NV - Krug, Grande Cuvee 164eme Edition

Krug’s Grand Cuvee 164ème Edition is a blend of 127 different wines composed around the 2008 vintage with the oldest reserve wines from 1990. This barrel fermented blend of 48% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 17% Pinot Meunier presents opulent aromas of orange marmalade, dried apricots, apple tart, coffee, and butter croissant. The plush medium to full-bodied palate is bright and vivacious with notes of kumquat and preserved lemon intermingled with rich and light buttery puff pastry notes. Still young and lively, it finishes long with an attractive note of lemon zest. According to the Krug iD317025 the bottle tasted was disgorged in the third quarter of 2017 for release a year later in 2018.

A stellar Champagne, Krug"s NV Grande Cuvée 164ème Édition, (2008 base vintage) is painfully tight. The 164 is a fabulous wine, but readers should not fall into the temptation of opening a bottle anytime soon. Crushed rocks, slate, mint, sage and white pepper lend striking aromatic brightness. The 164 is just as compelling as it has always been. Even so, it needs time to be at its very best. The 164 is a blend based on 2008, with reserve wines back to 1990. Krug ID: 316031. (Originally published in May 2021)

Based on the 2008 vintage, Krug's NV Grande Cuvée 164ème Édition is really beginning to drink with some style, bursting from the glass with complex aromas of tangerine oil, crisp yellow apple, dried fruits, buttered toast, iodine and honeycomb, uniting attributes of youth and maturity, all wrapped up in Krug's signature toasty patina. Full-bodied, seamless and concentrated, with a fleshy core of fruit, racy acids and an envelopingly pillowy mousse, it's an intense, sapid wine that is emerging as one of the best "young" renditions of Grande Cuvée for drinking today.

Full bottle 1,653 g. 48% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, 17% Pinot Meunier. 127 ingredients in the blend, with wines from 11 different years back to 1990. Recreated round the 2008 harvest, which constitutes 68% of the blend. 48% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, 17% Pinot Meunier. I tried the Krug ID code on the website but there was no response. Definite maturity on the nose but intensely revitalising and layered on the palate. Really vibrant with hints of hazelnut and grapefruit. Real 2008 zest! And it was still going strong more than a week later – admittedly from an opened bottle that was kept at 13 °C. (JR)