Krug Grande Cuvee

I will shamefully admit that the bottle of Krug we opened over the weekend was my first bottle of Krug, ever.  Considering how long I’ve loved wine and the fact that Krug is such an important Champagne house, one would think I’d have tasted it long ago, but no - I’ve spent time on small production grower Champagnes, and I’ve fallen in love with Salon.  I’ve tasted other “big” Champagnes too, so it’s not like I’ve been too cheap to enjoy the prominent examples of the region - it’s just that for one reason or another, I’ve been tasting through others aside from Krug - maybe I was just hung up on saving Krug for a special occasion.

But a wise person (that same wise person I refer to regularly in the blog and other places as well) has said time and again that instead of waiting for special occasion to open certain bottles, it actually makes more sense to open the bottles and make that the special occasion.

Peter had a glorious idea of picking up a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee last weekend.  For days, I thought about it, dreamed about it, craved it.  And while I should not have waited this long to experience Krug, I can assure you that, in case you have not yet tasted it, it’s worth the wait.  It’s fabulous, it’s extraordinary, it’s everything I had hoped it would be.

Aside from a beautiful bottle to grace an otherwise casual evening of very good sushi and watching Casablanca (my favorite movie to watch with Champagne actually), the wine is a beautiful, elegant, majestic thing itself.  A gorgeous golden color with so much bubble in the glass, it’s great just to look at it for a moment, observing the bronze tint to the liquid gold, and then the characteristics - plenty of fruit, mostly white, yellow, and some red berry, but an emphasis on cooked orange, followed by white blossom and baking spices, mostly cinnamon and something more exotic - saffron perhaps, and a burst of freshly baked pastry, toasted bread, and roasted nuts.  And the textures?  Oh my - bubble perfection, clean and round and satisfying, and luxurious.  It was one of those wine moments where I wondered if I even deserved that bottle.  But Peter assured me that I did.  He picked out brie and a gouda with truffles - perfect pairing indeed, the earthiness and smooth textures of the cheeses with that glorious Champagne left me absolutely delighted.

So, we decided on another bottle of that for New Year’s Eve this year (with other grower Champagne too) - and Peter wasted no time - there’s a lovely box with an even lovelier bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee sitting next to my wine racks at home.  It’s certainly something to look forward to!