x
  • Country ranking ?

    911
  • Producer ranking ?

    86
  • Decanting time

    15min
  • When to drink

    now - 2035
  • Food Pairing

    aged parmesan to turbot à la truffe

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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The Story

Krug Grande Cuvée is born from the dream of one man, Joseph Krug, to craft the very best Champagne he could offer, every single year, regardless of annual variations in climate. Since 1843, the House of Krug has honoured this vision with each new Édition of Krug Grande Cuvée: the most generous expression of Champagne.

Krug Grande Cuvée is re-created every year, beyond the notion of vintage and is a blend of over 120 individual wines from more than 10 different years. The fullness or flavours and aromas achieved by this careful art of blending would be impossible to express with the wines of a single year.

  • Krug Grande Cuvée is the first and unique Prestige Champagne re-created every year, beyond the notion of vintage.

  • The art of blending wines from so many different years gives Krug Grande Cuvée its unique fullness of flavours and aromas, impossible to express with the wines of just a single year.

  •  - The Édition number corresponds to the number of times in the House of Krug the founder’s dream has been re-created. It also serves as a reference for collectors, to enjoy it later.

  • -  The full story of every Édition is revealed online via its Krug iD, the six digits on the back label.

  •   - Krug Grande Cuvée, like all Krug Champagnes, will continue to gain with the passage of time.

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Wine Information

The 168ème Édition of Krug Grande Cuvée was composed around the harvest of 2012, a beautiful year with a low yield due to the panoply of meteorological events the region endured. Frost, rain, storms and hale all hit the vineyards of Champagne in winter and spring 2012, followed by the driest ripening season since 1974, resulting in 20% fewer grapes.

To realise the final creation, wines of the year from meticulously selected plots were blended with reserve wines from 10 other years. The careful attention given to the vines and Krug’s unique respect for the individual character of each plot enabled the breadth of expression of this Édition. 

In all, reserve wines from the House’s extensive library made up 42% of the final blend, bringing the breadth and roundness so essential to each Édition of Krug Grande Cuvée.

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Written Notes

Krug ’Grande Cuvée 168ème edition’ | KrugID 219012 | 198 wines | 11 vintages | oldest wine ’96 | youngest wine ’12 | 52pn 13pm 35ch | 93(96)p
’This edition was made of the lovely vintage 2012 as base year blended with 10 other reserve wines down to 1996. In total, Eric Label and Julie Cavil worked together on a symphony of 198 wines and the proportion of reserve wines needed to round off and give the typical Grand Cuvée aroma was 42%. This year Julie Cavil thinks that she was especially looking for citrus notes and spiked acidity in the reserve wines.

She believes that the most important player in the team was the oldest backup wine in 1996 Verzenay, a pinot noir with wonderful structure, minerality, powdery smoky notes and pure blood orange notes I had the privilege to try a few times at Krug. I, who have followed Krug ’Grande Cuvée’ over the years, see a clear difference between how the cuvées used to be and the last 10 years. Nowadays, it is precisely the citrus, the green apples, the minerality and the gently super-elegant white blossoms are stronger than before. In contrast, the depth of nutty, smoky, animalic, truffle and cep-mushroomy notes was more marked in the past. Thus, the concentration is lower, but the complexity is greater.

However, the storage capacity is the same. Personally, I would like to wait a very long time for the 168th edition as the chardonnay notes and citrus freschness are slightly toned down and made room for the delicious today so shy notes of vanilla, coconut, digestive biscuits and roasted hazelnuts and gave the wine a better length in the aftertaste. An outstandingly beautiful composition with brilliant balance, precision with Krug's unmistakable perfume already in the glass.’

  • 93p

“A blend of 52% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 13% Meunier, it took 198 different wines from 11 years to craft Joseph Krug’s dream wine, ‘the fullest expression of Champagne in one glass’. Chef de cave Julie remembers following the great 1996 Verzenay reserve wine in the tanks since the onset of her Krug career in 2006, and she says she felt emotional when the time came to include it in the 2012 blend as its oldest component among the 42% of reserve wines. She feels that some of the wine’s beeswax richness originates from that special wine. My first taste was from bottle with Krug ID 219012 (so disgorged in the spring of 2019). Refined yet expressive nose with richness of ripe stone fruits, candied lemon, baked apple and ginger reaching the nose first, followed by a gentle spiciness for fresh oak wood. Time in the glass brings forward layers of charismatic and complex brioche, yeast and honeycomb tones. On the palate it is even surprisingly tight and focused, with its brisk, saline acidity lining the fine, ripe and pure fruitiness. Less approachable upon launch than some editions, but it’s every drop just oozes ageing capacity. A keeper. ”  95-98 points

  • 98p
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Information

Origin

Reims, Champagne

Other wines from this producer

Blanc de Blancs

Clos du Mesnil Vinothèque

Grande Cuvée

Grande Cuvée 160ème Édition

Grande Cuvee 161st edition

Grande Cuvée 162ème Édition

Grande Cuvee 163th edition

Grande Cuvee 164th edition

Grande Cuvée - 165ème Édition

Grande Cuvée -166ème Édition

Grande Cuvée 167ème Edition

Grande Cuvee 169th Edition

Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition

Grande Cuvée Edition 167

Krug Clos d'Ambonnay

Krug Clos du Mesnil

Krug Collection

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Krug Vintage

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Private Cuvée Extra Sec

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Rose 21st Edition

Rosé 22 Edition

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Inside Information

A light golden colour and fine, vivacious bubbles, holding a promise of pleasure. Aromas of flowers in bloom, ripe, dried and citrus fruits, as well as marzipan and gingerbread. Flavours of hazelnut, nougat, barley sugar, jellied and citrus fruits, almonds, brioche and honey.

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