Vintage Krug Champagne Tasting at Wine Watch Wine Bar

Burgundy makes you think of silly things, Bordeaux makes you talk of them and Champagne makes you do them. -- Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

The Wine Bar will be open tomorrow night for regular service along with our Vintage California Cabernet Sauvignon tasting.  We will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday night in observation of the Thanksgiving holiday but we will be OPEN on Friday night and Saturday night at the Wine Bar.  The Champagne tasting is at Progresso plaza and is now SOLD OUT.

Next Week is the last week we are open for regular service or wine tastings we will only be open for private events only in December until New Year’s Eve!  Check out the amazing line-up of large format bottles we are taking down to end the year and begin the new year at the Wine Bar.

If there was one wine that I would call the ultimate celebration wine it would have to Champagne and if money is no object the wine that I will be celebrating with is Vintage Krug Champagne.  Krug is the ultimate collectors Champagne and although all of the wines at this famous house are at the pinnacle of quality, the vintage Champagne produced at this famous house is the most sought after in the world of collectible bubbly.

Join us as we experience some of the top vintages from Champagne's most sought-after producer along with a special menu prepared by Toni Lampasone.  The fee for this tasting is $495 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com

Vintage Krug Tasting at Wine Watch Wine Bar
Friday, December 1st
7:30pm

Reception:

Krug Grande Cuvee Brut Champagne
Price: $231.00    Sale Price: $189.00

200-250 different wines go into this cuvee with great vineyards like the Clos du Mesnil going into the blends. Very complex bouquet of hazelnuts, marzipan and exotic spices like ginger and candied dried fruits. The true art of this cuvee being the consistency of the taste as Olivier pointed out he worked for the firm which carries his namesake for 15 years to discover the key to making this wine the same way it has been produced since 1845!

Tasting Line-up

Krug Brut Rosé Champagne
Price: $397.50    Your Price: $349.80
Quantity in Stock: 6

Multi-vintage means that this wine is assembled from several great vintages and this is the art of Champagne, blending a mosaic of wines together every year to created a consistently excellent Champagne. Pretty strawberry and raspberry coulis like fruit with notes of candied ginger spice and hints of pepper and spice.

2000 Krug Clos d'Ambonnay Brut Champagne
Price: $2809.75    Your Price: $2472.58

Krug Vintage Champagne Clos D'Ambonnay 2000 is the rarest of all Krugs. Krug Clos d'Ambonnay is the exceptional product of a single walled vineyard in the village of Ambonnay, which for generations has been one of Krug's best-loved terroirs. In this supremely elegant champagne, Ambonnay's Pinot Noir grapes are elevated to their ultimate expression by Krug's legendary craftsmanship and long years of aging in the cellars.  The launch of Krug Clos d'Ambonnay is a landmark because it is a Champagne which three members of the Krug family - Henri Krug, Rémi Krug and Olivier Krug - all worked together on in unison.

1986 Krug Clos Du Mesnil Brut Champagne
Price: $1475.00    Sale Price: $995.00
Quantity in Stock: 5

(98 points) *Cellar Selection* Stops you in your tracks. Fascinating-from thebarrel-fermented coconut, vanilla, pineapple and marmalade bouquet to the incredible richness and concentration, this is an original. The peach, vanilla, honey and tangerine flavors ride a crest of bracing acidity, dry and forceful, to a lingering aftertaste of spring blossoms and hazelnut. (11/2000) Wine Spectator

1985 Krug Vintage Brut Champagne
Price: $825.00    Sale Price: $695.00
Quantity in Stock: 10

(97 points)  Animated and fresh, this is exotic on the nose and palate, with a finely woven tapestry of ground ginger, chamomile, pineapple pâte de fruit, grilled nut and biscuit flavors. Refined in texture and persistent on the long, truffle-laced finish. (12/2014) Wine Spectator

1989 Krug Collection Vintage Champagne

(97 points)  Shows a lovely interplay between the creamy bead and rich notes of almond financier, apricot preserves, treacle and cardamom, with finely cut, persistent acidity and flavors of pastis, raspberry puree, fennel seed and fleur de sel. Offers a refined, lasting finish, with a push of saline-tinged minerality. Drink now through 2029. (Insider) (9/ 2013) Wine Spectator

