Krug Clos du Mesnil Champagne: 1979 to 2003

Champagne expert and Decanter World Wine Awards Regional Chair, Richard Juhlin, has been fortunate enough to have sampled the vintage collection of Krug’s famous blanc de blancs, Clos du Mesnil, on two recent occasions. Here's what he thought of the wines...

Why Clos du Mesnil deserves a place in Champagne’s hall of fame

In 1971, the Krug family bought and revived a small 1.87 hectare walled vineyard in the village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, known as Clos du Mesnil.

The first eight vintages of its Chardonnay were included in the blend of Krug’s non-vintage Grande Cuvée, but in 1979 its sheer class and personality persuaded the family to bottle it separately – and a legend was born.

Scroll down to see Richard’s Clos du Mesnil tasting notes & scores

For me, there is nothing more beautiful on the palate than Clos du Mesnil’s velvet smoothness, fragrant nobility and citrus-fresh length, thanks to fruit from Champagne’s most distinguished grand cru in combination with brilliant winemaking from one of the finest and most prestigious Champagne houses of them all.

Clos du Mesnil has very distinct similarities to the mountain-stream-pure Salon and the mandarin-dominated Pierre Péters Les Chètillons, both also from Mesnil-sur-Oger. However, Krug combines these two with an almost indescribable and unmistakable fragrance of nobility.

It is only made in miniscule quantities when quality is considered to be outstanding, with an average of 12,000 bottles per vintage.

The grapes are divided into six parts and barreled individually at the Clos these days. This contributes to the wine’s innate complexity and identifies the unique significance of this tiny, perfect piece of vineyard.

Clos du Mesnil vertical – the ratings:

Please not that the 2002 vintage was not tasted. Click on the wines to see full tasting notes and stockist information for US and UK, where available.