Krug Grande Cuvee 171st Edition Gift Box (750ml)
Product price
$299.99
Description
Krug's Grande Cuvée is the house's non-vintage expression, a blend of multiple vintages and reserve wines that anchor Champagne's tradition of consistency and complexity. This 171st edition draws from wines spanning back to the year 2000, with its base from the notably hot and dry 2015 vintage. Made by the traditional méthode champenoise, it represents the accumulated house style across two decades of vineyards.
The wine shows impressive tension and structure despite its diverse component parts. Ginger and orange zest open into notes of apple, pie crust, and honeyed brioche, with floral character (chamomile and other tea-like aromatics) threading through. There's a saline, zesty quality that builds toward something richer and more complex on the palate, with hints of creme brulee, praline, cappuccino, and bitter almond adding depth. The mouthfeel is surprisingly smooth and silky at first, then broadens into something fuller and more dimensional, finishing with warmth and length. This is a wine that gains momentum as you drink it, revealing new layers rather than leading with obvious charm.
Expert Reviews
The tightness and tension of this is impressive considering the youngest wine from this is 2015 (hot and dry year), with some wines going back to 2000. Ginger and orange zest. Some creme brulee. It's medium-bodied with apple, pie crust and floral character. It's salty and zesty yet, at the same time, complex and gorgeous. Chamomile and other floral teas highlight everything. Turns rich and flavorful at the finish. Terrific release. Really takes off at the end. (James Suckling, August 2023)
Two years on from its disgorgement, this 2015-based edition has settled beautifully, showing all the sunniness of the base year with its mandarin and apricot plushness, surprisingly smooth and silky up front before settling into its broad, inviting range of praline, cappuccino and bitter almond aromatics and subtle fruit skin chewiness. It's a punchy, fulsome edition thanks to the base year's intensity, but it has been beautifully tamed into a characteristically suave and multilayered Grande Cuvée. A blend of 131 wines, with reserves back to the year 2000. (TH). (Decanter, February 2024)
Spanning from 1998 through the 2015 vintage, the NV Champagne Grande Cuvée 171 is lush with a kaleidoscope of aromas including orange marmalade, toasted brioche, almond, and ripe peaches. Full-bodied and rounded, it has a hint of warmth on the finish, but it’s highly attractive, balanced, and long, with outstanding depth and richness. This fantastic expression of the Grand Cuvée is gorgeous right out of the gate and will be a great addition for collectors to enjoy over the coming two decades. Drink 2023-2043. (Jeb Dunnuck, November 2023)