Krug
Grande Cuvée 168ème Édition
The 168ème Édition of Krug Grande Cuvée was composed around the harvest of 2012, a beautiful year with a low yield due to the panoply of meteorological events the region endured. Frost, rain, storms and hale all hit the vineyards of Champagne in winter and spring 2012, followed by the driest ripening season since 1974, resulting in 20% fewer grapes.
As the wines of 2012 were reminiscent of pastry with great roundness, reserve wines were added to bring vivacity to the blend. Reserve Chardonnays were chosen from certain plots in Avize and Marmery for their freshness, while Pinot Noir reserve wines from plots in the Montagne de Reims Nord brought tension
168ème Édition is a classic in the making, wafting from the glass with aromas of dried fruits, pear, toasted nuts, orange zest, honeycomb and freshly baked bread. Medium to full-bodied, generous but incisive, it's deep and elegantly fleshy, with a beautifully refined mousse and an enveloping core of fruit that's complemented by the characteristic Krug patina of nutty complexity imparted by barrel fermentation. Even if this is more open out of the gates than the 2011-based 167ème edition, the 168ème edition is also the more concentrated and intense of the two. It's based on the 2012 harvest, complemented by fully 42% reserve wines—a blend of 198 wines from 11 different vintages dating back to 1996.