1990 Krug Vintage Champagne
Price: $762.00    Sale Price: $495.00
Quantity in Stock: 31

(95 points)   At its finest, the 1990 Vintage is superb, revealing a slightly oxidized style, but a full-bodied, rustic, rich personality with the body of a red wine, but loads of character. I cannot recommend the 1989 Vintage as three bottles tasted were all oxidized, possibly from bad storage, but who knows?  Wine Advocate #162, Dec 2005

1996 Krug Vintage Brut Champagne
Price: $595.00    Sale Price: $495.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(98 Points) The 1996 Krug Vintage remains one of the greatest Champagnes ever made. It is also far less expensive than either the Clos du Mesnil or Clos d’Ambonnay but equally as delicious. This bottle is stratospheric, with layers of explosive fruit that flow effortlessly to the multi-dimensional, captivating finish. It is another eternal Champagne from Krug. In the Cellar # 0711 Jul 2011

2003  Krug Vintage Brut Champagne
Price: $337.50 Your Price: $297.00
Quantity in Stock: 9
Krug made less than 1/3 of the amount that they usually vintage in 2003, an amount that will only represent 5% of production. Grand Cuvee is 80-85%. The cepage is a surprising 46% Pinot Noir, 31% Meunier and 23% Chardonnay.

Menu
Black Truffle and Parmesan Shoestring Fries
Buckwheat Bellinis with American Hackleback Caviar
Champagne Foie Gras Torchon with Concord Grape Chutney and Mint Lime Gremolata
Pancetta Wrapped Pork loin with Pear Chardonnay Reduction
Pineapple Upside cake with Caramel Drizzle

There are only 12 seats available for this event.  This tasting is $495 + tax for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Other Champagne from Krug we have in the store:

1995 Krug Vintage Brut Champagne (Magnum)
Price: $1170.00    Your Price: $1029.60
Quantity in Stock: 2
1995 Krug Vintage Champagne
List Price: $450.00      Your Price: $396.00
Quantity in Stock: 6

(98 points) **Collectibles & Ranked #26 on Top 100 Wines of 2006** A very youthful '95. Delicate. Intense aromas of ginger, citrus, candied berry and multigrain bread turn to honey, roasted almonds and graphite on the palate. It's all underscored by a precise structure and creamy texture. Its structure keeps it persistent through the long finish. A picture of precision and intensity. Drink now through 2025. (BS) (7/2006) Wine Spectator

1998 Krug Vintage Brut Champagne 3 Liter
Price: $2950.00    Your Price: $2596.00

(94 points) The 1998 Brut Vintage is a gorgeous wine for near-term drinking, Warm, toasty notes lead to an expansive core of fruit that covers the palate. This isn’t the most complex Krug Vintage, but it also won’t take years or decades to offer its finest drinking. 2010-2020. My visit to Krug earlier this year was fascinating, as I had a chance to taste a number of 2009s and reserve wines. A tank sample of the 2009 Clos du Mesnil was one of the most exciting, viscerally thrilling wines of the trip, and remained etched on my mind for several weeks. I also had a chance to glance over newly found, hand-written original records that document the exact village breakdown of all the grapes Krug purchased in each vintage going back to 1928. This year I tasted a number of fabulous wines from bottle. Unfortunately I can’t include my impressions on Krug’s NV Champagnes because of the house’s insistence on not providing disgorgement dates for those wines. I was reminded of the importance of this information when I tasted a fabulous, utterly spellbinding bottle of the NV Rose. It was a truly beautiful Champagne, but owing to its recent disgorgement it needed at least a few years on the cork. Of course Krug gives a general indication of the disgorgement dates for their wines on the corks, but by that time, readers may have opened a bottle that needs more bottle age. Without this information it is impossible to give readers any reliable indication of when the house’s NV wines might start drinking well. With a retail price over $300 a bottle, opening a bottle of Krug’s Rose can be a very expensive learning experience. Krug fans will want to keep an eye out for my upcoming article on Clos du Mesnil, featuring complete notes back to the inaugural 1979. Wine Advocate #192 Dec 2010

