Visit to Krug

[jal]

If I thought a visit to Dom Pérignon was luxury then Krug dialed it up to 11. We spent about four hours on a private visit with a Krug hospitality rep and she explained the history of the house, the blending and crafting of the wine, the attention to detail all while sipping edition 167 of Krug Grande Cuvée. The grounds are worthy of a grand chateau, the interior is decorated in what I can only describe as quiet and elegant luxury, like visiting a Tuscan villa designed by Hermès and Bottega Veneta.
We then visited the spectacular cellars, immaculately clean and well organized where we got a sense of the extremely laborious process of blending the wine every year, we saw the (behind bars) collection of old bottles dating from the early 20th century to today, apparently a 1915 bottle of Krug Grande Cuvée was opened blind lately and was so fresh as to be mistaken by the winemakers for a 50s or 60s vintage
We adjourned to a room where musical notes were supposed to evoke different grapes from the different growers, that was er.... interesting. The idea was that blending wine from 300-400 different growers is akin to writing a composition with hundreds of different notes. Like I said, er.... interesting
Last we enjoyed lunch with four different champagne the 167 and 160 editions of KGC, the 2004 Krug vintage and the 23rd edition of Krug Rosé Brut. The lunch itself was prepared by the house chefs trained by Arnaud Lallement of the three Michelin starred “l’Assiette Champenoises” where Krug is the house Champagne.
Conclusions: the Krug Grande Cuvée according to the lovely young representative is supposed to surprise you with every edition. I disagree, I find they provide delight but I find very little to differentiate the various editions we drank. I have had Krug very rarely and I loved the product but I always find it more of a luxury endeavor than a celebratory one.
There is a strong similarity between all the different wines we had. But the luxury surroundings feel a bit stuffy to me and make it hard to enjoy the wines in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. I am afraid of sounding ungrateful considering the effort Krug put in welcoming us and explaining the whole process and that wasn’t my intention, let me just say that I enjoy visiting a winemaker much more then a luxury Champagne house.

[AlexR]

Jacques,

Thanks for your fascinating post. It is very hard indeed not to be so impressed on such occasions that one gushes with praise, somewhat losing one's sense of objectivity.

I do not think you betrayed the wonderful hospitality your were shown. You simply gave an honest report.
Wine writers face this challenge all the time: how can you avoid biting the hand that feeds you?

Rest assured: everyone reading your post enjoyed your rare experience vicariously.

As for Krug Champagne, I have often heard that there is not a world of difference between the vintage and non-vintage - except in terms of pricing.

All the best,
Alex R.

[Nicklasss]

Very interesting and fair report.

A 4 hours tour at Krug is probably better than thousand of other tours. But I got your point: in 2015 we had time with Mr. Tesseron and Mr. Comme at Pontet Canet, and a commercial or tour rep at Lynch Bages. Easy to understand which we preferred...

Yes Krug is always great and excellent, but I had the wine only at BWE events and thanks everyone who share these special bottles. I remember the Vintage 1988, I had with Winedinner in 2004 in Paris, as the best. But all Grande Cuvée tried have been very special. Always exotic, spritzy, complex Champagne.

Nic

[stefan]

Ah, Krug! That is my daughter T's favorite Champagne. One of the best I drank was the 1988, one time on Corinne's patio.

Sounds like you had a great visit, Jacques. Living the life of luxury ain't all bad.

[DavidG]

Nice report Jacques. Drinking Krug doesn’t have to be a stuffy occasion. Though the price of the vintage stuff can lend a sense of seriousness, once the cork is out if you’re drinking with friends that goes out the window.

[Comte Flaneur]

Thanks for the excellent report Jacques. Every time the cork pops on a bottle of Krug the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. It is always a grand occasion and the wine is an institution.

Did you see the famous Rolls Royce station wagon?

[Comte Flaneur]

FBE3A160-55F4-4D22-8909-CC425779CEE3.jpeg (64.02 KiB) Viewed 1039 times

[dstgolf]

Stefan,

Here's that Krug being served up....memories!!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/29B1SHfMUij7iiah7

[Nicklasss]

Stefan,

Here's that Krug being served up....memories!!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/29B1SHfMUij7iiah7

Younger Danny with his Harry Potter look. The magic of Chateau Margaux. i like it!

