Krug Grande Cuvee 172nd Edition Gift Set NV (750ml)
Product price
$299.99
Description
Built around the 2016 harvest but drawing on a deep library of reserve wines (146 in all, the oldest reaching back to 1998), this multi-vintage Champagne from Krug is the house's ongoing exercise in blending across years rather than capturing a single one. The mix here leans on Pinot Noir at 44 percent, with Chardonnay at 30 percent and the balance Pinot Meunier, disgorged in early 2023 with a low dosage of 4.5 grams per liter. Each release carries an edition number, and this is the 172nd.
It pours a medium straw and opens on flowers before moving into candied green apple, lime sorbet, redcurrant, and a thread of fresh almond, with fresh linen and gentle spice around the edges. The palate is rounded and medium to full, layered and concentrated, carried by a delicately chalky texture and a mouthwatering saline lift that keeps the long finish fresh. Give it air and the deeper register shows itself: toast, beeswax, marzipan, crushed stone. Lovely now, though it has the structure to gain complexity over many years in the cellar.
Expert Reviews
The NV Champagne Grande Cuvée 172 was created around the 2016 harvest year, and they enriched it with 146 wines dating from 2016 back to 1998. It pours a medium straw/yellow hue and is very pretty on the nose, with floral aromas leading out of the gate, followed by notes of candied green apples, fresh linen, lime sorbet, redcurrants, delicate spice, and fresh almond. It’s rounded and medium-bodied on the palate, with a refined, delicately chalky texture, even, mouthwatering saline, fresh lift, and a long, fresh finish. As it opens, it starts to show its deeper profile in the blend, with notes of toast and crushed stones. It’s a lovely addition to the range that will have a wide drinking window and improve with time over the next 20 years. Give it 3-4 years in the cellar. (Jeb Dunnuck, December 2024)
The new Krug release, the NV Grande Cuvée 172ème Édition, based on the 2016 vintage and comprising 11 vintages in total (the oldest is 1998), is outstanding. It reveals a complex, slightly spicy bouquet of white fruits, beeswax, marzipan, hazelnuts, dried herbs, ripe orchard fruits and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, rich and concentrated on the palate, it has a subtly spicy entry, an enrobing and layered texture and a fleshy core of fruit framed around a perfectly balanced, fresh and mineral finish. Crafted primarily from Pinot Noir (44%) and complemented with 30% Chardonnay and the rest Pinot Meunier, it was disgorged in the first quarter of 2023 with a dosage of 4.5 grams per liter. Keep it for 5-10 years. (Wine Advocate, October 2024)