NV Krug "Grande Cuvée" 168ème Édition Brut Champagne

“A beautiful Champagne, yet one that needs bottle age, the NV Grand Cuvee 168ème Edition comes mostly from the 2012 vintage (a good vintage) and has gorgeous apple blossom and stone fruits intermixed with classic Krug toasted brioche, toasted almond, white flowers, and honeysuckle aromatics. Just gorgeous on the palate as well, it's concentrated and has a rich, backward texture, bright acidity, and great finish. It takes lots of air to show at its best today, but do your best to hide bottles for 3-4 years. You'll be rewarded and it will evolve gracefully for another two decades or more.” (03/2021)

“Quite rich aromas of cooked apples, peaches, pie crust and biscuit. Some dried pineapple. Full bodied with layers of fruit and a really lively backbone of acidity and energy. Really zippy and energetic at the end. A beauty. Based on the 2012 harvest, but 13 different years in the blend. Drink now.” (10/2020)

“A gentle gold with discreet yet persistent mousse and aromatics of spring meadows, lemon sherbet and barley sugar; the wine is pure and softly powerful, youthful energy finely poised, somewhat cautious after so many years in the chalky cellars. The reserve wines, Pinot Noir from Verzenay and Chardonnay from Avize especially, are subtle in support, vivacious despite their relative maturity, contributing to an ensemble which is hitherto dominated by red fruit, courtesy of the superb Pinot Noir, and a colourful tension. Behind that there are whispers of honey, quince and posset… and with so much more to come; but the finish, happily in these days of privation, takes one to wherever one may wish to go. (SF)” (05/2020)

“The Krug Grand Cuvée 168ÈMÉ is a blend of 52% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 13% Meunier selected from several different vintages dating back to 1996, with the base being 2012. This is a strikingly beautiful release from Krug, which is all about elegance and precision. It begins with gorgeous aromatics of sliced pear, lemon zest, lime blossoms, honeysuckle, crushed limestone and baked sourdough all developing in the glass. On the palate this is laser focused and impeccably balanced with a fabulous mouthfeel and texture that persists through the beautifully refined finish. This is an absolutely stunning bottle of Champagne and while it is simply delightful to approach today, it also seems the best is still yet to come and this should go on to evolve gracefully for quite some time. (JD)” (05/2020)

“The new release of Krug Grande Cuvée “168ème Édition” is from the base year of 2012, with the reserve wines in the blend stretching all the way back to 1996. The final cépages has ended up as fifty-two percent pinot noir, thirty-five percent chardonnay and thirteen percent pinot meunier. Forty-two percent of the blend is made up of reserve wines in this beautiful iteration of Grande Cuvée. The bouquet is superb, wafting from the glass in a mosaic of apple, white peach, a touch of Clos du Mesnil-like fresh apricot, almond, a beautifully complex base of soil tones, fresh-baked bread, hints of the caraway seed to come and a whisper of buttery oak (which is particularly evident when the wine is first poured, but quickly is subsumed in the other elements on the nose). On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and very complex, with a lovely core of fruit, fine soil signature, utterly refined mousse and a long, perfectly balanced and very energetic finish. This is one of the most effortless and seamlessly balanced young releases of Grande Cuvée in several years and is utterly brilliant wine. (JG) 96+” (11/2020)

“Krug's NV Grande Cuvée 168ème Édition is a classic in the making, wafting from the glass with aromas of dried fruits, pear, toasted nuts, orange zest, honeycomb and freshly baked bread. Medium to full-bodied, generous but incisive, it's deep and elegantly fleshy, with a beautifully refined mousse and an enveloping core of fruit that's complemented by the characteristic Krug patina of nutty complexity imparted by barrel fermentation. Even if this is more open out of the gates than the 2011-based 167ème edition, the 168ème edition is also the more concentrated and intense of the two. It's based on the 2012 harvest, complemented by fully 42% reserve wines—a blend of 198 wines from 11 different vintages dating back to 1996. (WK)” (05/2020)

“In line with the producer’s practice of numbering each bottling of its flagship Grande Cuvée, this is the latest release. Following the house style, there is some marvelously impressive Pinot Noir in this rich, full blend. That gives the Champagne its luxurious feel, contrasting with the tension from the dryness and minerality. This bottling, which shows maturity, is ready to drink. (RV)” (12/2020)

“A seamless Champagne, effortlessly integrating a powerful spine of racy acidity with the detailed range of crème de cassis, raw almond, toasted saffron and candied ginger flavors. This is fine and silky in texture, with a tang of salty mineral and rich hints of coffee, toasted brioche and mandarin orange peel expanding on the finish. (AN)” (09/2020)

“Broad, opulent nose. Full of excitement with tropical floral elements. Very expressive and rather gorgeous. 18.5/20 points (JR)” (09/2023)