The 1998 Blanc de Blancs Clos du Mesnil has developed beautifully since I last tasted it. What a wine. For the first few years of its life, the 1998 seemed to lack personality, then, suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, it blossomed. Today, the 1998 is rich, powerful and explosive, none of which was a few years ago. Layers of textured fruit, pastry, spices and crushed rocks jump from the glass. Still an infant, the 1998 promises to drink well for two to three decades. This is without question the best bottle of the 1998 I have ever tasted. Time to do another complete vertical?

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 23/12/2010 The 1998 Brut Blanc de Blancs Clos du Mesnil has come together beautifully since I tasted it last year. This is a remarkably taut, focused bottle of the 1998 with great energy and minerality in its precise, crystalline fruit. I don’t expect the 1998 to be one of the longest-lived Mesnils, but if this bottle is any indication, it should continue to drink well for a number of years. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2028. My visit to Krug earlier this year was fascinating, as I had a chance to taste a number of 2009s and reserve wines. A tank sample of the 2009 Clos du Mesnil was one of the most exciting, viscerally thrilling wines of the trip, and remained etched on my mind for several weeks. I also had a chance to glance over newly found, hand-written original records that document the exact village breakdown of all the grapes Krug purchased in each vintage going back to 1928. This year I tasted a number of fabulous wines from bottle. Unfortunately I can’t include my impressions on Krug’s NV Champagnes because of the house’s insistence on not providing disgorgement dates for those wines. I was reminded of the importance of this information when I tasted a fabulous, utterly spellbinding bottle of the NV Rose. It was a truly beautiful Champagne, but owing to its recent disgorgement it needed at least a few years on the cork. Of course Krug gives a general indication of the disgorgement dates for their wines on the corks, but by that time, readers may have opened a bottle that needs more bottle age. Without this information it is impossible to give readers any reliable indication of when the house’s NV wines might start drinking well. With a retail price over $300 a bottle, opening a bottle of Krug’s Rose can be a very expensive learning experience. Krug fans will want to keep an eye out for my upcoming article on Clos du Mesnil, featuring complete notes back to the inaugural 1979. The 1998 Clos du Mesnil keeps getting better and better each time I taste it. This bottle was dazzling. The 1998 is probably never going to be one of the icons here, but it is stunningly beautiful just the same. The finesse of the mousse and the persistence, especially on the finish, are pure Mesnil.

12,000 bottles and 200 magnums produced. Tasted at Decanter Krug dinner. Much more open and developed on the nose than the regular 1998 vintage Krug. Really quite light and toasty, but without the density of the regular 1998 and without outstanding refreshment value. (JR)