#99 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2021 - 99pts Wine Spectator

100pts James Suckling

This is very structured and framed with an almost red sensibility. Very phenolic. Full-bodied in a tightly wound ball with so much going on. Very pinot like. Mineral and stone. Shell and stone. Iodine. Vinous. The bubbles just fade into the finish of the wine, which goes on for minutes. Turns to toffee and salted caramel with time in the glass. One for the cellar. Great length. Blend of 53% Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier, 22% Chardonnay. Disgorged in beginning of 2020.

99pts Wine Spectator

There’s a supernova of sensation with each sip of this powerful version, starting with the vivid streak of mouthwatering acidity that drives a rich panoply of ripe black currant, mandarin orange peel and grilled nut flavors, accented by hints of candied ginger, briny oyster shell, verbena and ground cardamom. This burns bright from start to finish, yet its fine integration and lovely, raw silk–like mousse pull it all together into a seamless, vibrant package.

98pts John Gilman

The 2008 Krug Vintage is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of this year and it is going to be a stunning year for this iconic bottling, so start making plans early. Cellar Master Julie Cavil notes that 2008 was a classical year, with slow and very even ripening adding up to what will be one of the great long distance runners of recent memory in the pantheon of vintage-dated Krugs. The bouquet is deep, pure and precise, offering up a youthful blend of apple, white peach, patissière, a gorgeous base of minerality, caraway seed, dried flowers, a touch of bread dough and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and tightly-knit, with a rock solid core, exceptional mineral undertow, utterly refined mousse and a long, complex and impeccably balanced finish. This still needs five to ten years in the cellar to really start drinking with generosity, but it is clear that this is destined to be one of the legendary vintages of Krug of the last quarter century. 

97pts Decanter

What a burst of fresh fruit on the nose! The aromatic freshness is evident from the first whiff, suffused with notes of citrus fruits including grapefruit, menthol, and a hint of liquorice. The texture has precise contours, giving an impression of rectangular rectitude and perfect balance. This is a finely chiselled Champagne offering great harmony and a long finish enhanced by delicious underlying notes of nutty bitterness.

97pts Vinous

The 2008 Vintage is a nervy, electrifying Champagne, the likes of which has not emerged from Krug's cellars since the magical 1996. Bright and sculpted, with tremendous precision, the 2008 dazzles from start to finish. Stylistically, the 2008 doesn't have the toastiness or explosive breadth often found in young Krug, but that in no way detracts from its magnificent beauty.

97pts Wine Enthusiast

A vintage Champagne from this producer is rare. But 2008 was a great year in Champagne and that shows in this intense, still amazingly young wine. Freshness works with the richness to give concentration, density and the sure-fire possibility of long-term aging. So drink now, but the Champagne will last for many years.

94pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Krug's 2008 Brut is slated to be released at the end of 2021, but any readers who purchase the wine will need to exercise considerably more patience if they are to enjoy it in its prime, as it is very tightly wound out of the gates. Unwinding in the glass with a youthfully discreet bouquet of clear honey, dried fruit, walnut oil, Meyer lemon and rock salt, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and incisive, with a racy spine of acidity, a pretty pinpoint mousse and a penetrating, saline finish. The polar stylistic opposite of the rich, demonstrative 2006, the 2008 is a rather understated, taut vintage from Krug that isn't as liberally endowed with the house's characteristic toasty patina as its immediate predecessor.

94pts Wine & Spirits

Released in the fall of 2021, the wine is dense and concentrated, still tightly wound. While it shows some savory maturity, the wine’s meaty intensity suggest its evolution has barely begun. Great Krug vintages last for decades, and this one should evolve into a classic.

Tasting Notes

At first sight, an intense and brilliant golden hue. An expressive nose that is rich and ample with patinated aromas of honey, liquorice, menthol, orange peel and grapefruit. Vivacious, intense and harmonious with great tension on the palate, expressing notes of quince, candied fruits and citrus, yellow kiwi, star fruit, honey, apple tart, butter cookies, orange peel, peony and fennel, with floral and menthol undertones. It has a long, balanced and precise finish with astounding structure.

Krug 2008 is a beautiful match for oyster tartare with a lobster emulsion, parmesan shortbread, pistachio Chaource in pastry sheets, rabbit terrine with sorrel, tagliatelle with mussels and basil, dishes prepared with aromatic herbs like oregano and thyme or whitefish in a lemon and pepper sauce, as well as desserts that contrast vivacity and roundness such as passionfruit and lemon meringue.

About the Vintage

At the House of Krug, every Krug Vintage celebrates the distinct character of a particular year. A Krug Vintage is a blend of the most expressive wines from a single year enhanced by a stay of over ten years in the cellars. Every Krug Vintage is different: it is the music of the year, captured by Krug

Krug 2008 is the elegant and intense story of a cool and balanced year, nicknamed “Classic Beauty” by the House’s Tasting Committee members. For Krug, the year 2008 gave birth to a great classic Krug Champagne balancing structured freshness and diverse flavours. Krug 2008 exhibits both power and elegance with a textured and
intense mouthfeel very characteristic of the year’s wines, which uniquely reconciled intensity and quality.

For the final blend, the selected wines were those best exhibiting the structure and complexity of 2008. Pinot Noir plots’ wines (53%) constitute over half of the blend and come primarily from emblematic plots in the Montagne de Reims Sud including Aÿ,
Mareuil, Bouzy and Ambonnay. Meunier plots’ wines (25%) bring tension and citrus, while aromatic Chardonnay plots’ wines (22%) imbue the blend with fruit. The extraordinary profile of Krug 2008 comes after 12 years in the cellars, gaining in expression, harmony and finesse.

Blend: 53% Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier, and 22% Chardonnay