The Krug Champagne House

Joseph Krug was born in 1800 in the German town of Mainz, part of France’s Napoleonic empire at the time. Growing up at the heart of the Moselle, he was exposed early on to winegrowing as fragmented as the Champagne region he would one day call home.

For him, the essence of Champagne was pleasure, yet changes in the weather could affect the quality dramatically from one year to the next. Joseph dreamed of another way. It was not an easy decision to take, especially considering he had married into the Jacquesson dynasty. However after meeting Hippolyte de Vivès, a wine merchent in Reims, the two undertook a secret but fruitful collaboration, testing new blends over the next three years before founding the Krug Champagne House in 1843.

To immortalize his vision, Joseph confided in the pages of a cherry-red notebook – his enduring testament which survives to this day at the House of Krug.

From its very inception, Krug would be first in creating only prestige Champagnes every year, a still unique and defining trait of Krug to this day.

In the 1970s, rosé Champagnes were enjoying increasing popularity. Fifth generation brothers, Henri and Rémi Krug, decided to try an experiment. They worked on developing a rosé in authentic Krug style, inspired by Pinot Noir grapes.

Finally, in 1983, Henri and Rémi Krug blind-tested the bouquet of this mystery drop on their father, Paul. Their father was alarmed. “We’re in trouble – somebody in Champagne is copying Krug!” Quickly reassured that this was indeed a Krug, he recovered his composure.

Today, Henri’s son Olivier Krug represents the sixth generation.

www.krug.com