Composed around the harvest of 2004 with no less than 121 wines from 12 different vintages dating back as far as 1990, Krug's NV Grande Cuvée 160ème Édition (ID 214025) is in brilliant shape today and a great Champagne. Composed of 44% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay and 23% Pinot Meunier, this intensely yellow-golden shining cuvée is very deep and complex on the rich, perfectly ripe and balanced nose where ripe stone fruit aromas such as peaches and mirabelles are displayed in the first moments along with some dashes of fresh lime or lemon juice on a lobster fished out of the Atlantic just a short while before. After a while, beautiful iodine and algal expressions intertwine with mussels and limestone notes on the fascinatingly pure, dense and mineral nose. The palate is intense, round, lush and almost rich, but it has the lifting finesse and mineral freshness of the 2004 ingredient, which leads to a very long yet highly delicate and perfectly balanced finish with stimulating salinity and mineral structure. Tasted in New York in November 2018, four and a half years after the disgorgement.

Pinot Noir 44%, Chardonnay 33% and Pinot Meunier 23%. Base vintage 2004. Reserve wine 35%. 7 years on lees, disgorged spring 2012. Dosage 6 g/l. Smells fat/rich and honeyed. Ripe, spicy yellow fruits. On the palate, this is terrific, demerara sugar but balanced by very high acidity and a saline aftertaste, with an echo of the 2004's 'seaside' theme. Dried fruits, golden sultanas as well as tart orange notes. Extreme persistence. Juicy, generous, honeyed-fresh aftertaste. (JH)

ID 214025. 121 ingredients in the blend, with wines from 12 different years back to 1990. Recreated round the 2004 harvest, which constitutes 65% of the blend. 44% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay, 23% Pinot Meunier. Lightly floral nose. Dry and a little chewy and austere. Very Krug! Quite intellectual and demanding. (JR)