The event kicked off Krug's immersive tasting experience that opens to the public Sept. 28.
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Krug is pairing Champagne with live music at Larrabee Studios.
The luxury Champagne house is opening the doors to one of Los Angeles’ most storied recording studios this month for “The Art of Blending Krug & Sound,” a three-night experience at Larrabee Studios that will turn guests’ tasting notes — or, more precisely, whatever memories, emotions and sensations their Champagne inspires — into an original song created in real time.
The experience will take place Sept. 28-30 inside Larrabee’s Studio 6, with 14-time Grammy-winning mixing engineer and studio owner Manny Marroquin (who most recently worked on Rosalía’s highly lauded “LUX”) leading the experiment alongside producers Scott Tibbs, Nick Rosen and Mike Bennett. Rather than simply putting on a playlist while everyone drinks, the producers will use guests’ reactions to each pour as raw material for a composition assembled live over the course of the evening.
At the center of the evening are Krug 2013 and Krug Grande Cuvée 169ème Édition, while Chef Oscar Torres of VERSE will serve a multi-course dinner paired with additional pours including Krug Grande Cuvée 173ème Édition and Krug Rosé 29ème Édition.
“Larrabee has always been a place where creativity comes to life through exchange,” Marroquin said. “Partnering with Krug gave us the opportunity to invite guests into that process, where every conversation, every shared moment and every glass of Champagne becomes part of the music we’re creating together. No two evenings will ever be the same.”
The public run was preceded Thursday night by a splashier VIP preview, where Nas, Ashlee Simpson Ross, Evan Ross, Jeremy Pope, Sabrina Claudio, producer Dahi, pianist Chloe Flower and others gathered inside Studio 6 to test-drive the concept before it opens to paying guests.
Over the course of the evening, guests sipped through the Krug lineup and wrote down emotions, sensations and words each cuvée brought to mind, which Tibbs, Rosen and Costa then translated into an original composition created live in the room. Words like “red,” “invigorating,” and “nostalgia” informed two lively songs played on cello, piano and drums.
In between, the studio played tracks with their own Larrabee history, including John Mayer’s “Gravity” and Portugal. The Man’s “Feel It Still.” The finale came courtesy of Flower, who surprised the room with a live piano performance as a jeroboam of Krug Grande Cuvée 163ème Édition was brought out for one last pour.
The collaboration isn’t entirely out of left field for Krug. The Champagne house has long experimented with the relationship between music and taste, working with musicians and composers — most recently Max Richter — to explore how sound can affect perception and emotion while drinking.
And if drinking Krug inside a recording studio sounds suspiciously like the kind of night normally reserved for people with a platinum record on the wall, that’s part of the draw. The intimate sessions offer rare public access to Studio 6, with a limited number of reservations available through Tock.
After the three-night run wraps, the collaboration will spill over into Larrabee’s neighboring restaurants VERSE and Mensano, where Torres will offer a month-long Krug Grande Cuvée pairing inspired by the project.
Find out more about “The Art of Blending Krug & Sound” here.