Buy wines of Maison Krug
If you love champagne, you love Krug. It's that simple to put it in a nutshell, because the house's champagnes are the ultimate in sparkling wine.
It was in 1843 that Joseph Krug opened the Krug Champagne House in Reims. Krug was born in 1800 in Mainz on the Rhine, which at the time was part of the Napoleonic Empire. He left Mainz in 1824 and went to France, where the skills of German accountants and auditors were in great demand. As such, he joined Champagne Jacquesson in Châlons-sur-Marne. In addition to his work as an accountant, he also became the brand's representative on the European markets. With his knowledge of these markets and the likes and dislikes of customers, he founded the company Krug et Cie in Reims in 1983 together with the silent partner Hyppolite de Vivès. For Joseph, the ideal champagne was one that was the same size every year. Even then, it was clear what Krug had perfected over a century and a half: Creating a perfect blend every year from three grape varieties, different vineyards and vintages, i.e. dozens to over a hundred base wines.
Under the management of his son Paul, the successful house joined the ranks of the „Grandes Marques“, the most famous champagne brands. Four more generations of the family followed, represented today by Olivier Krug. Even though the house was sold to Rémy Cointreau in the 1970s and to LVMH in 1999, it is still the Krugs, together with the Chefs de Cave, who guarantee the unique quality of the champagnes, all of which are prestige champagnes.
The classic is the „Krug Grande Cuvée“, an assemblage of more than 120 wines from ten or more vintages and three grape varieties. Since 1983, it has been accompanied by the „Krug Rosé“, essentially a „Grande Cuvée Rosé“ with a blend of up to 150 reserve wines from the three grape varieties and a proportion of still wine from Pinot Noir, which contributes colour, tannin and an additional flavour dimension. There are also four vintage champagnes: The „Krug Vintage“ from a vintage that has matured for at least ten years in the house cellars; the „Krug Collection“, a „vintage“ that has matured for another ten years sur lattes; and the two extremely rare single-vineyard champagnes „Clos de Mesnil“ - a Chardonnay Grand Cru from a 1.84-hectare vineyard planted in Mesnil-sur-Oger in 1698 - and „Clos d'Ambonnay“ - a Pinot Noir Grand Cru from a small 0.68-hectare plot in Ambonnay.
© Images: Maison Krug