Krug Champagne
- Thread starter Adam18290
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Really? Or are you just spouting random words you've heard before?
Some of the other Louis Roederer champagnes are quite nice IMO, but I'm nothing like enough of a wine/champagne buff to suggest anything.
Agreed
Veuve Clicquot is very nice (Managed to blag a crate when my band were playing a charity thing last summer, very refreshing!). I'm no expert but I know someone who does know a thing or too about it and he reckons Pol Roger Winston Churchill is the stuff to go for.
Krug NV is a delicious champagne and as Jamie Goode mentions in the link above certainly on the toastier end of the scale. It has also leap-frogged Dom Perignon (current vintage not older ones) in price over recent years - a shame.
Questions to ask: Who the present is for (Dad?)? Would they be averse to aging the champagne in good conditions (cellar) for a number of years? Will they appreciate the gift or would they rather have a magnum of something lesser for the same price (Bolly / Veuve magnums at around £70)?
Krug do age their non vintage on the property for a great deal longer than most champagne houses. For example the standard Moët (£50 for a bottle with Swarovski crystals - lol as mentioned by some chavtastic masochist above) is pushed out of the cellar far too soon at the moment which results in an overly acidic blend (in my opinion). This can generally be solved by cellaring it for a few years. Iffy champagnes such as Lanson Black Label can be sorted out with this method also.
If you're looking up to £100 for a bottle I would certainly look at these two:
Dom Perignon 2000 - Moët's prestige cuvée:
The 2000 Dom Perignon is a gorgeous, seductive wine that floats on the palate with remarkable grace. Toasty aromas meld into freshly cut flowers, apricots and pears, with sweet notes of mint and licorice that linger on the long finish. This perfumed, inviting Dom Perignon is elegance personified, and in this vintage the wine fully merits its lofty reputation. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2019. 94/100 Antonio Galloni.
Gosset 1999 (Producing wine in the champagne region since c16):
Very toasty nose with notes of roasted nuts, kaya (coconut and egg) jam and toffee pie. Given the rich appearance of the nose, the palate is surprisingly elegant with some warm apple flavours coming though plus a nice touch of minerality. Crisp backbone of acid and a long, chalky finish. Drink now to 2019. Tasted February 2009. 92/100 Lisa Perrotti-Brown.
Tasting notes taken from http://www.erobertparker.com
Questions to ask: Who the present is for (Dad?)? Would they be averse to aging the champagne in good conditions (cellar) for a number of years? Will they appreciate the gift or would they rather have a magnum of something lesser for the same price (Bolly / Veuve magnums at around £70)?
Krug do age their non vintage on the property for a great deal longer than most champagne houses. For example the standard Moët (£50 for a bottle with Swarovski crystals - lol as mentioned by some chavtastic masochist above) is pushed out of the cellar far too soon at the moment which results in an overly acidic blend (in my opinion). This can generally be solved by cellaring it for a few years. Iffy champagnes such as Lanson Black Label can be sorted out with this method also.
If you're looking up to £100 for a bottle I would certainly look at these two:
Dom Perignon 2000 - Moët's prestige cuvée:
The 2000 Dom Perignon is a gorgeous, seductive wine that floats on the palate with remarkable grace. Toasty aromas meld into freshly cut flowers, apricots and pears, with sweet notes of mint and licorice that linger on the long finish. This perfumed, inviting Dom Perignon is elegance personified, and in this vintage the wine fully merits its lofty reputation. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2019. 94/100 Antonio Galloni.
Gosset 1999 (Producing wine in the champagne region since c16):
Very toasty nose with notes of roasted nuts, kaya (coconut and egg) jam and toffee pie. Given the rich appearance of the nose, the palate is surprisingly elegant with some warm apple flavours coming though plus a nice touch of minerality. Crisp backbone of acid and a long, chalky finish. Drink now to 2019. Tasted February 2009. 92/100 Lisa Perrotti-Brown.
Tasting notes taken from http://www.erobertparker.com
Good to hear Veuve getting good reviewsNot a big fan of Krug, but as it is an acquired taste your dad may well be a big fan. Meaning what we're recommending doesn't mean a jot
Veuve is to champagne what McDonald's is to haute cuisine.
Soldato
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The only Krug I had was when we announced our engagement and the father-in-law went into his cellar and pulled out a bottle of (if I remember the year correctly) 1984 Krug something or other and it was sublime. Like someone said above, it was a very rich flavour.
Soldato
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Agreed on gosset 1999, very nice stuff.
