Krug Grande Cuvee Edition 170 N.V.

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. Drink 2024-2044.

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. Drink 2021-2041.

A subtle nose of maple syrup and candied lemon opens up to reveal a hint of maize meal and shiitake. It leads onto a palate that is utterly streamlined and lemon-scented. This is serene but it comes with beautiful depth and a lovely note of autolysis, expressed as lemony, creamy polenta, enhanced by fine mousse. There are highlights of grapefruit zestiness with the lovely signature savouriness of Krug, expressed in just a hint of salty, grilled shiitake mushroom, revealed on the long and mouth-watering finish. A most brisk, taut, bright, but also rather subtle and profound iteration of Krug.

This marvellous wine is at the same time rich with smoky, yeasty aromas, yet also very crisp and pure. ‘I smell all the French breakfast: toast, butter, marmalade and coffee,' said Krug cellar master Julie Cavil. For me, the combination of lively acidity and a rich density of flavour on the palate is unstoppable. The blend is 45% reserve wines going back to 1998, and this was aged seven years on the lees, being disgorged in the winter of 2020-2021. Drinking well now, but will also continue to improve with time in the cellar. 2022 - 2040.