KRUG’S UNIQUE APPROACH TO CHAMPAGNE

When Joseph Krug founded the House of Krug in 1843, driven by his understanding that the true essence of Champagne is pleasure itself, his dream was to offer the very best Champagne every year, regardless of annual climate variations. He went beyond all known boundaries of Champagne creation, establishing a House where all Champagnes would be of the same level of distinction. In 1848, he committed his vision to the pages of his dark cherry personal notebook, stating: “a good Champagne House should only create two Champagnes of the same quality.”

Champagne Number 1, which he described as the fullest expression of champagne, later became Krug Grande Cuvée. Created every year, beyond the notion of vintage, Krug Grande Cuvée is a blend of over 120 different wines from more than 10 different years. Blending so many different wines from different years lends a fullness of flavours and aromas that would be impossible to express with the wines of a single year. It is a complete orchestra playing together in harmony.

Champagne Number 2, now known as Krug Vintage, is created “according to the circumstances of the year.” It is the music of a particular year, with its own unique melody, captured by Krug and enhanced by a stay of over ten years in the cellars. There are as many of these unique compositions as there are Krug Vintages.

In order to create these unique Champagnes, Joseph Krug was unequivocal with regard to craftsmanship. In his notebook, he stressed that “it is not possible to make a good wine except from good elements”. To this day, the House upholds his uncompromising vision. A cornerstone of Krug’s craftsmanship is the concept of individuality, or the art of turning the harvest from every plot into a separate wine and then following its individual character before any blending decision is made. This allows Krug’s Cellar Master to identify and discern those wines from single plots that can enrich that year’s creations, others to be kept as reserve wines for later use or reject any wine which does not express the profile desired by the House.

THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF 2004

The year 2004 called for patience with a crisp winter and chill spring keeping temperatures in Champagne cool for an exceptionally long time. May brought a gentle warmth to the region and in late summer the grapes ripened perfectly in the radiant sunshine. The beautiful weather in harvest time from mid-September to early October made for a generous year following the challenging extremes and limited yields of 2003. Nature’s elation afforded a breadth of choice in 2004, offering more characterful yet mature grapes than any previous harvest.

“The wines of the year held great promise, they were at once highly expressive, bright and undeniably elegant,” says Krug Cellar Master Eric Lebel. “The vivacity, tension and citrus notes of the Meuniers and the shining Chardonnays combined with the backbone of Pinot Noir gave rise to a very balanced year.”