KRUG

32% chardonnay, 50% pinot noir, 18% meunier; aged 26 years on lees; ID 215027; disgorged spring 2015

Olivier Krug knows 1988 intimately, having worked the full harvest at Krug, visiting all the growers and vineyards with the chef de cave. ‘There was a debate about 1988 in the early 1990s, because it was so shy compared with 1989, which was so clearly a vintage year,’ he recalls ‘In that era, ripeness and body were valued more highly than the character of the year. And so 1979, 1981 and 1988 were not considered strong vintage years at the time.’ How opinions change! ‘1988 is perhaps the best vintage in 40 years for some houses,’ he says today. Hindsight has confirmed 1988 as one of the most spectacular and enduring harvests of the decade, charged with the longevity of the slow maturation of a mild summer, described by Eric Lebel as timid initially, with beauty drawn out by time’s precious influence. It was first released a year after the 1989, and will be re-released as Krug Collection when it is ultimately deemed sufficiently mature.

Krug 1988 epitomises the focused tension of this long-enduring vintage, charged with life and huge potential yet. It sets forth with spellbinding purity and succulent precision of mango and peach, opulently supported by layers of truffle, fig and wonderfully spicy pipe smoke. Long age has caressed it into silky softness and wild honey succulence that strike a triumphant harmony with its energetic tension. An ethereal old Krug of spellbinding integrity, line and length. This bottle was beautifully fresh and pristine, and Olivier typically finds more buttery roundness in average bottles.

Tasted in 2019 Rating: 100 Tyson Stelzer - The Champagne Guide (Jul 2024)