WinefindersVintage 2002

2002 benämns som årgången där "everything went right" i Champagne. Vi har valt ut tre bästa vintagechampagnerna från den omtalade årgången. Lådan innehåller 2 flaskor av varje. En samling för den som vill förstå begreppet ikonvin.

"The nose is beautifully open, buttercream, bakery dough with a saline and flint character too. Impeccable but very subtle fruit. This is excellence done by degrees. There is a floral quality, and a smoky, reductive edge too. Even some honey. It is only just entering its drinking window. As is often said of the very best champagnes, this is wine first and sparkling second."

"The 35th and most recent vintage of Salon since the house was founded in 1905 is memorable and magnificent. Made only from Chardonnay grown in the Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, it combines intense minerality, a crisp textured core and the beginnings of maturity. The depths of this wine, with its layers of fruit and steeliness, are superb. Even after 12 years, it still needs to age further. Drink from 2018."

"This is a fabulous wine from the greatest Champagne vintage so far this century. Still young, it blends almost equal amounts of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay fleshed out with Pinot Meunier. The minerality and the rich apple and green fruits are balanced, and acidity cuts into the wine with a pure, perfumed line of freshness. The wine could be drunk now, but it will age well into the the 2020s."

"The much anticipated 2002 has impeccable detail and depth with a lot of chalky, stony and flinty elements on the nose as well as a very fresh edge. The nose is very complex and wound up tight but presents itself as very integrated and compressed. There are aromas of lemon rind, lime juice and lime custard all at once, complemented in turn by a super restrained hazelnut like edge. Undertones of brown mushrooms, chalky minerals and lemon leaf. The palate has a core of sizzlingly intense, concentrated chardonnay framed within a powerful phenolic structure that will underpin the future of this Champagne. There is also plenty of acidity for the future and this will no doubt continue to evolve and blossom, it will be merely an act of refining its already impressive focus, linearity and magical finish. This is really a great, great vintage for Krug. Flawlessly fresh and as perfect as it gets. Give this time as it needs to settle, best from 2020 and then for another decade beyond."

This was tasted immediately after Krug 2003 and was so much more discreet and savoury than the 2003 on the nose. It is chock full of acidity and life, is really muscular and much more intellectual. For the moment the 2002 is less obviously fruity than the 2003, clearly a champagne for long ageing, like many other 2002s, but much more backward than any I can think of immediately. There is nothing in excess, a great example of the Krug art of assemblage. Very solid and concentrated but not heavy at all. The finish is notably dry. This may be an intellectual wine but it is certainly not hard work! For Julie Cavil of the Krug blending team, this wine is "a racehorse". "You were still riding regularly then", winemaker Eric Lebel reminds her with a smile. For them 2002 is about the generosity of Nature. We had to work hard to limit the yield a bit. There was lots of richness in the base wines, each sample had great generosity. I look forward very much to following the development of this exceptional wine.

"The Krug 2002 vintage Champagne is a mix of bright Welsh gold and pale green lights and has a perfect flow of tiny bubbles. What aromatics – spring flowers from well-sited Pinot Meunier, and exoticism in the Chardonnay. The beating heart of the wine is powerful, poised and very complex Pinot Noir, still biding its time to majestically unfold. Magnificent."

"Super fresh, this is striking given the 10 years in the cellars, it has a fine citrus nose, plenty of lemon, grapefruit, yellow chalky notes, some lighter floral elements too. The palate is super dry (dosage at 3 to 4 g) and there is a silky, sherbet like texture, smooth, fine and long. The citrus flavours give way to the driving surging acidity, thunderous acidity, really driving and powerful. The finish twists very slowly through to light toasted cashew fruit flavours, but lemon citrus prevails. This is thrilling Champagne. Disgorged 22nd October, 2013. Drink from 2016."