Krug Brut Champagne Grande Cuvée Edition 171 NV

99 points 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. Drink or hold. (8/7/23)"

97 points Peter Moser (Falstaff): "Light golden yellow in colour with silver reflections and a fine, delicate mousse. On the nose hints of orange zest, fine yellow apple fruit, some greengage, underpinned by fine smoky herbal spices. The palate is full-bodied with racy acidity, white peach fruit, a touch of nashi pear, and lime with a subtle salinity on the lingering finish. A balanced food wine that certainly has the potential for ageing. (11/5/23)"

97 points Wine Enthusiast: "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 and worth aging for another year. (Dec 2023)"

95-97 points Essi Avellan, MW: "(45% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 18% Meunier). Another great blending artwork by Krug, the wine has rare finesse for the sun-kissed 2015 vintage. It shows none of the vegetal austerity pestering many wines of the vintage. The profile is one of lush white peaches and zingy candied lemon with a touch of tropical tones complemented by a stylish smoky complexity from oak. Beautifully silky and airy on the driven, even racy palate of fine focus. This pristinely fruity and tightly knit wine has fine keeping potential. (Mar 2024)"

96+ points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The Krug Grande Cuvée '171ème Édition' is from the base year of 2015. The final cépages is forty-five percent pinot noir, thirty-seven percent chardonnay and eighteen percent pinot meunier. It includes fully forty-two percent reserve wines in this iteration, with the wines stretching all the way back to the 2000 vintage. It was disgorged in the first months of 2022 after six years aging sur latte. The wine is supremely elegant on both the nose and palate, with the bouquet wafting from the glass in a beautifully complex blend of apple, pear, fresh apricot, brioche, a complex blend of chalky soil tones, gently musky floral tones, almond, a lovely touch of buttery oak and incipient notes of caraway seed in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, precise and full-bodied, with superb depth of fruit, lovely soil undertow, very refined mousse, great balance, snappy acids and a very, very long, complex and utterly seamless finish. Though this is still most emphatically still a young wine, its impeccable balance makes it all too easy to drink today! I would try to leave it alone in the cellar for five to ten years and really let it hit its apogee, but it is not going to be an easy wine with which to exercise self-restraint! 2023-2085. (Jul/Aug 2023)"

96 points 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. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier. Disgorged winter 2022 to 2021. Drink now through 2033. (11/30/23)"

96 points La Revue du Vin de France: "Grande Cuvée 171st Edition is a complete departure from the vegetal marker of 2015, with a subtle blend of twelve other years and 131 wines. It offers us this beautiful duality, with a nose that is both impressive and inviting. The world of pastry, smoke, toast and a hint of frangipane are all there, in perfect harmony with the white flowers. A wine that's already inviting and complex. (2024)"

95 points Tyson Stelzer (The Champagne Guide): "(2015 base vintage; tasted in 2023 in France; 45% pinot noir, 37% chardonnay, 18% meunier; 2015 base vintage with 42% reserves; 131 wines from 12 years from 2000 to 2015; disgorged winter 2021-2022; ID 12204 and 122007). Edition 171 is a Krug of structure and enduring tension. There is a wonderfully harmonious demeanour to this base that epitomises Krug and transcends the 2015 harvest. So often plagued by underripe fruit characters, the vintage is instead captured here in its generous complexity and its structural framework. The scaffolding of dry extract and phenolic grip and the apple skin texture of this warm and generous season are held in fine-grained tension, well integrated with the taut malic cut and drive of cool vintage reserves, and with chalk minerality of pronounced saline definition. Even on the moment of its release, this is a Grande Cuvée of bite and crunch, with phenolics, acidity and chalk minerality working together harmoniously. Nonetheless, it remains true to 2015, a Krug of more pronounced phenolic grip than the norm for the house. It lingers with impressive energy and persistence, promising to mature confidently sustained equally by phenolics, acidity and chalk minerality—leave 171 until at least 2028 before approaching. (Edition VII; 2024)"

95 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The NV Grande Cuvée 171ème Édition, (2015 base vintage) is bright and focused in the glass, showing notable tension and tons of class. Citrus peel, white flowers, mint and white pepper all lend remarkable brightness to a Grande Cuvée that is built more on linear cut rather than volume. Krug is always among the first houses to pick. The 171 clearly shows that style. The blend is 45% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 18% Meunier, vintages 2015 through 2000. Disgorged: Winter 2021-2022. Krug ID: 122003. Drink: 2023-2040. (Nov 2023)"

95 points Tom Hewson (Decanter): "(36% Chardonnay, 44% Pinot Noir, 20% Pinot Meunier). 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. (2/5/24)"

94+ points Sarah Mayo (The Wine Independent): "Krug’s Grand Cuvee 171ème Edition is a 45% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 18% Pinot Meunier barrel fermented assemblage of 131 wines from 12 years. The youngest and predominant base wine was from 2015, and the oldest reserve wines from 2000. This 171eme Edition reveals an aromatically complex nose of warm citrus, poached Anjou pear, dried apricots, lemon balm and toast. Medium to full-bodied, the palate balances a beautifully energetic acid frame alongside rich flavors of Meyer lemon, apple crumble and honeycomb with a kiss of vanilla before finishing long, generous and refreshing. According to the Krug iD122014 the bottle tasted was disgorged in the spring of 2020 and released a year later in 2021. Alcohol 12.5%. Drink: 2024-2038. (11/8/23)"

94 points Yohan Castaing (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. Drink: 2023-2040. (6/15/23)"

94 points Audrey Frick (JebDunnuck.com): "Spanning from 1998 through the 2015 vintage, the NV Champagne Grande Cuvée 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 Cuvée is gorgeous right out of the gate and will be a great addition for collectors to enjoy over the coming two decades. Drink 2023-2043. (11/17/23)"