However, with regards to ageing, I cannot understand why aging on the cork is necessary for any champagne? It seems a bit odd to me, and I'm not really sure how much oxidisation would really take place. Sadly there's not a lot of objectivity in the wine world so it's difficult to find out - and it's impossible to directly compare one aged bottle to one not aged anyway!
I'm a sparkling wine fan, and Champagne is my absolute favourite.
I've tried most of the 'top dollar' houses, but Krug remains my number one favourite - I found it to be rich, deep and interesting; a far cry from Dom Perignon which I was very disappointed in. Veuve is the bottle of choice for me for 'everyday' drinking, as I can't quite afford £100 bottles of Krug more than once a year!
Wine (and therefore Champagne) is a very personal thing and if some people on here can't tell the difference between a £5 bottle of Prosecco and a decent bottle of Champagne, then that's fine (and it'll save them a lot of money!), but if this bottle is a present for a Champagne fan, then try to find out what they like, as it'll mean more.
I've tried most of the 'top dollar' houses, but Krug remains my number one favourite - I found it to be rich, deep and interesting; a far cry from Dom Perignon which I was very disappointed in. Veuve is the bottle of choice for me for 'everyday' drinking, as I can't quite afford £100 bottles of Krug more than once a year!
Wine (and therefore Champagne) is a very personal thing and if some people on here can't tell the difference between a £5 bottle of Prosecco and a decent bottle of Champagne, then that's fine (and it'll save them a lot of money!), but if this bottle is a present for a Champagne fan, then try to find out what they like, as it'll mean more.
All wines have a life cycle curve and will be better at some points than others. Be it a ****y bottle of Pinot Grigio that tastes of nothing for a year then leaps off a cliff into rancidity or a 1986 Lafite which might be ready to drink at some point in the next decade or so. The only way to theoretically chart a wine's life is to regularly taste it and compare your notes on it each time. Personally that's too neutered an approach to something like wine (and I don't have the bottles).
I love old champagne & have had a few bottles from the seventies recently. Hardly any fizz left but a rich and obviously good / succulent wine underneath. You have to remember that the champagne area is quite far north and not a particularly great region for growing grapes. As far as I'm concerned the thing to do is ask oneself "If this wine wasn't fizzy would it be good?". If the answer is yes then you're a good way towards what you need.
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Anyone know what Laurent-Perrier is like? used to deliver this stuff to the Chelsea flower show amongst other places, never got round to trying it though
Soldato
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Is that the yellow label non vintage like tesco sells?
I've never tried it but if you like Krug and recommend it I'll give it a shot.
Soldato
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meh Krug Grand Cuvee is basically their base wine, non-vintage (NV) and blended from the produce of a lot of vinyards, not worth £100 imo.
ps cuvee, in Champagne anyway, is meant to refer to grape juice taken early in the pressing, blending is irrelevant as, unless it specifies SV/SV, it will invariably be a blend.
ps cuvee, in Champagne anyway, is meant to refer to grape juice taken early in the pressing, blending is irrelevant as, unless it specifies SV/SV, it will invariably be a blend.
Yes, that's the stuff. I highly recommend it.
Another good alternative is Waitrose own brand 'Blanc de noirs' which is made from Pinot Noir (red grape) which results in a nice deep interesting drink, and excellent value at £17.
Soldato
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I'll not be able to buy that here though
The Veuve will hopefully be a bit cheaper here. I'll have a look next time i'm in town.
I have a bottle of Champagne de Saint Gall - Orpale 1995 (it might be a Grand Cru Vintage ...) that was a gift and I'm tempted to open it as we're about to move into a new house.
Edit: I'ts this one - http://www.1stcru.nl/orpale-millesi....html?osCsid=780759c92fa1a079405950ce96a462a3
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Soldato
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Something that I never understood - and any Krug folk here might be able to help - was that in several high end restaurants I went to in France and Germany, the NV Krug was more expensive than vintage!?
Veuve is the best mid/low-end champagne. Not many people here can afford to drink £100 bottles every week.
Good to hear Veuve getting good reviews
Can't drink Veuve myself unfortunately as it seemingly has far more sulphites than a lot of other brands and therefore leaves me gasping for breath if I have more than a glass.
No, it isn't. There are many decent brut non-vintage champagnes under £30 which are superior to Veuve. Laurent Perrier, Perrier Jouet, Billecart Salmon, Pol Roger to name a few.
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Heh, was gonna write something almost identical. Billecart-Salmon & Perrier-Jouët NVs are both excellent and generally slightly cheaper.