IMW and Krug hold landmark tasting

Krug conducted its first ever comparative Grand Cuvée tasting in Londonto show the ageing capacity of the non-vintage Champagne.

The event, staged by the Institute of Masters of Wine last Thursday (2 December), highlighted the maturation of Krug Grand Cuvée created in 2001, 2002 and 2003, with each wine identified by a different name on the back label.

Krug president Margareth Henriquez, who travelled from Reims for the landmark tasting despite heavy snow and freezing temperatures, explained that the Champagne house is putting aside more Grand Cuvée for extended ageing and later release for events and tastings.

“I like to say we are increasing our patrimony,” she told the drinks business after the event, which was held at Vintners’ Hall.

To differentiate between the non-vintage wines, which are blended to create a consistent Krug style, the house has begun to give each cuvée a name, beginning with the wine made in 2001, dubbed “Memoires”. This has been followed by “Finesse” for the 2002 blend and “Savoir-faire” for the current release, blended in 2003.

Henriquez also said that from next year, every bottle of Krug released will have an ID code allowing the house to trace bottles as well as help consumers find out the exact history and disgorgement date of the wine in their ownership. The advent of the codes will coincide with a new website for Krug.

Henriquez pointed out that the comparative tasting of Krug Grand Cuvée “has never been done before” and that it was designed to show the character of the Grand Cuvée as it matures.

She also said that the Champagne house is “keeping bottles of Grand Cuvée because we’ve discovered that it ages beautifully,” while stressing that “the philosophy is to create the same taste – we look for maximum consistency”.

The Grand Cuvée tasting followed an insightful and indulgent look at Krug vintages ‘98, ‘96, ‘95 and ‘90 and the Krug Clos de Mesnil from the same year. It was confirmed that the house would release only four vintages from the ‘90s – there will be no Krug vintage ‘99.

Henriquez concluded with a comment on the market over the last 12 months for Krug. “I am Latin so I’m an expert in crises,” she joked, adding, “but they [crises] are good because it gives you the opportunity to make changes, it gives us time to realign and make decisions and create new ideas” – using the addition of ID codes on every bottle of Krug as an example.

Click here to watch an IMW video of the event

Patrick Schmitt, 09.12.2010