Krug Champagne: The Art of Perfection Since 1843
The legend begins
In 1843, in Reims, Joseph Krug founded a champagne house built around a specific idea about quality. Born Johann-Joseph Krug in 1800, the son of a butcher in Mainz on the Rhine, he had dropped his first name and left his hometown in 1824. By 1834 he was in Paris, and soon joined Champagne Jacquesson in Châlons-sur-Marne, where he spent eight years learning about composition and taste. In 1841 he married Emma-Anne Jaunay, the daughter of a French hotelier based in London, and their son Paul was born the following year. After a year of negotiations, Krug et Cie was founded in 1843 with sleeping partner Hyppolite de Vivès. At a time when the champagne industry rose and fell with the seasons, Krug saw room for a champagne that could stay consistent year after year, whatever the annual climate did. He set up his house with a clear objective: a champagne of the same quality, every year.
The founder’s vision
Joseph Krug’s move from Mainz, Germany, to Reims came down to one goal: making the champagne he thought should exist. He believed champagne’s character could only be reached through careful craftsmanship and a blend of grapes from different years. In 1848, with his son still too young to take over, Joseph began writing his founding principles in a cherry-red notebook. His early decision to build a large library of reserve wines was unusual for the time. It let him blend across years, creating the consistent taste profile that became Krug’s signature. The first edition of Krug Grande Cuvée came out of this approach, built on Krug’s belief that every bottle should meet the same standard. That philosophy of making only prestige cuvées still guides the brand today.
Rise to excellence
The path from a small workshop in Reims to a recognized name in luxury champagne took decades of steady work. Joseph Krug died in 1866 and was succeeded by his son Paul, whom he had trained for the business. Under Paul’s management, the House was established as a grande marque. By the 1880s, Krug’s reputation was recognized in the United Kingdom, then the primary overseas market for Champagne. In 1866, the House moved into the premises in Rue Coquebert, in Reims, that it still occupies today. After Paul’s death in 1910, his son Joseph Krug II took over. The 1926 and 1928 vintages made during this era have been ranked by critics among the best Champagnes ever made. In the 1970s, brothers Henri and Rémi Krug modernized production, acquired the Clos du Mesnil vineyard, launched Krug Rosé in 1983, and purchased Clos d’Ambonnay in 1991. In January 1999, Krug was acquired by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Iconic creations
Krug’s signature is its Grande Cuvée, a blend of over 120 wines from more than 10 different vintages, built for complexity and fullness. More than 20 years of work go into each bottle, including a stay of at least six years in the cellars. Since 2016, each release has been numbered as a distinct “Édition,” which makes them collectible with their own character. The Krug Vintage reflects the character of individual years that Joseph Krug valued, a record of a particular year’s climate. The Krug Clos du Mesnil, a Blanc de Blancs from a single 1.84-hectare walled vineyard first bottled separately in 1979, and the Krug Clos d’Ambonnay, a Blanc de Noirs from a 0.68-hectare plot, are the brand’s single-vineyard champagnes.
The numbers: empire today
Krug guards its production details closely, putting quality over quantity. With only around 42,000 cases produced for their vintage Champagne, allocations are hard to get. The brand has been part of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE since the 1999 acquisition. Henri and Rémi Krug stepped down from day-to-day responsibilities in 2007 but stayed on the tasting committee. With its headquarters still in Reims at Rue Coquebert, the brand keeps selective distribution, available in over 50 countries but through limited outlets. In 2024, Krug completed Joseph, its new sustainable winery in the village of Ambonnay, which received HQE certification.
The legacy continues
Today Krug is led by Olivier Krug, the sixth generation of the founding family, who became Director of Krug in 2009. Cellar master Julie Cavil leads the winemaking team and carries on the tasting and blending process. The brand has moved into newer ventures, including the Krug Single Ingredient initiative founded in 2015, which invites chefs worldwide to build recipes around each Krug Grande Cuvée edition. Sustainability has also become a focus, with the new Joseph winery built around that goal.
Why it matters
Krug’s place in champagne traces back to a single idea Joseph Krug set in 1843: that quality should not depend on the year. Six generations of the Krug family have held that standard, from the 1843 founding through the 1999 LVMH acquisition to today’s roughly 42,000-case annual production.
