Krug Champagne Receives Six of the Top Ten Placements on Wine Spectator's Recommended Champagnes List

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Krug Champagne is honored to have received a coveted six out of the top ten placements on Wine Spectator's Recommended Champagnes List. This year's distinguished list was selected by Alison Napjus, Wine Spectator's Senior Tasting Coordinator; and chosen from more than 350 champagnes reviewed.  The six Krug Champagnes, all currently available for purchase which graced the top ten of this year's list are:

• Krug Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne Clos du Mesnil 1998 – 98 points
• Krug Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne Clos du Mesnil 2000 – 97 points
• Krug Brut Champagne Vintage 1998 – 97 points
• Krug Brut Blanc de Noirs Champagne Clos d'Ambonnay 1998 – 96 points
• Krug Brut Champagne Grande Cuvee – 95 points
• Krug Brut Rose Champagne – 95 points

As evidenced by this esteemed recognition from Wine Spectator, Krug has sought excellence through uncompromising quality, attention to detail and consistency since its founding by Joseph Krug over 160 years ago. It is the only house of Champagne to create only prestige cuvees, offering 5 Champagnes with absolutely no hierarchy. Each of Krug's Champagnes are different while being all of undisputed quality and distinction.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111213/NY21656)

'I sense that we will only succeed if we become outstanding through the remarkable quality of our wines."
- Joseph Krug, 1838

Six generations of the Krug family have followed in the founder's footsteps, perpetuating his vision based on the undisputed quality of outstanding Champagne. This commitment to excellence, handed down and enduring from generation to generation, is the epitome of the Krug spirit and remains the driving force behind the house today.

ABOUT KRUG CHAMPAGNE

The House of Krug illustrates the amazing adventure of a visionary, Joseph Krug, a determined man with an uncompromising philosophy, who understood that the essence of Champagne is pleasure itself.   He wanted to offer his clients the ultimate pleasure experience in Champagne every year, regardless of the annual changes in climate, and for this to be the signature of the House; thus Krug Grande Cuvee was born.  

Joseph Krug founded the first and only House with Champagnes that are all of equal, undisputed quality and distinction. His vision and savoir-faire have been perpetuated and enriched by six generations of the Krug family since 1843.

THE CHAMPAGNES

Krug Grande Cuvee is the epitome of the house of Krug. Over twenty years and a unique savoir faire are necessary to craft each bottle. Created beyond the very notion of a vintage year, Krug Grande Cuvee is a blend of some 120 wines from ten different vintages. These wines are selected from Krug's amazing repertoire of reserve wines, some of which may reach up to 15 years of age. It is by blending the wines from so many different years and allowing a stay of at least six years in the cellars, that Krug Grande Cuvee achieves a fullness of elegant aromas and flavors. The ultimate pleasure in Champagne, Krug Grande Cuvee exemplifies the generosity, depth and fullness of its creation:  a Champagne of unfailing quality every year, which soars over and above the notion of a single vintage year.

Krug Rose was born from a desire to offer the Krug vision of what a Rose Champagne should be. An unprecedented Champagne in the same creative spirit that goes into Krug Grande Cuvee, transcending the very notion of vintage. Crafted from three different grape varieties and several different years, Krug Rose reveals a broad and extensive aromatic palette, enabled by a stay of four to five years in the cellar. Its structure and volume originate from the skin-fermented Pinot Noir wine. Krug Rose is decidedly the most nonconformist of Krug Champagnes in terms of its texture, color and taste. Surprising and extraordinary, Krug Rose is first and foremost a Krug before being a Rose.

Krug Vintage is not the selection of the best wines of a particular year, but rather the expression of that year according to Krug.  At Krug, each wine is meticulously selected; therefore Krug Vintage does not compete with other cuvees. It is neither superior nor inferior to them; it is quite simply created differently. When Krug decides to reveal the expression of a particular year, it selects only those wines that have a surprising story to tell, a story that Krug alone can relate to. Composed of wines from a single year, each Krug Vintage bears an original emotion with it, an unequalled pleasure and an extraordinary surprise that blossoms in the glass. Serenely enclosed in the cellars for at least a decade, Krug Vintage is only made available when it is truly ready. Its performance, magnitude and presence astonish those drinking it… for quite some time. 

Krug Clos du Mesnil exalts the purity of a single plot of Chardonnay, a 1.84-hectare vineyard protected by walls since 1698, in the heart of the village of Mesnil-sur-Oger, one of the most emblematic villages for Chardonnay in the Champagne region. Krug Clos du Mesnil boasts intense purity and persistent aromas of this single plot, crafted only in the years that have succeeded in fully expressing its potential, and enhanced by over ten years in the Krug cellars, gaining finesse and elegance. This rare Champagne is for sharing on unique occasions in total intimacy. It sets its own pace and must be felt and appreciated as its temperature changes. It must be enjoyed slowly, without haste.

Krug Clos d'Ambonnay exalts the intensity of a particular Pinot Noir grape: that of a small, walled plot of 0.68 hectare in the heart of Ambonnay, a village which has played a very special role in the life of the House of Krug. Only Krug's savoir-faire could successfully reveal the depth and intensity of grapes from this single plot in the years that have succeeded in fully expressing its potential, enhanced by over twelve years in the cellar gaining finesse and elegance. The wine produced from this rare gem is only revealed when the year succeeds in fully expressing the potential of the plot. In other years, like the Clos du Mesnil, the wine joins either the precious blend of Krug Grande Cuvee, Krug Vintage, or Krug's amazing repertoire of reserve wines. Each bottle of Krug Clos d'Ambonnay and Krug Clos du Mesnil are individually numbered.

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