Krug Brut Vintage 2011 750ml

FRANCE : CHAMPAGNE

Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier

FULL-BODIED, STEWED FRUIT, STAR FRUIT, LIQUORICE, SEA SALT, NEUTRAL OAK

Julie Cavil calls 2011 "a year cut in two, with reversed seasons": record heat and drought through the spring, then record rain through the summer. Most of Champagne declined to declare the vintage. Krug declared it, and the tasting committee named the wine Spirited Roundness.

Pinot Noir carried the structure at 46% of the blend, with 37% Chardonnay and 17% Meunier. Every plot ferments on its own in small old oak casks that Krug keeps deliberately neutral, so the barrel gives flexibility rather than flavor.

Twelve years on the lees before disgorgement. Anne Krebiehl MW scored it 95 in World of Fine Wine and called 2011 "a triumph of blending over nature."

PAIRINGS :