Krug Champagne

Krug Champagne was founded by Joseph Krug in 1843. It is based principally in Reims, the main city in the Champagne region. Today the house is majority owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Lois Vuitton who also own Moet & Chandon, Veuve Cliquot and Ruinart. The Krug family is still actively involved in all the key decisions of the house but do not manage the day-to-day operations.

All Krug Champagnes are bottled during a single session, thirty weeks after the harvest. Krug’s main champagne, Krug Grande Cuvée stays in the cellars for at least six years, Krug Rosé for five years and Krug Vintage, Krug Clos du Mesnil and Krug Clos d’Ambonnay for at least ten years.

Krug Grande Cuvee is a blend of over 120 wines coming from ten or more different vintages – some up to fifteen years in age. It is re-created on a yearly basis. In total, over twenty years are required to create a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee.

Krug utilizes all three Champagne varieties in their wines, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, and Pinot Meunier. For their two single vineyard vintages, Krug Clos du Mesnil is made in the Blanc de blancs style, completely from Chardonnay, while Krug Clos d’Ambonnay is made exclusively from Pinot noir.

Since the summer of 2011, all bottles of Krug Champagne feature a KRUG ID located on the left-hand side of the back label. This six-digit number – with the first digit indicating the quarter in which the bottle left Krug’s cellars and the following two digits indicating the year – serves as a reference for wine collectors and a portal to further information about that particular bottle.