First Taste: Krug Clos du Mesnil 2009, 173ème Édition and Rosé 29ème Édition

Krug has released its anticipated Clos du Mesnil 2009, from an excellent year in Champagne, and the 21st release from this mythical and legendary walled plot in the Côte des Blancs. Sara Underdown reports on her first taste, in Champagne, including Krug's 173ème Édition and Rosé 29ème Édition releases.

Olivier Krug regales his audiences with stories of the Maison’s signature ‘soloist’, Clos du Mesnil, with a charisma and honesty that only a family member can convey. Olivier’s father, Henri, and uncle, Remi, had the good foresight to purchase the 1.84 hectare walled plot in 1971, not at all with the intention of producing a single vineyard champagne, but to bring another level of complexity to their flagship, Grande Cuvée, that was “more flinty and vibrant than other sites,” he says.

It is a true clos that can be traced back to 1698, when the first vineyards were planted there. With a wall surrounding the south-east facing vineyard slopes, it is a particularly warm microclimate producing wines not only with the verve and compacted minerality of Le Mesnil, but also richness.

It was the exceptional 1979 vintage that sparked Henri and Remi's curiosity about the site's potential as a blanc de blancs from a single site and single year, an anomaly in Champagne, except for Salon’s Cuvée S. Even more extraordinary was for a Champagne House, hailed for its mastery of complex blends, to produce what Olivier considers to be a 'grower champagne'. Nonetheless, the terroir yields wines that are deep, structured and rich, in the Krug way.

The plot was also an important precursor to the Maison's future acquisition of Clos d'Ambonnay, in 1994, which produces an equivalently exclusive champagne, using only pinot noir, from a tiny walled 0.68 hectare plot in the Montagne de Reims.

For almost half a century, the legend of Clos du Mesnil has continued to build with every release, earning a reputation as some of the finest, most elegant, and age-defying blanc de blancs ever produced. But with production limited to fewer than 14,000 bottles, and releases pitched at eye-watering prices, Clos du Mesnil's exclusivity, by design, means it will only ever be accessible to an affluent few.

During a morning with Olivier, I visited the Maison's facilities in Ambonnay and experienced my first taste of Krug Clos du Mesnil 2009, 173ème Édition and Rosé 29ème Édition.

100% chardonnay from a tiny walled plot of 1.84 hectares (4.5 acres), in the heart of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. 5g/L dosage. Disgorged spring, 2024.

Clos du Mesnil’s 2009 incarnation, the 21st from this vineyard, is a wonderful spectacle with its medium gold colour hinting at a more generous profile than we’re used to from this champagne.

Often tightly coiled on release, Krug’s signature soloist from a year defined by an ideal dry summer, is quite a different thing. Aromatically it stuns with juicy yellow peaches, lemon curd and sour dough.

The palate is extraordinarily friendly, seducing with its interplay between chalky purity, lightness and creaminess. Subtle hints of tangerine, leveraged from the warmer conditions of the year, add extra deliciousness and salivation before concluding with a long finish. An extraordinary champagne reflecting the refined terroir within the generosity of 2009.

Krug Clos du Mesnil 2009 is currently available in Europe and will be available in Australia later this year.

150 wines from 13 different years with the oldest going back to 2001 and the youngest coming from 2017. 44% pinot noir, 34% chardonnay, 22% meunier. 31% reserve wines. 4g/L dosage.

2017 may not evoke feelings of grandeur in the Champenois, but in the case of Krug’s 173 edition, the Maison’s mastery of the blend overcomes the year’s challenges. As put by Olivier Krug during our tasting, they began harvest on the 25th August with a ‘strong smell of vinegar in the air.’ Understandably, few Maisons declared a vintage from the year which suffered 20 percent fruit loss from frosts and heavy summer rains. However, those who carefully selected and sorted from a year of heterogeneity were able to provide some redemption for champagne’s blend in a year that has relied more heavily on reserves.

Here, Krug leveraged the ‘elegance’ of 2014 and 2011 chardonnays, ‘structured’ pinot going back to 2001 and a ‘very straight’ meunier, from 2016, to produce a wine that shows no sign of being tainted. In fact, there’s a lovely juiciness on the nose and palate that makes 173ème feel ripe and generous already. A little pear, coconut cream and grapefruit pith are followed by toasty reduction. As always with Krug, there’s a great upfront attack but the generosity of 173ème's reserves delivers the fodder for the palate’s superb intensity and length.

29 wines from 5 different years with the youngest from 2017 and the oldest from 2010. 44% pinot noir (with red wine representing 11% of the final blend), 34% chardonnay, 22% meunier. 33% reserve wines. Dosage is 4.5g/L.

Krug’s ever-versatile rosé champagne delivers on everything you would expect from masterful blenders. Once again, the base heralds from the difficult 2017 harvest, but with no signs of its challenges. Blood plums, baked apple and rhubarb pie and black pepper spice take the lead on this complex medium-bodied wine that is already showing some tasty charcuterie development. Though there’s plenty of flesh on the bones already, there’s a strong verticality to this rosé that indicates its ability to age well into the future.