Krug - Brut Champagne Vintage 2006 (750ml)
Wine Spectator: 97 Points
A stunner with mouthwatering vibrancy and focus married to all of the opulence of a great 2006 Champagne. Richly fragrant offering nutmeg cardamom jasmine lemongrass espresso and grilled nut notes enmeshed in a core of black currant and tangerine fruit flavors. Beautifully creamy and complex this glides across the palate on the long lasting finish. Drink now through 2030. ? AN
Wine Advocate: 97 Points
As I reported when it was released Krug's 2006 Brut is clearly one of the vintage's highlights. Offering up aromas of dried fruits pear freshly baked bread caramelized apples honeycomb and toasted sourdough it's full-bodied deep and layered with superb concentration racy acids and an impressively tightly wound profile for this demonstrative vintage. I observed last year that this is surprisingly reserved for the vintage and if anything that quality is even more in evidence today. While many 2006 Champagnes are likely to be at their best in their demonstrative youth this is one wine unquestionably built for the long haul. Krug's superb 2006 Brut which will be released this year numbers among the vintage's high points unfurling in the glass with a complex and expressive bouquet of tarte tatin warm biscuits ginger honeycomb dried white flowers smoke and toasted nuts. On the palate the wine is full-bodied broad and textural with a fleshy attack that reflects the warm vintage but segues into a beautifully vibrant palate that's deep and surprisingly reserved displaying superb definition delicately chalky structure and a long lively finish. While this is a powerful vintage Krug it's also beautifully balanced and will give immense pleasure for decades. A flying April visit to Reims enabled me to taste this exciting selection of recent and forthcoming releases from Krug including the latest rendition of their iconic Grande Cuvée?a bottling that's now enumerated to offer wine lovers a clearer idea of what they're buying and when they might want to drink it?and the 2006 vintage. As readers will know the concept behind Grande Cuvée is to draw on the maison's unrivaled library of reserve wines to complement the base yielded by each successive vintage supplementing any deficiencies and tempering any excesses. Thus a rich vintage such as 2006 will be blended with brighter livelier reserve wines whereas a leaner tangier year will be enriched with reserve wines from broader fleshier years. Of course that's a simplification and the devil is in the detail: each "Édition" of Grande Cuvée typically contains considerably more than 100 different wines and is the result of six months of intensive tasting by the Krug team. The aim as Cellar Master Eric Lebel describes it is not to produce the same wine each year but to produce the best possible wine each year so every rendition of Grande Cuvée is different?differences that are now highlighted by Krug's laudable decision to enumerate each successive release. A lengthier visit shortly after this issue goes to press will delve deeper into the secrets of the maison that many?the present writer included?would denominate as Champagne's greatest house but for now all the wines reviewed here evidently come warmly recommended and they are striking testimony to Krug's remarkable consistency.
Vinous: 97 Points
The 2006 Krug Vintage is fabulous. Here the richness breadth and texture of Pinot come through loud and clear in a Champagne that is classic Krug. Red plum coffee spice baked apple tart and lemon confit all flesh out effortlessly in the glass. The ripeness of the year is evident and yet the vibrancy of the Chardonnay lends so much energy. The 2006 can be enjoyed today but also has the balance and stuffing to develop well for many years to come. This is a superb showing from the 2006. This is Krug ID: 118014. "Krug 2006 Vintage is bright tense and full of energy. Lemon confit pastry c
Decanter: 97 Points
Krug 2006 is composed of 45% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Meunier and shows an impressive aromatic richness of white flowers, smoke and toasted hazelnuts. There’s both density and crystalline texture here, with a vinous palate that's deep and complex too. Readers who can find it should not hesitate, as it's a superb Champagne.
James Suckling: 96 Points
This is a very deep and layered vintage Champagne with a round ample mouth feel. It?s full-bodied with lots of cooked apple and mirabelle as well as biscuit undertones. Hints of stone and flint. It?s flavorful. Delicious now and will age beautifully. Drink or hold.
John Gilman: 95 Points
The 2006 Krug Brut Millésime is a superb young wine. The warmer growing season of 2006 has given this vintage of Krug a bit more early generosity than either the 2004 or 2008 vintages at a similar stage, but still with fine potential for very long evolution in the cellar. The cépages ended up being forty-eight percent pinot noir, thirty-five percent chardonnay and seventeen percent pinot meunier. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a complex and expressive bouquet of white peach, fresh apricot, patissière, hazelnut, fresh-baked wheat bread, a beautiful base of soil tones and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and zesty, with a great core of fruit, superb mineral drive and grip, ultra-refined mousse, impeccable balance and a long, complex and focused finish. Stylistically, this reminds me quite a bit of the 1989 Krug when it was first released. Fine, fine juice. (Drink between 2021-2075)
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