NV Krug Grande Cuvee Edition 170
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Tasting notes
The Krug’s Grande Cuvée 170th Edition is a blend of 195 different wines, spanning 12 different vintages between 1998 and 2014. It is 54% Pinot Noir, 38% Chardonnay and 11% Pinot Meunier. On tasting, the Champagne stands out for its fantastic vinous, textural quality and striking depth. It has a refined nose of apple blossom, honeyed tones and toasted nougat. On the palate, there is richer orchard fruit, riper toffee apple, sweet pastry and salted caramel notes. On the finish, earthier tones from the reserve wines come through, in contrast to the fresher green-apple-skin note that brings lift on the long finish. The backbone of acidity gives vertical definition to the wine and amazing, tensile length.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Decanter
More reviews and scores
The NV Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition, (2014 base vintage) is rich, ample and explosive. Wonderfully fresh and vibrant, the 170 offers an exotic mélange of dried orchard fruit, pear, spice and crushed flowers. Chef de Caves Eric Lebel was not especially excited about 2014 when I saw him a few months after the harvest, as yields in Pinot Noir and Meunier were adversely affected. Perhaps for that reason the 170 contains more reserve wines than most editions. Regardless, the Krug team crafted an absolutely brilliant Grande Cuvée. The blend is 51% Pinot Noir, 38% Chardonnay and 11% Meunier, vintages 2014 through 1998. Disgorged: Autumn 2021. Krug ID: 421062.
Lots of acidity! Extremely lively and brisk. But it’s actually readier than most young Grandes Cuvées I have tasted at this relatively early stage with sumptuous texture actually. Very clean and fresh. Bone dry but broachable and quite charming within the Krug ethos. Really quite friendly. One of my favourites of this line-up!
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.
About the producer
Krug is a remarkable Champagne House which only makes prestige cuvées. The wines – with their distinctive rich, complex, oxidative style – are some of the region’s best.