Krug Rose Brut Champagne NV Magnum
Price: $1158.75    Your Price: $1019.70

NV Krug Grand Cuvee Brut Champagne 3 Liter
Price: $1620.00    Your Price: $1425.60
Quantity in Stock: 1
Krug Grande Cuvee Brut Champagne Magnum
Price: $670.50    Your Price: $590.04

2003 Krug Clos de Mesnil Blanc de Blanc Brut Champagne
 Price: $1089.00    Your Price: $958.32
Quantity in Stock: 1

Krug Clos du Mesnil 2003 exalts the crisp purity of a single walled plot of vines (Clos in French): Krug’s Clos du Mesnil in the village of Mesnil-sur-Oger, and of a single grape variety: Chardonnay, all from a single year: 2003. The House of Krug chose to create Krug Clos du Mesnil 2003 because, from the very first tastings, the Chardonnay grapes of the 2003 harvest already revealed a delightful, expressive and balanced character without any excess aromatic intensity.

Krug Clos du Mesnil 2003 has tones of luminous yellow gold colour which shimmers with brightness.

You will be seduced by aromas of praline, hazelnuts, ginger and spices. In the palate you will find strong flavors of honey, quince and candied citrus fruit, with a long and slightly lemony finish.

1992 Krug Clos Du Mesnil Brut Champagne
Price: $1495.00    Sale Price: $995.00
Quantity in Stock: 7
95(+?) points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: "Subdued, extremely pure, soil-inflected nose hints at lemon, ginger, smoke, minerals, iodine, nutmeg and hazelnut. From a sniff, I would have been as likely to say Le Montrachet or Corton-Charlemagne as Mesnil, but I would certainly have named one of the planet's elite sites for chardonnay. Very laid-back and dry, even austere today, with an extremely fine-grained texture and penetrating flavors of minerals, citrus skin, flowers and hazelnut. A thoroughly unevolved wine of great intensity and subtlety. Seems to grow even denser toward the back, but the bracing finish suggests that this great Champagne should really be forgotten for another four or five years." (Nov/Dev 04)

A bit about Krug:

"The Krug taste is both majestic and magisterial...there is the raw material, the attention to detail, the ageing, the handmade quality.  And there are the Krugs themselves, with their adherence to a certain vision of their wine, the palate memory of five generations, their lack of compromise...the "Krug taste" is an idée fixe, an obsession of the noblest kind.

Krug Champagne is a name that is synonymous with the highest quality - its aficionados claim that it belongs in the company of those stellar stalwarts like Rolls-Royce and Cartier.  To achieve this recognition, one needs more than just dedication or expertise (both of which the Krugs have in no short supply) or a large advertising budget.  One needs a philosophy of excellence that is steeped in history and is as solid and unconditional as a rock.  While many other Champagne firms have altered their styles to conform to modern tastes, the Krugs have basically never wavered from the traditions and styles established five generations ago.  And how successful has this policy been?  Robert Parker, perhaps America's foremost wine critic says: "There are a lot of fine Champagnes made in the world, but there is no better than that made by the very small house of Krug, whose champagnes are legendary not only for their quality but for their aging potential."  Serena Sutcliffe, a renowned British wine authority, in her marvelous book titled Champagne says: "In a changing world, where one is constantly reappraising values and beliefs in the light of experience and shifting ethical standards, Krug stands as solid and as reassuring as ever.  This edifice to quality and consistently high standards remains a monument to our ideas of excellence and a bastion in our fight against mediocrity."  This is a sampling of the high praise that comes from both sides of the Atlantic, but one need only ask a Champagne connoisseur from any part of the world: "Who produces the best Champagne?"  On everybody's short list will be the inimitable House of Krug.

