After surviving spring frosts, the grapes of 1990 ripened under a hot, sunny summer.

For Champagne, 1990 did not begin as an easy year.

The winter was exceptionally mild, but severe frosts struck the vineyards in April. Cool spring conditions also prolonged flowering.

Then came a hot, dry summer.

With abundant sunshine, the grapes reached full maturity, and Krug described the wines of the year as rich, balanced, and firmly structured.

From this remarkable harvest came Krug Vintage 1990.

Not simply a “great year,” but an expression of the year itself

For Krug, a vintage Champagne is not created simply because a harvest year was considered exceptional.

The purpose is to capture the climate, character, and individuality that could exist only in that particular year—to tell the story of a single harvest through Champagne.

Krug 1990 is composed of:

40% Pinot Noir
37% Chardonnay
23% Meunier

Every wine in the blend comes from grapes harvested in 1990.

Pinot Noir forms the core of the composition, while Chardonnay accounts for nearly the same proportion, with Meunier making up almost a quarter.

Rather than emphasizing power alone, the blend brings together structure, roundness, elegance, and freshness.

1988, 1989 and 1990 — three consecutive Krug vintages

The years 1988, 1989 and 1990 form a particularly fascinating chapter in Krug’s history.

Krug Vintage is not produced every year.

Yet the House chose to create three consecutive vintages from 1988, 1989 and 1990.

What makes this trilogy even more remarkable is that the climatic conditions of each year were very different.

Krug itself regards the three vintages as a distinctive sequence, each expressing an entirely different personality.

After 1990, the next Krug Vintage was not produced until 1995.

In that sense, 1990 also marked the close of one important period in the House’s history.

Released only after more than a decade of ageing

Krug Vintage is never released immediately after it is made.

Instead, the Champagne spends more than ten years ageing in the House’s cellars before being considered ready for release.

Krug 1990 was already on the market by late 2004.

That was approximately fourteen years after the harvest.

By the time it reached drinkers, it had already spent far longer maturing than many vintage Champagnes.

More than three decades of evolution

More than thirty years have now passed since the 1990 harvest.

The floral character and power associated with Krug 1990 in its earlier years have gradually evolved into increasingly complex mature aromas.

Serena Sutcliffe MW of Sotheby’s has described mature examples of the vintage with notes reminiscent of orange, brioche, walnut and ginger, while still retaining remarkable vitality.

Bread.

Nuts.

Spice.

Ripe fruit.

These are aromas that simply do not exist in the same way in a young Champagne.

Time itself becomes part of what appears in the glass.

That evolution is one of the great pleasures of experiencing a mature Krug.

Another expression of 1990: Krug Collection 1990

The story of Krug 1990 does not end with the original vintage release.

While most bottles were eventually released as Krug Vintage 1990, the House retained a small number in its own cellars.

There, they continued to age for many more years.

Around twenty-five years after the harvest, in spring 2015, these bottles entered another stage of their life as Krug Collection 1990.

Krug describes Collection as a “second expression” of a vintage.

Importantly, Krug Vintage 1990 and Krug Collection 1990 are not fundamentally different Champagnes.

The composition remains:

40% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 23% Meunier.

Both come from the same 1990 harvest.

What differs is how they spent their time.

The original Krug Vintage 1990 left the House earlier and continued to mature wherever each bottle was stored.

Krug Collection 1990, by contrast, remained in Krug’s cellars for many additional years under the House’s care.

Interestingly, some critics have found the Collection surprisingly youthful and fresh despite its longer ageing period—at times even fresher in expression than bottles of the original Vintage 1990.

The same 1990, transformed by time

This is what makes Krug 1990 particularly compelling.

The same year.

The same blend.

Yet different ageing conditions and different passages of time can lead the Champagne toward different expressions.

One vintage can reveal more than one identity through time.

Krug Collection demonstrates that ageing Champagne is not simply about becoming older.

It is about transformation.

The bottle presented by IMAMI is not the later Collection release, but the original Krug Vintage 1990.

Born from the 1990 harvest, aged for many years before its original release, and then allowed to continue evolving for more than two additional decades.

Today, the passage of time itself has become part of what defines this bottle.

Krug Vintage 1990

France · Champagne | Vintage Champagne | 1990 | 750ml | 12% ABV

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