Charles Krug Winery New Releases on SALE! - The First Winery in Napa Valley and Still Family Owned Making some of the Best Values in every Category
"Now wines are wonders; great wines are magical; and winemakers are mad. Like horse fanciers, they are always trying to improve the breed." - William E. Massee
Charles Krug Winery has been on our radar for the entire 20+ years that I have owned the store and I was happy to hear that after our first wine tasting event with Peter Mondavi Jr just over a year ago that he wanted to co-host a virtual wine tasting with us. I was against the idea of virtual tastings at first but with the new normal being what it is and no end in sight to the pandemic we have warmed up to the idea. Although our virtual tastings on Wednesday nights are almost over with most people ready to come back out of the house and attend in person at the Wine Bar we have over 40 virtual tasting kits up on our website. You can buy any of the tasting kits and watch the presentation at your leisure on our Instagram TV channel. The presentation link is on the page with the virtual tasting kit offerings, and we still have all the wines available from the Charles Krug Virtual Tasting!
Charles Krug winery is one of the best wine producers not only in Napa Valley, but we challenge you to find a better Cabernet Sauvignon or Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley or anywhere else in their prospective price points. All the wines on this offering are estate bottled and grown wines that come from not decades of experience in the wine business but generations. It is hard to find value in Napa Valley today as Napa Valley is the most overpriced wine regions on earth. There are more wineries that are charging $200+ per bottle for their first release than anywhere else which is why we are happy that one of the first families of Napa Valley still puts both quality and value as their first and foremost consideration for all the wines they produce. Check out all the new releases from Charles Krug winery at some of the best prices in the country!
Charles Krug – The First Winery in Napa Valley
Still Family Owned!
2021 CHARLES KRUG SAUVIGNON BLANC ST HELENA NAPA ESTATE
Price: $16.75 Your Price: $14.74
The family owns 143 acres at the winery and there is 45 acres that is Sauvignon Blanc. All stinless tlle tank fermented, New Zealand style, grandfather first one to barrel age in New french oak. Fresh lime and white grapefruit citrus, a very bright and fresh style of Sauvignon Blanc leaves the tongue salivating for food just a note of grassiness on the finish, a tongue tingly acidity through the finish. Finish 35+ This is the best SB I have ever had from Charles Krug Excellent
2019 CHARLES KRUG CHARDONNAY NAPA
Price: $21.50 Your Price: $18.92 Quantity in Stock: 16
Our Chardonnay is grown in the cool, foggy Carneros region, where Burgundian-style grape varieties maintain their balance of acidity and ripeness. This medium-bodied wine is half barrel fermented and aged sur lie; look for aromas of tropical fruit and citrus blossom with flavors of peach and pear.
2019 CHARLES KRUG MERLOT NAPA
Price: $26.50 Your Price: $23.32
Has a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot this wine has an old world flair, dried tobacco, red plum, red currant, coffee, creme soda raspberry with loamy earthy nuance. A very smooth and velvety wine on the tongue with all that spice and nuance through the finish, lovely freshness and balance. Finish 40+ Excellent
2018 CHARLES KRUG PINOT NOIR CARNEROS
Price: $30.50 Your Price: $26.84 Quantity in Stock: 15
Winemakers Notes:With its rolling hills, prolific fog and gusty winds, Carneros is known for producing grapes with bright fruit flavors and bracing acidity. The cool climate, early ripening Pinot Noir grapes are always our first red variety into the winery each harvest. The pristine fruit is handpicked at night and delivered to the winery in the early hours of the morning. The resulting wine is aged in French Burgundy oak barrels for 8 months before bottling. This elegant, medium-bodied wine features an attractive bouquet of cola, dried cherries and cranberries, and toasted brown sugar. Flavors of baked cherries, tobacco leaf follow with bright hints of cola on the lingering finish.
2018 CHARLES KRUG CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA
List Price: $35.00 Your Price: $30.80
Sourced principally from the five family estates in Yountville, the 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon displays cranberry and briary aromas with hints of brown butter and clove. This medium-to-full-bodied wine showcases a rich mix of cranberry and black currant flavors set against a beautifully integrated backdrop of lightly toasted oak, all leading to a smooth lingering finish of berries and butter.
Blend: 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot, 1.5% Cabernet Franc, 1.5% Malbec
2017 CHARLES KRUG GENERATIONS FAMILY RESERVE NAPA
Price: $67.50 Your Price: $59.40 Quantity in Stock: 17
Dark currant and plum like fruit with notes of toasty oak spice coco, nice richness and complexity a big and chewy wine on the tongue with layers of dark berry fruit, an array of spice and earthy notes through the long layered finish. Finish 50+ Most Excellent
2018 CHARLES KRUG GENERATIONS NAPA
Price: $67.50 Your Price: $59.40
Generations is a Bordeaux-style blend from our Napa Valley estate vineyards, created to honor our family's past, present and future. Aromas of black cherry, coffee bean and blueberry segue to a full-bodied wine with a long finish of ripe berry and toasty crème brûlée.
