Krug Champagne Lunch at St Andrews

On a blustery April Tuesday afternoon, we were treated to a 5 course tasting menu chosen by Executive Chef, Craig Millar, to accompany the outstanding Maison Krug portfolio. Krug winemaker Julie Cavil doggedly made her way from Rheims to St Andrews by train and automobile, but sadly no plane due to the extraordinary occurance of volcanic ash clouds blocking the skies and grounding European flights. Krug is one of my favourite Champagne houses, and I sincerely suggest you make it one of yours too, as the sheer elegance, delicacy, structure and purity of flavours will knock your socks off.

Several weeks back, Kirsty Duncanson of LVMH lead Craig through the portfolio, so that he could create a properly balanced and complementary menu to marry with the individual wines we would be tasting. What he came up with was tasteful cooking at its best; neither too showy nor too shy. The menu was as follows:

A potato velouté, fish beignet and mini onion rings served with Krug Grand Cuvée

Uig Lodge smoked salmon, cucumber jelly, horseradish and caviar served with Krug Rosé

Stone bass, fennel and liquorice served with Krug Vintage 1996

Finn cheese with truffled honey served with Krug Collection 1982

Apple crumble served with Krug Grand Cuvée.

Suffice to say that the food and champagne matching were outstanding, the highlights were how Krug Grand Cuvée was able to match both the savoury amuse of potato velouté and the acidic sweetness of apple crumble, all be it a ‘take’ on your traditional apple crumble. The Krug Rosé hit the cucumber jelly spot on with the richness of the salmon and caviar balacing the slightly oilier palate of the Rosé. We were definitely priviledged to be drinking the Vintage ’96 as there is very little left to be had anywhere, with Julie calling this particular 90′s vintage as being the ‘wild horse’ in the Krug family due to its power. Krug only released 4 vintages in the 90′s; being the 1990, 1995, 1996 and 1998.

Finn cheese is an unpasturised cows’ milk cheese made by the Charlie Westhead of Neal’s Yard Creamery. The hint of mushroom was superbly balanced by the truffled honey; an outstanding course of simplicity which shone with the Collection 1982. Julie said her thank you’s, and we said ours, and with a whoosh of wind she was gone, being driven down to Edinburgh to the next tasting and then dinner in the recently starred restaurant 2-1-2-1-2. Krug is, and has been, a legend in its own lunchtime, granting me another memory for my latter years.

Krug Lunch Menu