The Romanée-Conti Of Champagne?

The World's Best Champagne From The World's Best Champagne House

We have previously compared Krug with its closest competitors Dom Pérignon and Cristal (Read: We Are Celebrating Apollo 11 With An Extraordinary Investment Tip On 2004 Krug Vintage), and we must say that Krug is one of the absolute best wines Champagne has to offer and is in a class for themselves - perhaps only in competition with Salon.

Whether looking at the house’s non-vintage named Grande Cuvée, Krug Vintage or the legendary single plot vineyard Champagnes, Clos du Mesnil and Clos d 'Ambonnay, no one comes close to Krug.

Crown Jewels Of Champagne

The two single plot vineyard Champagnes Clos du Mesnil and Clos d'Ambonnay are the crown jewels in Krug's range and are released exclusively in the best vintages. In both cases, the grapes come from a single plot vineyard of the same name, and while Clos du Mesnil is made exclusively on Chardonnay, Pinot Noir is exclusively used in Clos d 'Ambonnay. Unlike Burgundy, where single plot vineyard wines made on a single grape variety are the norm, this discipline is more rare in Champagne.

Extremely high requirements on everything from terroir, climate and the vines to the vintage itself, the harvest and the winemaker's work make the pursuit of the sublime experience extremely difficult, but if anyone is mastering this discipline it is Krug. Their Clos du Mesnil and Clos d'Ambonnay are the epitome of single plot vineyard Champagne on single grape variety and are the example that other producers should benchmark against. Here nobody reaches Krug.

Burgundy Methods Move To Champagne

In the heart of the villages of Mesnil and Ambonnay are Krug's two walled monopoly vineyards. With a size of respectively 1.84 ha and 0.62 ha and an annual production of approx. 12,000 bottles of Clos du Mesnil and 5,000 bottles of Clos d 'Ambonnay, these are wines which, even from a Burgundian perspective, must be described as extremely rare.

The production of Krug Clos du Mesnil and Krug Clos d 'Ambonnay is so limited that the last 40 years of production do not even match the amount of Krug Vintage released in an average vintage.

In practice, this illustrates how hyper-limited production of Krug's top Champagnes really is, and precisely that rarity is an essential element of the investment potential of these wines.

Champagne’s Romanée-Conti

The potential for a good wine investment can often be found in the combination of a great name, towering quality and limited production - exactly as seen among the best wines from the greatest houses in Burgundy.

In Champagne, the productions are typically much bigger, but so is the demand, and therefore investment potential can nevertheless be found in, for example Dom Pérignon, which in a strong vintage produces up to 10 million bottles.

Single plot vineyard wines and productions of just 5,000 - 10,000 bottles are a special sight in Champagne, but if the rule that precisely the most expensive and exclusive wines have the greatest investment potential also applies outside Burgundy, it is not wrong to call Clos du Mesnil and Clos d 'Ambonnay for Champagne's Romanée-Conti and Montrachet.

In the pursuit of the perfect and the purest in Champagne, you undeniably encounter Clos du Mesnil and Clos d 'Ambonnay, and if the demand for the very best Champagne rises, so the price of these increases.

Branding Machine Sends The Prices Against The Stars

If you put on your marketing and branding glasses, Krug looks like a safe horse to play on. There are strong forces in the back of the champagne house, ready to send the fire and prices up. Krug has since 1999 been owned by the French luxury conglomerate LVMH Group, which as the name implies owns among others, Louis Vouitton, Moët & Chandon and Hennesy, as well as more than 50 other luxury brands in fashion, cosmetics, jewelry, wine and spirits. LVMH has both the knowledge and the capacity to position and lift a luxury product to new heights.

The cornerstone of LVMH's strategy is, with perhaps the world's best marketing machine in luxury goods, to buy and lift luxury brands, and they are in the process of lifting Krug as a brand and thus also Clos du Mesnil and Clos d'Ambonnay. When production of these two single plot vineyard Champagnes cannot be increased, there is only one way to make more money: Increase the demand so that prices can be raised.

Burgundian Déjà Vu

The reason why a 1990 Romanée-Conti today costs 200 times more than when it was released for approx. 27 years ago, must be found in that precisely the demand for the very best combined with a limited production, could only be answered with higher prices. We have long accepted that premise in both Bordeaux and most recently in Burgundy.

If you believe that this can happen again and you are looking for the next rocket, your focus should be on Champagne. Interest in Champagne is rising sharply, but there is still great potential, because while red wine is already popular in Asia, they haven’t quite developed taste for Champagne - but that is changing. Add to that that the typical Champagne drinker is somewhat younger than the typical wine drinker, and as they grow older the purchasing power increases.

When the Champagne drinkers of the future demand the best of the best, the answer will be Krug Clos du Mesnil and Krug Clos d'Ambonnay, and if Champagne comes to experience the same popularity as we have seen in Burgundy, the prices of these two Champagnes will be sent to towards the sky.

RareWine Invest’s Opinion

Rare Wine Invest recommends investing in Krug Clos du Mesnil and Krug Clos d'Ambonnay as both Champagnes come from a great name are of the highest quality and are only produced in extremely small quantities.

In our perspective, these two Champagnes are sleeping giants where it's not a matter of IF waking up, but WHEN. We have previously seen developments in Burgundy, where the absolute best wines from the greatest houses have gained immense popularity, and without the opportunity to expand production, there have been only price increases to meet the rising demand. Here, the limited quantities will determine how much prices will rise.

Krug Clos du Mesnil and Krug Clos d'Ambonnay carry the same characteristics as the top wines from the greatest houses from, for example, Burgundy, but are also backed by LVMH, which drives the industry's largest and most effective marketing machine to push for this development.

Already, very limited quantities of Clos du Mesnil and Clos d 'Ambonnay are available to the world's Champagne lovers and there is often several years between the release of new vintages, since they only produce in strong vintages. LVMH has all the interest in releasing the next vintage more expensive than the previous one, and it adds to the investment to have a community of interest with the world's largest luxury conglomerate.

The case is really simple: Invest in Krug Clos du Mesnil and Clos d 'Ambonnay if you believe that in the future we will experience even greater demand for the best Champagnes - as we have seen it in Bordeaux and Burgundy.