99pts James Suckling

The tightness and tension of this is impressive considering the youngest wine from this is 2015 (hot and dry year), with some wines going back to 2000. Ginger and orange zest. Some creme brulee. It's medium-bodied with apple, pie crust and floral character. It's salty and zesty yet, at the same time, complex and gorgeous. Chamomile and other floral teas highlight everything. Turns rich and flavorful at the finish. Terrific release. Really takes off at the end.

99pts Tasting Panel

A blend of 131 wines from 12 different vintages - the youngest being 2015, the oldest 2000 - this extraordinary beauty consists of 45% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay, and 18% Meunier. With all the easeful poise and underlying complexity of a Slim Aarons composition, it abounds in aromas of white flowers intertwined with brioche; preserved lemon and makrut lime; nuts (almond, pistachio); pie spice including cinnamon and ginger; and a smoky, almost salumi-like dash of cracked white pepper plus a whiff of earth. The entry is so cashmere-smooth and the finish so long that the palate seems - like its super-fine mousse - near-endless as it offers up grilled lemon, cream-splashed yellow plum, lime curd-topped biscuit, and a lithe throughline of salinity. It's the epitome of finesse.

97 points Wine Enthusiast - Cellar Selection

Deliciously balanced, this Champagne is impressive. The iconic wine is in its 171st blend, meaning it combines vintages for the best result for each bottling, not a specific vintage. The 171st essence is dry, while also having fine textured fruit. This is a magnificent wine... *Cellar Selection* 

96pts Wine Spectator

A vivid Champagne, with chiseled acidity and a fine, vivacious mousse creating a buoyant frame for layered flavors of crushed black raspberry, grilled nuts, pink grapefruit sorbet and coffee liqueur, plus fragrant accents of ground ginger and anise, graphite and lime blossoms. Long and expressive on the finish, crackling with a lingering fleur de sel note. 

95pts Decanter

Two years on from its disgorgement, this 2015-based edition has settled beautifully, showing all the sunniness of the base year with its mandarin and apricot plushness, surprisingly smooth and silky up front before settling into its broad, inviting range of praline, cappuccino and bitter almond aromatics and subtle fruit skin chewiness. It's a punchy, fulsome edition thanks to the base year's intensity, but it has been beautifully tamed into a characteristically suave and multilayered Grande Cuvée. A blend of 131 wines, with reserves back to the year 2000. 

95pts Vinous

The NV Grande Cuvée 171ème Édition, based on the 2015 vintage, is every bit as impressive as it was the last time I tasted it. Creamy, layered and resonant, the 171 is seriously impressive. The style is one that favors tension over volume. Lemon peel, white flowers and white pepper open first. Hints of marzipan, tangerine peel and spice add an exotic flair to this mid-weight, understated Grand Cuvée. Floral notes and bright acids perk up the finish. The 171 is wonderfully fresh and vibrant from start to finish. The blend is 45% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 18% Meunier, vintages 2015 through 2000. 

94pts Jeb Dunnuck

Spanning from 2000 through the 2015 vintage, the NV Champagne Grande Cuvee 171 is lush with a kaleidoscope of aromas including orange marmalade, toasted brioche, almond, and ripe peaches. Full-bodied and rounded, it has a hint of warmth on the finish, but it’s highly attractive, balanced, and long, with outstanding depth and richness. This fantastic expression of the Grand Cuvee is gorgeous right out of the gate and will be a great addition for collectors to enjoy over the coming two decades.

94pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The NV Grande Cuvée 171ème Edition is a delightful blend of 45% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 18% Pinot Meunier and boasts an attractive and captivating aroma of dried fruits, pastry, lemon oil, marzipan, spring flowers and ginger, with hints of almond and vanilla notes that become more pronounced over time. This medium to full-bodied wine is precise and well-structured, with a fleshy core of fruit and a sapid, incisive finish. Crafted around the 2015 vintage, the blend comprises 131 reserve wines from as far back as 2000 (42% of the total blend) and is expected to age beautifully over the next decade.

18/20pts Jancis Robinson

Very lively, crisp nose. Tense and surprisingly vibrant for such a hot growing season – positively explosive in terms of its impact on the nose and palate. Lots of acidity and impressively long. A very good Krug, Grande Cuvée. 

Tasting Notes

A light golden colour and fine, vivacious bubbles, holding a promise of pleasure.  Aromas of flowers in bloom, ripe, dried and citrus fruits, as well as marzipan and gingerbread. Grilled notes and flavours of almond paste, quince, lemon, limoncello and dried fruit.

Krug Grande Cuvée 171ème Édition lends itself to a wealth of culinary combinations, from the simplest to the most sophisticated, from an aged parmesan to turbot à la truffe. It can be enjoyed as an aperitif with Jabugo ham and mature comté or served to accompany oysters, grilled shrimps, Indian or Moroccan food, as well as desserts such as carrot cake, tarte tatin and cheesecake.

Winemaker Notes

It is a blend of 131 wines from 12 different years, the youngest of which is from 2015, while the oldest dates back to 2000. A stay of around seven years in Krug’s cellars gives Krug Grande Cuvée 171ème Édition its distinct expression and elegance.

The art of blending wines from so many different years gives Krug Grande Cuvée its unique fullness of flavours and aromas, impossible to express with the wines of just a single year. The Édition number identifies a specific creation of Krug Grande Cuvée. It corresponds to the number of years in the House of Krug the founder’s dream has been re-created. The full story of every Édition is revealed online via its Krug iD, the six digits on the back label. Krug Grande Cuvée, like all Krug Champagnes, will continue to gain
with the passage of time.

Blend: 45% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 18% Meunier.

Winey Notes

Krug has always lived up to its reputation as the first and only Champagne House to create exclusively prestige Champagnes every year since its foundation.

The House was established in Reims in 1843, by Joseph Krug, a visionary non-conformist with an uncompromising philosophy. Having understood that the true essence of Champagne is pleasure itself, his dream was to craft the very best Champagne he could offer, every single year, regardless of annual variations in climate. Paying close attention to the vineyard’s character, respecting the individuality of each plot and its wine, as well as building an extensive library of reserve wines from many different years allowed Joseph Krug to fulfil his dream.