tasting notes from 250 base and 150 reserve wines and various permutations thereof.

As Olivier famously favours musical imagery, one can assert that this creation must be an extremely complex piece of music, and if Julie is the conductor, her orchestra for the Edition 168 is made up of 198 different wines from 11 different years; quite a feat of composition. The total of the reserve wine is 42%, its oldest component a Pinot Noir from Verzenay dating back to 1996, the aromas of which Julie describes evocatively in terms of ‘pot pourri and antique shops’. Complex indeed! Complex and tightly wound, even after seven years of reflective ageing in the cellars beneath Reims.

The wine was disgorged in the last autumn and has a dosage of approximately 7g/l. ‘I love this Edition,’ says Julie, ‘because it illustrates the importance of listening to the land’. This was the essence of Joseph’s message in 1843 and it remains fundamental to the Krug story. Olivier portrays Joseph as something of an iconoclast, based on his radical refusal to ‘await a good vintage’.

His greatest legacy has been to demonstrate that Champagne can go one better than that. Year in and year out…

Krug Grande Cuvée Edition 168 is released on 14th May 2020. 

Tasting Krug Grande Cuvée Edition 168