2016 CHARLES KRUG VINTAGE SELECTION CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA
Price: $125.00 Your Price: $110.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
(95 Points) First produced in 1944, Vintage Selection is the ultimate expression of the Charles Krug portfolio, an elegant, artfully balanced wine that has stood the test of time. Our 2016 release incorporates pristine fruit from three flagship vineyards: Voltz (39%) and Slinsen (32%) in Yountville and Cold Springs (29%) on Howell Mountain. This marks the first time in 75 years that mountain fruit has been incorporated into our signature offering. The finished wine features inviting aromas of black fruit, toasted caramel and vanilla seamlessly integrated with flavors of black cherry, boysenberry and tobacco that linger on the finish. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, October 2018
2017 CHARLES KRUG VINTAGE SELECTION CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA
Price: $157.50 Your Price: $138.60
2018 CHARLES KRUG CABERNET SAUVIGNON HOWELL MOUNTAIN NAPA
List Price: $150.00 Your Price: $132.00
Rising 1,650 feet above the Napa Valley floor on the south westside of Howell Mountain, the Family Reserve Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon sits above the fog line. The distinctive climate, along with volcanic and iron-rich red soils, produce fruit with great balance and intensity.
A bit about Charles Krug Winery - The original Mondavi Family winery in Napa
Charles Krug is Napa Valley’s first winery. Founded in 1861 by Prussian immigrant Charles Krug, he came to America at age 22 with nothing but willpower and proceeded to become a major player in establishing the entire California wine industry.
When Krug died in 1882, the winery was purchased by his close friend, James Moffitt, a San Francisco banker. Moffett was a big city banker and loved the thought of retiring to the countryside and starting a family business, but his daughters and their husbands were not interested in Krug or the wine business. Moffitt owned the winery through prohibition, then began looking for a winemaking family to carry on the Krug tradition. Both Robert and Peter drove down to meet their father at Crocker First National Bank, where Moffett was the director, and the Mondavi’s were mere bumpkins from sleepy little Saint Helena. It only took a few minutes to convince Moffitt that the Mondavi’s were a perfect fit to carry on the Krug tradition.
Cesar Mondavi was sixty years young when he and his wife, Rosa, purchased the winery for $75,000. His two sons, Peter and Robert, were both attending Stanford at the time, when they finished with school they came back to run the winery. Cesare died in 1959 and Rosa became president, then passed the torch on to Peter in 1966. With obvious differences of opinions Peter and Robert decided to take separate paths in the wine industry. The two brothers could not have been more different in terms of personality, Peter is private and relaxed and Robert inevitably attracts publicity and is constantly fired with energy. Peter was content to tend the family business, while Robert was driven by a need for attention and bravado. Peter avoids making waves; Robert rocks the boat. Peter and Robert barely spoke to each other for the better part of twenty-five years. One of the major disputes they had in the early seventies was lost in court by Peter and cost him some of his most prized Cabernet vineyards in Oakville.
On June 13th 1985 two wine collectors Tawfig Khoury and Barney Rhodes staged an improbable reunion of the two Napa Valley winemaking brothers. The two collectors had amassed a historic retrospective of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons from Charles KrugWinery, 1944 to 1965, and Robert Mondavi Winery, 1966 to 1984, and invited both Mondavis to attend. This not only brought the two powerhouse California vintners together under one roof, but had also apparently helped ease the tension that existed between the two since their breakup in 1966.
The Mondavi family is responsible for some of the most important innovations in California winemaking history. Way back in 1937 peter Mondavi, Sr. developed cold fermentation, this enabled winemakers to produce exceptionally crisp, fruity white wines. Charles Krug Winery was one of the first to use vintage dated varietal wines. They are credited with the first winery newsletter Bottles and Bins. Today, Napa Valley is the second largest tourist attraction in California, the first winery to initiate tastings on the lawn was Krug back in 1951. Peter Mondavi Sr. was the first to adapt sterile filtration to winemaking. He was also the first to use small French Oak barrels and glass lined tanks, providing safe, neutral storage for young wines. It’s no wonder to us how they became one of the twenty largest wineries in the United States.
Peter lived to be 101 years old and credited his longevity partially to enjoying a glass of wine everyday. His two sons, Marc and Peter, Jr. have taken over the responsibilities of running Charles Krug and C.K Mondavi. Marc attended UC Davis, he oversees the vineyard management and winemaking duties. While Peter, Jr. went to Stanford and manages the marketing, sales and general winery functions, sound familiar? The two have no doubt seen their father and uncle’s life change due to their differences as young men. They have learned that there is great importance in being a family winery first, but you should always follow your dreams. This family has a history that is unparalleled in the California wine industry.
Charles krug has focused on the major varietals grown in California. They make a Sauvignon Blanc from the home ranch in Napa, a Chardonnay from Fracchia and Willow Lake Ranch in Napa, a Pinot Noir from Willow lake Vineyard in Carneros, a Zinfandel from both Napa and Sonoma fruit sources, a Merlot from Krug Ranch, Voltz Ranch and Mondavi/Lincoln Ranch, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Mondavi/Lincoln Ranch and Stinsen Ranch, a Sangiovese form Krug Ranch, and a line of reserve wines in all of the above varietals when vintage permits. The “Vintage Select” designation for the best lots of Cabernet was introduced in 1946, at that time the wine was aged in old oak barrels and sometimes even in whisky barrels. In 1991 Krug introduced a wine called “Generation” this is a blend of three of the traditional Bordeaux varietals; Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The term generations signifies the continued tradition of innovation and excellence of the Peter Mondavi family.