Krug was founded in 1843 by Jean-Joseph Krug who was born in 1800 in Mainz, Germany, moved to Paris and then eventually settled in Champagne.  He rented a cellar in Reims and quickly established a reputation as a blender of cuvées.  His flair for quality soon attracted other Champagne houses whose owners solicited him to make up their own blends.  In a very short time the Krug firm began to prosper and export wine all over the world.  Jean-Joseph's son Paul succeeded him; and when Paul passed away in 1910, his eldest son, Joseph II (who harbored a true love of the sea more than a love of Champagne) reluctantly assumed control of the firm.  Joseph II was badly wounded during the fighting that raged in and around Champagne during World War I; and at war's end, his doctors had a very pessimistic prognosis for his survival.  Because his only son (Paul II) was still a child, he appointed a nephew as a general manager.  The doctors turned out to be wrong.  Joseph II eventually lived to be 98 years old, outlasted his nephew, and remained involved with Krug almost until his death.  Serena Sutcliffe instructs us that the moral of this happy ending is "...with champagne at one's side it does not do to be pessimistic about one's life expectancy."

Paul II began working in the business in 1935 and passed the firm on to his two sons, Henri and Rémi.  Henri handled most of the winemaking duties while Rémi was the managing director and Krug's ambassador-at -large.  Rémi tirelessly troted the globe promoting Krug in tastings and gatherings of "Krugies" about the world.  In May of 1990 we had the good fortune of joining Rémy Krug in a small luncheon at which was served the entire line of his Champagnes.  Besides this Grand Cuvée, we tasted (while listening to Rémy Krug extol the virtues and uniqueness of his Champagnes) the 1982 and 1964 vintages, the 1981 Clos du Mesnil, and the non-vintage rosé.  The Krug style - a common thread to all of them - was evident across the entire range of these quite different Champagnes.  There was the non-vintage Rosé with its deft balance, touch of raspberry cream, and its very pale color that reminded of the shyly rising sun in one of Monet's "Haystacks in Winter"; the elegant, austere, stylish 1982 vintage; the robust, lively flavors of the 1964 vintage with its honey-praline-hazelnut flavors; and the extremely austere, penetrating 1981 Clos du Mesnil with its toasty, vanilla, wheat-thin bouquet.  All were unmistakably Krug.

By Champagne standards Krug is quite small - less than 500,000 bottles (compared to 27,000,000 bottles annually at Moët) are produced.  Up until 1970, the Krugs purchased all the grapes for their Champagnes - preferring to leave the growing to those who knew how to do it best.  However, between 1970 and 1972 the Krugs acquired about fifteen hectares of land in Aÿ and Les Mesnil including a 1.87 hectare single vineyard known as Le Clos du Mesnil.  These vineyards are rated the top 100% in the échelles des cru (this is the rating system established in Champagne to classify the best vineyards and determine the price which the grapes can command).  The Clos du Mesnil - comprised of 100% Chardonnay - has existed since 1698 and is one of only three single-vineyard Champagnes produced in France.  The vineyards supply about 25% of Krug's needs, but only select growers are used for their remaining requirements.  A lady in Avize, for example, sells half her thirty hectare vineyard to the Krugs under a long term contract established in 1974.

Krug's wines - unlike most of the more "modern" houses - are fermented in oak casks.  The Krugs feel that the oak gives them the extra dimension of complexity and aromatics they seek in their wines.  Only the first pressing is used (Champagne law does not require it; but Krug law does!); the first pressing is known as the cuvée, and all Krug Champagne is cuvée only.  The wine is never filtered and is never released to market until five or more years after bottling (the longest in Champagne, to our knowledge).  The firm backs up its stocks with six years of supply from which to blend.  And for Krug, blending is the key. The Multi-vintage Grand Cuvée is Krug's bread and butter Champagne accounting for almost 80% of its production. Launched in 1978, the Grand Cuvée can be a blend of as many as fifty different base wines from as many as eight different vintages.  Like all Krug Champagnes it has an "intellectual" taste not well suited for all palates and one that goes better with food than most Champagnes (many of which are now relegated to service as forerunners to the meal rather than as companions with it)."  - Jim Turner, Founder of Wine Watch

Although the Krug family no longer owns the Champagne house, the house is now part of global conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH). Like most of the companies in the group, Krug runs with a certain amount of autonomy and Oliver Krug is now the face of the Krug family in charge of Marketing and still has a good deal to do with production.  The style has remained the same while the production at Krug may be up a little bit (I would bet that Moet is making more than 27,000,000 bottles annually today), Krug is still one of the ultimate collectibles from Champagne today.  This perceived and real autonomy has played a large role in maintaining the house's reputation and consistent style.