2008 krug, vintage brut

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Why We're Buying

Krug Vintage Brut represents the expression of the year, according to Krug. It features different wines from a single year, blended and aged for at least a decade before release. The wine, which debuted in 2000 to celebrate the new millennium, earned Grand Gold from Mundus Vini in 2000 and 2001. “Classic Beauty.” That is the nickname bestowed on 2008 Krug Vintage Brut by the Champagne house’s tasting committee. The cuvée of pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay has a chiseled frame and ultra-expressive nose that makes it an instant classic. The 2008 vintage benefited from immaculate weather. The mild conditions produced perfectly fresh fruit with outstanding heterogeneity between the vineyards of Aÿ, Bouzy and Ambonnay. With the touch of cellar master Julie Cavil, the fruit reaches a harmonious balance while preserving the complete spectrum of flavors and aromas. Critics have lobbed praise at 2008 Krug from all angles. James Suckling awarded it a 100-point rating, calling it “a perfect 2008.” Others have called it “a supernova of sensation” and “(with) perfect balance.” At Vinovest, we call it a must-have.

Critics Scores

100

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.