The setting: Troquet, a new tres chic restaurant/wine bar on Boylston. The cuisine: “l’oyster”, “les scallops”, “le quail”. The atmosphere…charged with the enthusiasm of thirty HBS Wine and Cuisine Society members eagerly anticipating the arrival of the evening’s guests of honor…
…The champagne: Krug Grande Cuvee. Champagne Krug 1988, Champagne Krug 1989.
As a grand symphony performance, the evening unraveled in a perfect sequence of champagne-food pairings. The music started with the Krug Grand Cuvee joining Oyster with Osetra caviar and champagne gelee. The second movement was the Champagne Krug 1989 paired with sea scallops with a white truffle emulsion. Finally, the Champagne Krug 1988 appeared with Quail with black trumpet mushrooms and fingerling potatoes. The symphony ended with the heroic sounds of the passion-fruit sorbet/brownie desert combo.
Two and a half hours later you wondered what happened to the evening.
Indeed, Krug, the high-end brand in the Veuve Cliquot family of the LVMH portfolio, managed to impress even the sophisticated palates of HBS students. And we should not be surprised that it was so. After all, LVMH had to pay over a billion francs for the grande marque champagne house; one could buy the renown cuvees starting at no less than $150 per bottle; and we were tasting a product with more than 150 years of champagne-making craft behind it. Indeed, because of Krug’s impeccable quality through time, it has a devoted global following that has been known to be called Les Krugistes.
Overall it was an exceptional evening, resulting in (among others) a great idea for gifts at swanky baby showers, Christmas soirees at the Yacht Club, Grandpa’s anniversary at the Breakers in Palm Beach, and that rowdy tailgate party at the Belmont Stakes.