Nic

[jal]

Ha, no Rolls wagon. We had the parking lot to ourselves.
You guys haven't changed a bit, Danny, Stefan, Lucie, David, Tom, Stu et al...
I am sure if I drank in your company it would have been more fun and less stuffy. We could have overpowered the representative and made her at least laugh.

[sdr]

Well, I drink a fair amount of champagne, but Krug is my favorite.

As Gilman points out, the MV is pretty consistent, but only after it takes on some age, like 4 - 7 years after release.

I may be misreading the much praised Edition 164, since I find it atypical, a little too light and austere. I prefer #165 or #166 for drinking young. I’ve only had a few well aged MV and they were impressive.

But to me there is no doubt the vintage version reaches greater heights than the MV, for example, the ‘95 we had at Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts DC last year. The vintages from this century are delicious but quite young. The ‘95, ‘90, ‘89 and the BWE-sentimental ‘88 are marvelous. The ‘85 and ‘82 are becoming inconsistent but can be magnificent.

True, it’s luxury, but if you even think you like champagne, see if you can get a chance to try one.

Stu

[Blanquito]

I have hot and colding running Krug ready for the upcoming pool party.

[Nicklasss]

Blanquito, stop to be mean please.

Nic

[jal]

Here are some photos taken of the cellar.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VmmoKBpqrS6xKfx17

p.s. just to be clear, I absolutely loved the Champagne, I just found it a little difficult to enjoy the place.

[AKR]

Very cool report & pix. I am glad that I generally cannot find that much difference between great or vintage Champagne and the typical NV stuff.

I heard the British offered up their local sparklers when POTUS came into town. That might be yet another benefit of climate change if we can get a new source for quality bubbles.

[Comte Flaneur]

How does one pronounce Krug?

Kroog?

Or Krugg?

[DavidG]

I've always heard it pronounced "Kroog," like the "ooh" you make when you hear the cork pop.

[AlexR]

Pronunciation...

English speakers have a hard time hearing, much less pronouncing the difference between the "u" and "ou" sounds.
For instance, la rue = the street and la roue = the wheel.

The difference is patent to a francophone, but most anglophones would pronounce the two exactly the same. Perhaps the best example is "au-dessous" (above) and "au-dessous" (below).
The opposite meanings make understanding pronunciation very important.

The case under discussion is complicated by the fact that Krug, like a number of Champagne houses (Bollinger, Mumm, etc.) is of German origin. However, the French would most often pronounce Krug with the “u” of “rue”. That is not to say that some people may say it the German way, but they would be only a small minority in my opinion.

FWIW, ost people pronounce Lynch Bages “Lancsch Bages” in French, while some others say “Leench Bages” rather than the English (or Irish) pronunciation. Palmer is “Pal-merre”, for instance.

Best regards,
Alex R.

[DavidG]

That was a very informative answer Alex, and I think it confirms my recommendation of "oo" being preferable to "uh" when pronouncing Krug, even though us Anglophones can't reliably create a proper "u" vs. "ou." And I think you've got a typo in the French for "above" above, which I think should be "au dessus" rather than "au dessous." But I may be having difficulty sussing it.

[AlexR]

Yes, sorry about the typo.

AR

[jal]

The hospitality representative pronounced it like rue.
In Orange a few years back, my buddy wanted to buy two tickets to the arena and asked for douze billets instead of deux billets. Good thing the lady behind the counter laughed and made sure.

[sdr]

Actually, I think it’s pronounced “Lunch Bags.”

Stu

[JimHow]

Ce sont des mots qui se battent.

[jckba]

C’est plutot des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble et il est presque midi et j’ai faim

[Nicklasss]

La langue française n'a jamais été la force des anglophones.

Nic

[JimHow]

Je suis fier d'être franco-américain.

Cordialement,
James Paul Rousseau Howaniec

[AKR]

"Some of you might pronouncing my name wrong"