Credits: Article and images by Ken Gargett @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/08/02/non-vintage-champagnes-they-are-getting-better-and-better/
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Since then, everything has been from the new era, but the frustration dates back well before this. 1997 was a very good vintage for Chardonnay, even though it is not well recognized as a good vintage year (if Salon releases a vintage, you can be pretty certain that it is a good Chardonnay year, if nothing else).
Champagne Salon 1999
They were working on the Chardonnay contribution to their Perfection NV and it was going extremely well, but they realised that they would be unlikely to be able to recreate the same quality/style again. So they had to dumb down that wine. In other words, they had to make and release a champagne that was not as good as it could have, just so it would not be obvious in future years.
They realised what utter nonsense that was, something that was not acceptable to the brothers. Subsequently, they moved to their numbering system.
Their records give the Number 1 to a cuvee made back in 1898. The new system for them began in 2000 with, according to records, the 728th champagne the House had made. So, it was dubbed Cuvee 728. And so it has continued. Their latest is Cuvee 747.
Krug Grande Cuvée 171ème Édition champagne
Krug, who much prefer the far more sensible term of multi-vintage, rather than non-vintage, saw the sense here and they now dub their wines with the edition. Over their history, they have released more than 160 different Grande Cuvees, the current name for their multi-vintage. The first to receive a number was the 163rd edition (base year 2007). The current release is the 172nd Edition, based on 2016 but with wines from ten other years included.
Krug Rosé 27th edition champagne
Krug do the same for their multi-vintage Rosé, the current one the 27th Edition , based on 2015 with wines from eight other years. Krug Rosé is a much more recent creation.
What is interesting is that this has created a varied secondary market for Grande Cuvee. So the 164th edition, which was based on the scintillating 2008 vintage (please remember that these wines can have hundreds of components from numerous vintages, as well as grapes and villages – as an example, the 166th Edition comprises more than 120 wines), is very much in demand.
This is a little silly as the various releases are very similar, granted not identical, and you’ll get a superb wine whichever you purchase.
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Credits: Article and images by Ken Gargett @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/08/02/non-vintage-champagnes-they-are-getting-better-and-better/
