Krug Grande Cuvee 173rd Edition Brut NV
(Champagne, France) - [JS 97] [FS 97] [WS 96] [WE 96] [VM 95] [JD 95] [WA 94+] [DM 94]

About the Champagne House:
The House was established in Reims in 1843, by Joseph Krug, a visionary non-conformist with an uncompromising philosophy. Having understood that the true essence of Champagne is pleasure itself, his dream was to craft the very best Champagne he could offer, every single year, regardless of annual variations in climate. Paying close attention to the vineyard’s character, respecting the individuality of each plot and its wine, as well as building an extensive library of reserve wines from many different years allowed Joseph Krug to fulfil his dream.

With a very original approach to Champagne making, he decided to go beyond the notion of vintage to create the most generous expression of Champagne, every year. Thus, he founded a House in which all Champagnes are of the same level of distinction.

Six generations of the Krug family have perpetuated this dream, enriching the founder’s vision and savoir faire.

About Krug Grande Cuvée:
Krug Grande Cuvée is born from the dream of one man, Joseph Krug, to craft the very best Champagne he could offer, every single year, regardless of annual variations in climate. Since 1843, the House of Krug has honoured this vision with each new Édition of Krug Grande Cuvée: the most generous expression of Champagne.

Krug Grande Cuvée is re-created every year, beyond the notion of vintage and is a blend of over 120 individual wines from more than 10 different years. The fullness or flavours and aromas achieved by this careful art of blending would be impossible to express with the wines of a single year.

About the 173rd Édition:

Krug Grande Cuvée 173^ème Édition was composed around the harvest of 2017, one of Champagne's most traumatic harvests of the past 20 years: rampant rot and a lack of maturity forced extreme sorting at harvest time. The House's reserve wine library and parcel-by-parcel vinification allowed the team, led at the time by Chef de Caves Eric Lebel and continued by current Chef de Caves Julie Cavil, to craft a relatively forward, generous Grande Cuvée in spite of the year's challenges.

The 2017 harvest makes up 69% of the final blend, with the remaining 31% drawn from reserve wines dating back to the 2001 harvest — in all, 150 individual wines from 13 different vintages. The final composition of this Édition of Krug Grande Cuvée is 44% Pinot Noir, 34% Chardonnay and 22% Meunier. It was disgorged in early 2024 (winter 2023–2024) with a dosage of 4.5 grams per liter. (Krug ID: 124003)

Tasting Notes:

A light golden color and fine, vivacious bubbles, holding a promise of pleasure.

Aromas of flowers in bloom, ripe, dried and citrus fruits, as well as marzipan and gingerbread.

Flavors of hazelnut, nougat, barley sugar, jellied and citrus fruits, almonds, brioche and honey.

Ratings & Reviews

97 Points - James Suckling:
"Extremely complex, showing dried apples, light caramel, brioche and flint with cedar, nuts and hints of gunmetal. Integrated, caressing bubbles. Medium-bodied with a laser-guided, compacted and extremely long palate that focuses the character and the flavors. So deep and polished. Tangy at the end. Drink or hold."

97 Points - Falstaff:
"Bright golden yellow colour. Intense flavours of ripe yellow stone fruit, pineapple confit, crème brûlée and almond paste, complemented by fresh brioche and lemon curd. Full-bodied on the palate with a very fine acidity. Chalky-salty notes and fine tannins lend structure. Youthful, savoury freshness and lemon confit merge into opulent, woody-spicy elegance. Long-lasting pleasure. (Basis 2017)."

96 Points - Wine Spectator:
"Vibrant and rich, statuesque yet graceful, this lovely Champagne offers an expansive range of patisserie apple and pear fruit, grilled macadamia nut, lime and tangerine peel notes, with fragrant saffron, clove, espresso and mineral accents. A lithe, focused spine of lemony acidity and an underlying streak of salinity are enmeshed in the flavor profile, and the fine, satinlike mousse carries everything on the long, mouthwatering finish. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier. Disgorged winter 2023–2024. Drink now through 2040." -AN (Dec 2025)

96 Points + Editor's Choice - Wine Enthusiast:
"The nose is immediately inviting, filled with toasted brioche topped with baked apple, pear and citrus peel, soft florals and spice for depth. The palate is generous and finely textured, balancing bright acidity with a creamy mousse that carries lemon confit, honeyed stone fruit enveloped in a nutty pastry. It finishes long, saline and utterly compelling, leaving a lasting impression of finesse and energy." -Anna-Christina Cabrales (Apr 2026)

95 Points - Vinous:
"Based on 2017, Krug's NV Grande Cuvée 173ème Édition is superb. It is an especially rich, almost opulent Grande Cuvée that very much reflects the personality of the base year in its tropical flavor profile. Lemon confit, baked apple tart, passion fruit, tangerine oil and spice are all beautifully amplified. The Krug team, led at the time by Chef de Caves Eric Lebel and current Chef de Caves Julie Cavil, did an exceptional job here. Krug ID: 124003. Drink between 2025-2045." -Antonio Galloni (Apr 2025)

95 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
"The NV Champagne Grande Cuvee 173eme Edition is bright and mineral-driven, crafted around the 2017 vintage with 150 wines from 13 vintages back to 2001. It offers notes of wet stones, custard, lemon rind, honeycomb, white peach, and citrus blossom. Full-bodied, it has power and finesse, with mineral texture and a long-lasting finish. It has fantastic spice as well in this edition, and it has excellent underlying acidity and tension with a great savory finish. Olivier Krug commented on the warm weather of 2017, noting that they were keen to pick on the early side in this vintage and were finished with their harvest when many others had just begun. Disgorged in early 2024." -Audrey Frick (Sep 2025)

94+ Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
"Revisiting Krug's NV Grande Cuvée 173ème Édition, it continues to evolve at a glacial pace. As I've written before, the base of this edition is the 2017 harvest, which makes up 69% of the blend, and the wine was disgorged in early 2024 with a dosage of 4.5 grams per liter. It opens in the glass with aromas of lemon confit, pear and golden apple mingled with notes of freshly baked bread, buttered toast and a hint of nutmeg. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, with a slightly darker-fruited profile than the 174ème Édition, underpinned by racy acids and animated by a pillowy mousse, before concluding with a long, citrus-inflected finish. It is already offering very attractive drinking. Drinking Window: 2027-2040." -Kristaps Karklins

94 Points - Decanter:
"Krug's Grande Cuvée 173ème Édition is crafted around one of Champagne's most traumatic harvests of the past 20 years in 2017, where rampant rot and lack of maturity forced extreme sorting at harvest time. It's exactly the sort of year that plays to the house's strengths in its reserve wine library and pixelated, parcel-by-parcel vinification, though. Together with 31% reserve wines dating back to the 2001 harvest, it's a relatively forward Grande Cuvée, but not overly marked by the challenges of the year. There's a juicy apricot fruitiness evident up front, enlivened by some brightness of ground pepper and charred grapefruit peel, with aromatic details of green coffee and a food-friendly dried mushroom savour following in the glass. The softened, cushioned mousse is already feeling nicely settled, complementing the sense of roundness and ease. There's plenty of cooked lime Chardonnay focus pulling the palate into some length and intensity, even if the quantity of Chardonnay in the blend is not perhaps as high as might have been expected considering its relatively strong performance in the year; the reserves, too, bring a delicious length and intensity to the otherwise up-front palate. This edition may be pitched for earlier drinking than some, but will provide fine gastronomic possibilities in the meantime. Drinking Window: 2025-2032." -Tom Hewson (Jun 2025)