Krug is the first and, as yet, only Champagne House to create prestige Champagnes every year since its foundation in 1843.
At the House of Krug, every Krug Vintage celebrates the distinct character of a particular year.
Krug Vintage is not the selection of the best wines of a good year, but the selection of the wines which better express the story of the year. The creation is then enhanced by a stay over ten years in Krug’s cellars.
99 Points Stephen Tanzer
Light gold. Remarkably perfumed nose projects an exotic bouquet of deep, leesy yellow fruit, minerals, honeycomb, smoked meat and flowers, with Asian spices building expanding in the glass. Almost painfully concentrated, offering a surreal parade of orchard and pit fruits, smoked meat, toasted brioche and marrow braced by intensely salty, stunningly incisive minerality. Imagine a Frankenstein’s monster of Chablis Le Clos and Clos Ste. Hune-but one with perfect balance, of course-and you get an idea of what I found in my bottle. The energetic, stony character builds exponentially on the finish, which didn’t seem to, well, finish. The best analogy I can come up with for the intensity, focus and clarity of this Champagne is liquefied barbed wire. Utterly hallucinatory and one of the most amazing wines I’ve ever been fortunate enough to drink. At the risk of sounding completely out of touch with reality, this is a value.
98 Points Antonio Galloni
The 1996 Vintage is magnificent. A towering, explosive Champagne, the 1996 delivers the house’s signature breadth in a full-bodied, structured Champagne with enough pure density and acidity to age well for decades. Warm nutty and spiced overtones add nuance on the finish. The 1996 is just beginning to enter the early part of its mature stage, where it is sure to remain for several decades. Krug’s Vintage is one of the truly epic wines of the year.
97 Points Robert Parker Wine Advocate
It has been a while since we met, but the Krug 1996 is unequivocally a brilliant slice of champagne – the nose cut from some slab of limestone that must of plummeted into the Champagne countryside from outer space. The palate is rapier like acidity, life-affirming mineralite and a focus and freshness that is nothing less than thrilling. Krug is one of life’s great pleasures and this is one of their finest vintages.
18.5/20 Jancis Robinson
Tasted blind. Deep orangey apricot colour with a sluggish bead. Fully mature nose with notes of dried apricots and nuts. Wholly enveloping pleasure on the nose! Hint of caramel and also something very exotic indeed. Something you wouldn’t find in any other champagne, surely. Dry, clean finish.