For years, Maison Krug in Reims has been committed to enhancing the enjoyment of champagne through unusual combinations. In the culinary sphere, for example, through the ‘Single Ingredient’ project, in which leading chefs create unconventional champagne pairings using ingredients that change each year. Or in ‘Krug x Music’, where contemporary composers are asked to create pieces of music to accompany selected champagnes. For, as the house’s experience has shown, sounds – just like food – influence the perception of taste – which is why the team led by cellar master Julie Cavil is devoting more attention each year to the resulting ‘music pairings’. For 2025, Krug has now invited the German-British composer, pianist and producer Max Richter to Reims. Champagne connoisseurs are already familiar with Dom Pérignon’s preference for the artist. Richter has now been invited by the House of Krug to compose three works for three cuvées centred on the 2008 vintage, one of the highlights of this century so far. In Berlin, selected guests were treated to a joint tasting of champagne and music, presented by Julie Cavil herself.
A perfect setting
To discuss this tasting, one must first say a few words about the location of the event. Or rather, about the entire setting of the presentation. For the evening began with a boat trip from Berlin’s East Side Gallery heading eastwards. This is not the usual tourist boat trip. In fact, as you glide past Alt-Stralau, opposite the Plänterwald and past the Insel der Jugend, the Spree here takes on a somewhat fairy-tale-like, surreal quality. Finally, the Reethaus – our destination – is reminiscent of a Mayan temple. Built in 2023, it has already been named one of the 100 most beautiful places in the world by TIME magazine. Naturally, such spectacular surroundings also influence one’s perception. And here, that perception is steered in a direction that is completely different from, for example, the presentation of the 2008 Dom Pérignon in 2018, where Max Richter’s music also played a central role.
Both were impressive spectacles, but they also constitute a form of ‘framing’ which, whilst not determining our sensory experience, does steer it in a particular direction. At Dom Pérignon, the tasting took place outdoors amidst a spring-green vineyard in Hautvillers. At Krug, during the tasting, one had the impression of sitting inside a crystal. This was reinforced not least by the respective choice of food pairings. Rustic yet refined, partly grilled canapés at Dom Pérignon; highly elaborate, Japanese-inspired delicacies at Krug. Both were of exceptional quality – yet they evoked a different atmosphere. The fact that the mood at the Krug event was already elevated even before the actual tasting began was down to the two champagne cuvées served beforehand. One was the current (still somewhat fresh) Grande Cuvée 173ème Édition (base vintage 2017). The other was the Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition in magnum format (base vintage 2014), which is currently performing remarkably well.
“Krug from Soloist to Orchestra in 2008 (Act 2)”: Clos d’Ambonnay 2008
The main programme began with a tasting of the 2008 Blanc de Noirs Clos d’Ambonnay to the sounds of Richter’s “Clarity”. The cuvée comes from a 0.68-hectare plot in the Grand Cru Ambonnay, which is famous for its Pinot Noirs and has always been one of Krug’s favourite terroirs. It is said that Henri and Rémi Krug discovered this Clos – whose walls date back to 1766 – in 1991 and were then able to purchase it from a local winegrowing family in 1994. In fact, this plot, situated on the outskirts of the commune of Ambonnay and at the foot of the southern foothills of the Montagne de Reims, is not a historic vineyard but was only planted in the 20th century. However, the first champagne from this vineyard was the 1995 vintage, which was released in 2007. In 2024, after seven years of construction, the Maison inaugurated its state-of-the-art new winery on this site, named ‘Joseph’ after the company’s founder.
The 2008 vintage celebrated its German premiere that evening as part of this ‘concerted tasting’. Only 4,725 bottles were produced, and the disgorgement took place in September 2023. Despite its youth, it is a spectacular champagne, with notes of young mirabelle plums, toast and, as it breathes, increasingly dark aromas ranging right up to nougat. Very precise, with brilliant acidity, long on the palate and a distinct saltiness on the finish (98p.). The music played alongside it – piano, violin and cello, with passages that are partly solo and partly dialogic – has a very suggestive effect. In combination with the champagne, it evokes narrative associations in the listener that revolve around the theme of purity. For me, it was initially the black monolith from “2001: A Space Odyssey” with its aura of a tablet of law from the cosmos. Afterwards, I was reminded of the girl Paola, whom the narrator meets by the sea in the final sequence of Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita”. A fascinating arc!
‘Krug from Soloist to Orchestra in 2008 (Act 2)’: Vintage 2008 and Grande Cuvée 164ème Édition
This astonishing interplay between champagne and music didn’t quite come to the fore with the second piece. Red grapes also dominate the Krug 2008 (deg. 2021): 53 per cent Pinot Noir, 25 per cent Meunier and 22 per cent Chardonnay. Also, the origins of the key crus – Aÿ, Bouzy and Ambonnay – are quite close to those of the single-vineyard Clos d’Ambonnay. The champagne was accompanied by the chamber music piece ‘Ensemble’ – in which the violin, in particular, featured several solo passages. But as a taster, one was still very much preoccupied with the champagne itself. Despite a certain restlessness at the outset, with some lactic notes, it was already showing early signs of maturity. The bouquet is restrained, with hints of ripe apple, hazelnuts, brioche and a touch of wood. On the palate, it is quite slender, but more vertical than the Blanc de Noirs. The acidity radiates like pure energy (malolactic fermentation is blocked) – the unique signature of the 2008 vintage (96p.).
The Grande Cuvée 164ème Édition, in turn, brings to mind the words of Julie Cavil, who said that at Krug there are no hierarchies, only different forms of expression. Although the cuvée (48PN|35CH|17M) is based on the 2008 vintage, its 32 per cent proportion of reserve wines makes it a blend of 127 wines from 11 different vintages, the oldest of which dates back to 1990. Max Richter’s ‘Sinfonia’ accompanies it in a more restrained manner than the title might suggest. The piece develops delicately from a piano solo into a very gentle, orchestral expanse, which complements the serene, soft and luxurious texture of the Grande Cuvée perfectly. This utterly serene, highly complex champagne – now aged for around nine years in the bottle – displays, alongside notes of pears and dried apricots, many autolytic aromas ranging from brioche to sourdough (96p.). Ultimately, the tasting illustrates not only a progression from purism to richness, but also from youth to maturity – even though it centred on just one vintage, 2008. Yet this, too, is a hallmark of great champagnes: their complexity, which invites contemplation.
Image credits
Stefan Pegatzky / Time Tunnel Images
