Krug Grande Cuvee 170eme Edition Champagne

Since their inception in 1843, Krug Grande Cuvée has been their signature wine, and the most important wine they produce each year. Crafting Grande Cuvée only once a year, Krug now distinguish each release numerically, and provide great insight into the detailed composition via their Krug iD site. While these Edition wines are non-vintage, Krug prefers to call them multi-vintage given they use a large proportion of reserve wines in the blend, normally over 120 base wines spanning 10+ vintages. The 170eme Edition is a staggering blend of 195 wines from 12 vintages back to 1998, with the base wine hailing from the excellent 2014 vintage. The varietal mix of the base wine is 51% Pinot Noir, 38% Chardonnay and 11% Pinot Meunier, and comprises 55% of the blend, while 45% of reserve wines are used from 11 older vintages stretching back to 1998.
Graceful and satiny the mousse slowly recedes into a pale straw coloured base that has pale gold tinged edges. An exceptional fine bead flowing through to the top of the glass with ample persistence. Sophisticated aromatics of citrus, roasted almonds and yeast lees meld into some oily toast like notes and cashew. Vivid and sculptured yet airy and also relatively open, well meshed flavours of citrus, oily toast characters, yeast lees, almond and subtle ginger evolve across the palate into a dry tense finish. There’s a subtle creaminess to the mouthfeel. Mouth watering acidity with a racy, tightly wound aftertaste.
Alc. 12.5%

Other Reviews....
Wonderful precision and depth right away on the nose, with dried pineapple, light apricot and hints of flint and slate. Medium-bodied palate that’s firm, bright and linear. Vivid,driven acidity adds focus and perfection. Dried lemon and a wonderful, creamy texture with a mineral undertone. Extremely long, almost endless. Sophistication here. Drink or hold.
96 Points
JamesSuckling.com (July 2022)

Krug's NV Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition is based on the 2014 vintage, complemented by some 45% reserve wines dating back to 1998, with the house drawing on, among many others, 2013 for structure and 2012 and 2003 for generosity. Opening in the glass with aromas of pastry cream, dried fruits, pear, warm spices, freshly baked bread and vanilla pod, it's medium to full-bodied, pillowy and fine-boned, with excellent concentration, racy acids and a precise, chiseled profile. But if the latter adjective could be applied to the 2013-base 169ème édition equally felicitously, the 2014-base 170ème is more giving and less tightly wound out of the gates and will offer more demonstrative drinking young. Drink 2021 - 2041.
95 Points
William Kelley - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (July 2022)

A lovely ferny nose and breezy seaside raciness. Bright yellow fruit on entry, a flicker of preserved lemon and cooked quince adding vibrancy. Then comes the Krug richness which spreads over the palate. The balance hovers tantalisingly between tactile precision and soft warm fruit and the finish reveals layers of cinnamon-tinctured blancmange, and the creaminess goes on. Rich but light on its feet. A definite buy and a keeper. The 2014 base harvest was hit by sour rot and mildew in mid-summer. Intense selection meant Krug had to reduce the amount of Meunier to half its Grande Cuvée average, and reserve wines (representing 45% of the final wine) back to 1998 buttress the balance and complexity; a triumph of blending. It also relies heavily on 2013 to add life and structure. Main harvest: 2014. 45% reserves. Aged for six years on lees. Disgorged: Spring 2021. Drink 2023 - 2040.
96 Points
Tim Hall - Decanter (April 2022)

Lots of acidity! Extremely lively and brisk. But it’s actually readier than most young Grandes Cuvées I have tasted at this relatively early stage with sumptuous texture actually. Very clean and fresh. Bone dry but broachable and quite charming within the Krug ethos. Really quite friendly. One of my favourites of this line-up! Drink 2022 – 2036.
18 / 20 Points
Jancis Robinson MW (April 2022)

From vintages spanning from 1998 to 2014, the NV Champagne Grande Cuvee 170eme Edition is decadent and nuanced, with a rounded perfume of toasted brioche, lemon curd, and honeydew melon. Ripe yellow orchard fruits fill the palate with nectarine, fresh grapefruit pith, and a core of acidity. This is showing wonderfully now, although it still has the tension to go for the next 20 years. Drink 2022-2042.
95+ points
Audrey Frick - JebDunnuck.com