Friday read: Abbie Bennington talks Krug with chef de cave Julie Cavil
There was a kind of symmetry to meeting the cellar master of Krug in a cellar. Not the caves of Champagne but deep beneath London’s The Connaught Hotel. I felt less journalist, more cave diver, guided by the quick of step head sommelier Lucas Reynaud-Paligot to the wine cellars below. Much like divers unclipping their tanks to squeeze through wafer thin gaps, I shed my backpack to edge past a treasure trove of the hotel’s finest wine reserves. With a sigh of relief that no bottle was harmed in the process, I turned a corner to meet Julie Cavil, Krug’s chef de cave.
Sitting resplendent, at the cellar table Cavil cuts an elegant, assured figure. She was eager to guide me through their two latest releases – Krug Grande Cuvée 173rd Édition and the Krug Rosé 29th Édition. Speaking of the former Cavil said:
“For me this is one of these editions that really illustrates the dream of Joseph Krug… The oldest part of this compilation is from 2001. Once you say it’s 20 years in the making, you understand why people stay longer on the glass – you have everything from fresh fruit to beeswax from the older reserve wines.”
The 173rd Édition is non-vintage but based on the 2017 harvest – a tough year. “It was horrible” she said. “Rain, rain, rain... we had to have courage to leave some plots to save others.” Yet, thanks to Krug’s reserve wines, “we had all we wanted to find”.
The Grand Cuvée was a symphony of complexity and all that you would expect of the calibre that is Krug. The use of musical metaphors is often used by the famous house in describing their wines and, listening to Julie, the analogy of each element of the wine as music made pitch perfect sense.
The Krug Rosé, Cavil admits, was a tougher creation. “If Krug is a symphony orchestra, the Rosé is a chamber one. We have diversity, but the amplitude is less.”
A wine of glorious copper pink tones with a youthful nose and mouth that promises great evolution in years to come was an exercise in precision winemaking. I asked Cavil how much she used science versus instinct in their creation?
“I think we are very, very not scientific. it relies on the palate; every decision is taken with the tasting.”
Tête-à-têtes like this offer a rare chance learn a little about the person behind the prestigious job title. Asking for a little-known fact about herself beyond champagne was met with a warm response:
“I promise you; I have a huge collection of shoes in my car. A day might start with security shoes, then boots, then heels for talking with journalists. Then flats to catch a train to Paris.”
Cavil, as it turns out, is detail-obsessed – and not just with her shoes. The same exacting precision she brings to every Édition of Krug is echoed in her personal aesthetic: considered, intentional, quietly expressive. As we ascend back to the lobby, the details keep unfolding. Cavil, it seems, also collects tattoos – not on her skin, but through photos sent by friends and sommeliers across the globe. Krug lovers inked in reverence: tiny tributes to a house that’s more than Champagne; it's devotion bottled.
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