Maison Krug decided to pair its great champagnes with music, expressing a language that goes beyond the world of wine, in a very atmospheric evening. Olivier Krug chose Milan and the Chiostro delle Umiliate in Via Cappuccio 7, in the heart of town, in a magnificent garden surrounded by a courtyard with double loggias.
A silent place, livened up the by the notes from Belgian musician Ozark Henry for the second Italian leg of Krug Encounters. A musical talent, he’s a pioneer of 3D music, avantgarde electronic music thanks to which he collaborated with David Bowie, Moby and many other big names, a chasing of sounds paired with visual elements resulting in a unique acoustic experience.
At the end of the concert, the spotlight moved to the Krug Grande Cuvée 167ème Édition, together with the request of putting mobile phones in airplane mode, so as to capture, without any kind of distraction, the sounds and pleasant nuances that this Champagne gave, paired with that background music. A trick that surely would have been appreciated by Joseph Krug, the enlightened founder and vigneron who started to develop a collection of reserve wines, the first of six generations.
Giuseppe Iannotti, Carola Braggio, Olivier Krug and Francesca Terragni
The experience was completed by dishes from Giuseppe Iannotti of Krèsios in Telese Terme (Benevento), in perfect harmony with the champagne. For some time now, the Maison has started to test the talent of its Ambassadeur Krug chefs with a single ingredient and daring food pairings, starting from potatoes (2015), then eggs, mushrooms, fish and, this year, pepper. Iannotti presented Pollo e Peperone, a pasta filled with chicken aromatised with Parmigiano and rosemary, and covered in a rich pepper sauce.
It was an interesting match for Krug Rosé 23ème Édition, a Cuvée de Prestige Rosé made with 60 wines from different vintages; the youngest wine being from 2011 while the oldest one from 2000. The use of Pinot Noir with a traditional maceration adds spicy nuances and an infinite finish. Krug Grande Cuvée 167ème Édition is an assemblage of 191 wines from 13 different vintages, the youngest wine being from 2011 while the eldest from 1995.
A creation of the chef de caves Eric Lebel and of Julie Cavil, with 47% Pinot Noir, 36% Chardonnay and 17% Meunier. On the nose, it reveals an explosion of citrus fruits, ginger and ripe fruits, while on the palate there are notes of hazelnuts, honey, biscuit and, in some moments, almonds. Every Édition is left to rest in the bottle for a few years in Krug’s cellars, before it is sold. Every story is online: you can access them with the Krug iD indicated on the back label of each bottle.
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso