(2017) The fabulous toast and opulent depth that DP pulls out of the bag vintage after vintage - and after nine years of ageing of course - shines through, seductive coffee and chocolate notes underpin flashing bright fruit, a tinge of green herbs, then brioche on the palate, the thrilling blend of richness and layered texture with rapier-like, electrically-charged acidity.
(2017) Lovely yeasty, biscuity character here, toasty but pin-sharp, just blazing with sheer Chardonnay fruit with that hint of creaminess. Lemon pithy and dry, it's a savoury style with some grapefruit intensity, lovely balance and terrific length. Certainly plenty of cellaring potential here too.
(2017) Fabulous nose; much more open and giving than the 2002 vintage was at the same stage, complex but terribly pure and fine. The palate ha a certain nuttiness, a Cox's pippin English apple quality, but quite dazzling acidity, the mineral quality so long and fine.
(2015) The regular 2000 vintage Krug has a wonderful freshness and a subtle, tight character, with biscuit and brioche, but a delightful floral and soft herb quality giving layered complexity. Fabulous orange and lime sweetness and intensity on the palate, real mid-palate concentration and weight. The cream and gentle almond richness rounds out the finish, the salt and minerals and the juice of the lime acidity into the finish is marvellous, in a wine that has obvious cellaring potential for a decade and more - probably much more.
(2015) Beautiful colour with some emerald glints and stream of miniscule bubbles across the glass. Lovely bruised fruit, bruised apple and hints of toffee. There is nuttiness, of hazelnut and some floral top notes. The palate is rich without being broad, with such a lime zest core of acidity and concentration. The mousse is persistent yet fresh and soft, the breadiness and nuttiness is there, but wonderful alertness and clarity.
(2015) A very slightly darker colour perhaps, a little more gold. Toasted wheat and hazelnut, toffee and cocoa, there's more tension and a tighter fruit quality but burgeoning notes of cream and apple. The palate has a crew and soft mousse, and a tangerine brightness to the fruit. Glittering acidity that is pithy, dry and zesty, but the minerality is clear and the wine is endless. Lighter in a way than the 1995, but just so elegant, so perfectly in tune. Not as spectacular or showy as the 1998 for example, but this ultra-refined vintage could turn out to be amongst the best.
(2015) Again this appears darker in colour again, but still a glint of green and those tiny bubbles. A vinous nose, there is bruised apple and a gentle oxidative nuttiness and toffee. The palate has a rolling, creamy mousse that gives a luxurious feel. The fruit is buoyant and ripe, a touch of red apple, the bruised quality is there but cocoa and warm nutty flavours join the beautifully integrated acidity of the finish. Such gorgeous depth and harmony here. This is decadent, and the one I would open now if given the choice.
(2015) Gorgeous fresh colour with hints of emerald and buttercup yellow, and minuscule bubbles across the glass. Hazelnut and some bruised apple, a sense of wet river stone minerality, cream and a touch of something intriguingly herbal in the background. The palate has some serious luxury with the mousse creamy across the tongue, but there is cocoa and buttery Brazil nut flesh, the weight filling the mid-palate before a precision to the acidity that scythes through something like the 1996, the little toast notes filling underneath. A baby, but the components need some time to knit together.
