“Utterly compelling,” says Wine Enthusiast. “Extremely complex” and “so deep and polished,” says James Suckling, at 97. “An especially rich, almost opulent Grande Cuvée,” says Galloni. A hundred and fifty wines from thirteen years, built around 2017, and ours is $259.99 against $299.98 to $385.00 at the three nearest California shops on Wine-Searcher. The last four bottles of the 172ème and the last three of the 2011 Vintage ride along.

• 30 Bottles Land Tuesday · Last 4 Of The 172 · Last 3 Of The 2011

A Personal Note

Dear Artisans,

This release is so rich, so polished and so complex that it refuses to be filed under celebratory bubbly. Put it on the table, or in the cellar, against Grand Cru white Burgundy and it holds its own.

When Joseph Krug founded the house in 1843, his premise was that the greatest Champagne could not come from a single year; it had to be assembled from more than a hundred wines across more than ten vintages, every release, so that it could be the most generous expression of Champagne regardless of what the weather did. Six generations later they still do exactly that.

Our allocation of the 173ème Édition, lands here on Tuesday, September 29th: 30 bottles, and I would rather you reserved yours today than found out on Wednesday that they were gone. Others are charging up to $385. Ours is $259.99. We've held the same price as the previous release.

What The Critics Heard

Every one of the eight major reviews sits between 94 and 97. Suckling, at 97: “Extremely complex… So deep and polished.” Falstaff, also 97: “Long-lasting pleasure.” Wine Spectator, 96: “Vibrant and rich, statuesque yet graceful.” Wine Enthusiast, 96 and an Editor’s Choice: it “finishes long, saline and utterly compelling.” Galloni, 95: “an especially rich, almost opulent Grande Cuvée.”

That last line is the point of this Édition. Grande Cuvée is usually the model of restraint; the 173ème is the generous one.

Built On A Year That Broke Other Houses

The base is 2017, which Decanter calls “one of Champagne’s most traumatic harvests of the past 20 years,” a season of rot and under-ripeness that forced brutal sorting. It is exactly the sort of year Krug was designed for. The 2017 harvest makes up 69% of the blend; the other 31% comes from the reserve library, dating back to the 2001 harvest, 150 individual wines from 13 different vintages in all, assembled first under Eric Lebel and finished by Julie Cavil, then rested until early 2024 and dosed at 4.5 grams.

Jeb Dunnuck’s team adds a detail worth knowing: Olivier Krug told them the house was “keen to pick on the early side in this vintage and were finished with their harvest when many others had just begun.” That is why this wine is fresh where 2017 could have been flabby.

Do Not Take Our Word For It

Below are six notes from CellarTracker, the collectors’ database, on this exact Édition, scored 94 to 100. One calls it “the finest bubbles I’ve ever had.” One, written by a Krug regular, calls it “crisp, cutting and extraordinarily well defined” and rates it outstanding value at a price above ours. And one, translated from Korean, decides that “Krug is more to my taste than Dom Pérignon.”

CellarTracker community notes on the 173ème, collected September 2026

The Price, And The Last Of The Others

The Wine-Searcher listings in the card below were pulled this morning: the three nearest California shops want $299.98 to $385.00 for this bottle. Ours is $259.99, and thirty are on the truck for Tuesday, September 29th.

Two last calls follow. Four bottles of the 172ème, the 2016-based Édition that Wine Enthusiast scored 98, at $259.97. And three bottles of the 2011 Vintage, the one Krug’s tasting committee nicknamed “Spirited Roundness,” James Suckling 98 and Wine Spectator 97, at $499.97. When these go there is no more of either.

James Tran

Artisan Wine & Spirits

Why This Matters

The Wine · 30 Bottles Arrive Tuesday

Krug Grande Cuvée 173ème Édition.

Suckling 97. Falstaff 97. Wine Spectator 96. Wine Enthusiast 96 and Editor’s Choice.

Krug Grande Cuvée 173ème Édition

Champagne · Reims · Brut

Built around the 2017 harvest with reserve wines back to 2001: 150 wines from 13 vintages, 44% Pinot Noir, 34% Chardonnay and 22% Meunier, disgorged in early 2024 with 4.5 grams of dosage. Krug ID 124003 on the back label. The six highest reviews are below.

Wine-Searcher, the three nearest California listings, 27 September 2026

Last Call · The Final 4 Bottles

Krug Grande Cuvée 172ème Édition.

Wine Enthusiast 98. Decanter and Suckling 97. The 2016-based Édition, four bottles.

Krug Grande Cuvée 172ème Édition

Champagne · Reims · Brut

The Édition before this one, built around 2016: 146 separately vinified wines from 11 different years, the oldest from 1998, with reserve wines making up 42% of the final blend. Where the 173ème is generous, the 172ème is the taut, saline, classical Grande Cuvée. Four bottles left, and we sold every other one at this price.

Last Call · The Final 3 Bottles

Krug Vintage 2011.

James Suckling 98. Wine Spectator 97. Jeb Dunnuck 97. “Spirited Roundness,” three bottles.

Krug Brut Vintage 2011

Champagne · Reims · Vintage Brut

Krug’s tasting committee nicknamed the 2011 “Spirited Roundness”: 46% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 17% Meunier from a split-personality year, harvested August 25 to September 3, then 13 years in the cellars before release. Ample, generous and assertive, with Wine Spectator’s window running to 2040 and Dunnuck’s to 2048. Three bottles.

The Bottom Line

The generous Krug, at $259.99, while three shops nearby ask $299.98 and up.

Eight critics between 94 and 97, six collectors between 94 and 100, and a base year Krug turned from a disaster into “an especially rich, almost opulent Grande Cuvée.” Thirty bottles arrive Tuesday, September 29th. Reserve today and yours is set aside when the truck is unloaded.

If you want the taut, classical Krug instead, there are four bottles of the 172ème at $259.97. If you want the one that will still be improving in 2040, there are three of the 2011 Vintage at $499.97. Reply to this email or text 650-880-3553 and I will hold what you want.

Cheers,

— James Tran

Artisan Wine & Spirits

30 Bottles Land Tuesday · Last 4 Of The 172 · Last 3 Of The 2011

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