Krug Rosé and Ramps—A Rare Spring Treat

Round 2 of Gary’s Krug x Onions challenge: Krug Rosé and ramps!

Round 2 of Gary’s Krug x Onions challenge: Krug Rosé and ramps!

Last week, my wife, Cinnamon, found ramps, a rare onion that has a very short season and usually must be foraged at our local market, Sigona’s. As I wrote about earlier this year, Krug features an ingredient every year to pair with their Champagne, and this year it is Krug x Onions. Clearly, this was a Krug occasion, and I didn’t hesitate—we had to try these rare onions with some Krug Rosé.

Agroducle ramps with pine nuts, whipped ricotta, plumped currants and toasted bread.

Agroducle ramps with pine nuts, whipped ricotta, plumped currants and toasted bread.

The Krug Brut Rosé 24ème Édition had just been released, and I had been waiting for an excuse to try it. Our bottle was Krug ID #218025, and, as usual, it was very easy to find all of the details on it using the Krug App—all I had to do was type in the code. The Champagne is composed of 40% Pinot Noir, 32% Meunier, and 28% Chardonnay, and is made of an astonishing 71% reserve wines. Inside the bottle there are 7 vintages, spanning 2006 to 2012, and, as I have said many times before, it is this blending across large swaths of time as well as grape varieties and plots that makes the Krug wines so unique. It was disgorged in spring of 2018 and has been given ample time to rest on the cork before being shipped.

To pair with the wine, Cinnamon prepared agrodolce ramps on grilled bread from the Six Seasons, A New Way with Vegtables cookbook by Joshua McFadden. She thought that this recipe, so full of contrast on its own, would be a great match for the complexity of the Krug Rosé, and she was right. The earthy savor of the ramps, the crunch and complexity of the pine nuts, and the toasted bread as well as the richness of the whipped ricotta and plumped currants gave the Champagne a little of everything to marry with. It was a great success, and I can’t wait to do it again next year when the ramps come around again. The biggest trick to making it is not burning the pine nuts!

A gorgeous springtime food and wine pairing.

A gorgeous springtime food and wine pairing.

The Champagne of Krug always impresses me with its almost contradictory balance between authority and ease of drinking. This rosé had enough concentration and power to rate with any wine, and a finish so long that I am almost still tasting it a week later. Yet, it also had a brilliant, light texture with impossibly fine bubbles and a refreshing, nearly croquant snap to it. Cinnamon described it as being full of fruits des bois which I thought was spot on. I found wild strawberries in the wine as well as the brioche character that one expects from this great house. The back end had the traditional high-quality chalk as well as some Campari-like orange notes. It is a bottle that I won’t ever forget.

A toast to you!

- Gary Westby