NV Krug Grande Cuvee Edition 174
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
The new edition of Grande Cuvée uses 64% of the 2018 vintage as the youngest wine, with 36% reserve wines dating back to 2009. As you'd expect from the prominence of the 2018 harvest, the most immediate impression is of an approachable, but not open-knit edition, finer and more clean-cut than the 173rd yet immediately enjoyable upon release. It is Pinot aromatics which lead, with pretty, sweet red fruits, red pear, baked apple and a gentle wave of honeyed reserve wine providing a sense of savoury depth. Then ultra-ripe Chardonnay concentration snaps into focus with zippy candied mandarin and pineapple flavours, bright but not too acid focused. There's more of a sense of airy sunniness than heat or weight, smooth-moussed and gliding rather than forceful or pent up. This is a fine, enjoyable Grande Cuvée release that will build in waxy, honeyed and nutty depth over the next decade.
Critic scores
Average Score
Kristaps Karklins, Wine Advocate
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The NV Grande Cuvée 174ème Edition, the latest release from Krug, is based on the 2018 vintage. Dense and explosive in the glass, the 174ème Edition possesses tremendous textural depth right out of the gate. Baked apple tart, chamomile, dried flowers and tangerine peel literally stain the palate. The purity of the fruit is exquisite. The 174ème Édition can be enjoyed with minimal cellaring, but it will drink well for many decades to come. Today, it is positively stunning. The 174ème is a blend of 143 lots going back to 2001.
Krug’s newly released NV Grande Cuvée 174ème Édition is built around the 2018 harvest, which represents roughly two-thirds of the blend, with the remainder coming from 10 different years dating back to 2001. Disgorged in early 2025 with a dosage of five grams per liter, the wine opens in the glass with aromas of orange peel, freshly baked bread and pear mingled with notes of aromatic bitters, followed by a medium- to full-bodied, pillowy and charming palate, with a generous, sweet core of fruit, tangy acids and a long, precise finish. If, in a word, the 2017-based 173ème Édition is concentrated and the 2013-based 169ème Édition trenchant, the 174ème Édition is slightly softer and simultaneously less tightly wound than either, though its full complexity has yet to emerge with additional time under cork.
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.