Krug Champagne Grande Cuvée

The Krug Grande Cuvée 171ème Edition NV is a masterful blend that epitomizes the House of Krug's dedication to excellence and complexity. This multi-vintage Champagne offers an intricate bouquet of ripe and dried fruit, marzipan, gingerbread, and citrus zest, complemented by notes of hazelnut, nougat, and freshly baked brioche. On the palate, it presents a harmonious balance of power and finesse, with layers of flavor unfolding over a structured, creamy texture and concluding in a long, nuanced finish that showcases Krug's distinctive style.

99 James Suckling: 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. Drink or hold.

96 Wine Spectator: A vivid Champagne, with chiseled acidity and a fine, vivacious mousse creating a buoyant frame for layered flavors of crushed black raspberry, grilled nuts, pink grapefruit sorbet and coffee liqueur, plus fragrant accents of ground ginger and anise, graphite and lime blossoms. Long and expressive on the finish, crackling with a lingering fleur de sel note. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier. Disgorged winter 2022 to 2021. Drink now through 2033.

95 Decanter: 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.