1998 Clos du Mesnil

With the exception of a massive snowstorm that created huge issues with travel, my visit to Krug in March seemed no different than any of the tastings I have done at the winery for the last few years. But it was different. Later that day I learned of the passing of Henri Krug, the family patriarch, a few days prior, news that had yet to be reported in the press. Olivier Krug didn't say a thing, nor did any of his colleagues. They had a job to do, and nothing was going to get in the way of the business. Olivier Krug is one of the most down to earth people I have met in Champagne. Krug's professionalism during what was a very difficult time personally was nothing short of extraordinary. From what I have been able to observe, the rest of the organization marches to the same beat, a true testament to the Krug family and their deeply held values. As usual, I spent a fair amount of time going over the 2012s. Chef de Caves Eric Lebel told me that while the vintage was stronger for Pinot than Chardonnay, the biggest challenge is dealing with yields that are quite a bit lower than normal. “It is a very good year, but I am making decisions for the next 15 years or more. Given the small production, we are leaning towards adding 2012 to our reserve wines. If we were to bottle a vintage, my fear would be not having enough wine for the Grande Cuvée.” Unfortunately there are no new vintage releases from Krug on the horizon.

This wine was tasted over dinner at Ristorante di Poggio Antico, Montalcino, Italy in February 2012

This complete vertical of Krug's Clos du Mesnil was one of the most amazing tastings I have ever attended. The event was organized by my New York tasting group and was important enough to attract Olivier Krug, who added his invaluable commentary to the wines. I am not sure Krug himself had ever tasted so many vintages side by side in one setting. The wines were tasted in thematic flights rather than in strict chronological order, which is how I have listed them here. The 1979, 1988 and 1996 form the triumvirate of the truly eternal, epic Clos du Mesnils, but there were many, many fabulous wines in this tasting. We finished with a look at the estate's other 1996s, plus the 1995 Clos d'Ambonnay, a wine that continues to grow in bottle.

Few estates in Champagne are more closely identified with the art of blending than Krug. It is not unusual for Krug to serve their multi-vintage Grande Cuvée – the winery's largest production and least expensive wine – after all of the heavy weights in their lineup. Krug's Vintage Champagne is also built on the concept of blending. I have seen the house's records of purchased grapes going back to the 1940s, and it is amazing to observe, even then, the number of villages from which Krug sourced fruit. For those reasons, it was quite a surprise when Krug released their first single-vineyard Champagne, the 1979 Clos du Mesnil, in 1986. The project had been so secret and closely held that only a few insiders knew of the existence of the wine prior to its commercial release. Since then, Clos du Mesnil has rightly established itself as one of the world's most iconic wines.

The Krug family purchased Clos du Mesnil in 1971. Krug had sourced fruit from other vineyards in Mesnil for years, but had never even known of the existence of the Clos until the property was put up for sale, which is hard to imagine in today's world of satellite imaging and technology. The early vintages from Clos du Mesnil were used for the Grande Cuvée. Like all wines at Krug, the parcels from Clos du Mesnil were vinified and aged separately. Over the course of the years, Krug noticed that the wines from the Clos were unique, and in 1979 bottled a trial version of Clos du Mesnil as an experiment. It was the first single-vineyard wine Krug had ever produced. The wine was released in 1986 and the rest, as they say, is history. Since then Clos du Mesnil has become the crown jewel in the estate's lineup. It may get some competition from the more recently introduced Clos d'Ambonnay, which is the Pinot Noir version of Clos du Mesnil.

Clos du Mesnil measures 1.84 hectares and is farmed and vinified in five or six separate parcels, some of which may be excluded from the final assemblage. Part of what makes the Clos unique is the walls themselves, which act to preserve heat and protect the vineyard from the elements, never a bad thing in a cold region like Champagne. Clos du Mesnil is maintained as a separate winemaking facility that handles all of the wines made in the Clos, plus other wines from the village of Mesnil that are vinified by Krug. Oenologist Julie Cavil oversees the small-scaled, artisan level production at the winery.

Krug only releases Clos du Mesnil in extraordinary years. Recently the estate made the decision not to release the 1999 after it had been fully aged and disgorged. The labels were printed, and the wine was ready to go, but at the last minute Krug decided the vintage was not worthy of their rightly lofty standard of quality. Based on the bottle I tasted a few months ago, I have to agree. The next Clos du Mesnil is the 2000, which is scheduled to be released in November 2011.

My visit to Krug earlier this year was fascinating, as I had a chance to taste a number of 2009s and reserve wines. A tank sample of the 2009 Clos du Mesnil was one of the most exciting, viscerally thrilling wines of the trip, and remained etched on my mind for several weeks. I also had a chance to glance over newly found, hand-written original records that document the exact village breakdown of all the grapes Krug purchased in each vintage going back to 1928. This year I tasted a number of fabulous wines from bottle. Unfortunately I can't include my impressions on Krug's NV Champagnes because of the house's insistence on not providing disgorgement dates for those wines. I was reminded of the importance of this information when I tasted a fabulous, utterly spellbinding bottle of the NV Rosé. It was a truly beautiful Champagne, but owing to its recent disgorgement it needed at least a few years on the cork. Of course Krug gives a general indication of the disgorgement dates for their wines on the corks, but by that time, readers may have opened a bottle that needs more bottle age. Without this information it is impossible to give readers any reliable indication of when the house's NV wines might start drinking well. With a retail price over $300 a bottle, opening a bottle of Krug's Rosé can be a very expensive learning experience. Krug fans will want to keep an eye out for my upcoming article on Clos du Mesnil, featuring complete notes back to the inaugural 1979.

My visit to Krug in November was illuminating, as I spent several hours tasting through a number of 2008 vins claires and reserve wines with Director of the Maison Olivier Krug and Director of Œnology Eric Lebel. Although Krug ages its young wines exclusively in French oak barrels, these wines were remarkably pure and transparent; suggesting that much of the signature Krug toastiness may come from the extended period the wines spend on their lees rather than from the oak. Over the yeas many of the most monumental, mind-bending Champagnes I have had have emerged from these cellars in Reims. Krug boasts an extraordinarily rich history along with a superb track record. In a recent tasting that included most, if not all, of the top 1996s, the Krug Vintage and Clos du Mesnil were at the very top of the pack. Along with making profound wines, under the direction of the charming Olivier Krug this venerable estate has pushed the boundaries on pricing to levels never seen before. The newest wine from Krug is the 100% Pinot Noir Clos d'Ambonnay. Sadly, that wine is priced for billionaires, not mortals. Krug does not provide disgorgement dates for its wines, something which is a serious shortcoming considering the lofty prices these bottles fetch. The corks are stamped with a code which can be traced back to a disgorgement lot and date, but that will be of little use to consumers once bottles are opened. It would be great to see Krug take a leadership position among the region's grands marques and add disgorgement dates to its labels.