The House of KRUG was founded in Reims in 1843 by Johann-Joseph Krug. Born in Mainz in 1800, Joseph (who dispensed with the name Johann) travelled to Paris in 1834 to work as an accountant for Champagne Jacquesson, in Chalons-sur-Marne. His passion for Champagne grew at Jacquesson. His instincts for tasting and blending led him to the creation of Krug Champagne in 1843. He immediately began putting aside reserve wines knowing that he would be able to create beautiful compositions, year after year. With a very original approach to Champagne making, he decided to go beyond the notion of vintage to create the most generous expression of Champagne, every year. Joseph Krug did not believe in hierarchies between his Champagnes. Thus, he founded a House in which all Champagnes are of the same level of distinction. Today the House offers seven Champagnes, all of the same undisputed quality, each illustrating a different expression of Nature. The only factor deciding pricing would be rarity. And so it is today. When Joseph Krug died in 1866, his son Paul took over.

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Paul oversaw the brand’s success in the United Kingdom and helped lead the move into the House’s current premises on Rue Coquebert in Reims. Generation after generation, the company stayed within family hands, even when LVMH acquired it in 1999. Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods. At the time, brothers Henri and Remi Krug had been running things together since the mid-1960s. They eventually stepped down in 2007 but remained on the tasting committee. In 2009, Olivier Krug, son of Henri, became House director. Currently, Olivier plays an integral part – alongside Julie Cavil – in helping create every new edition of Grande Cuvée. In the heart of the Champagne region, the House of Krug is more than a historic residence, it is a bustling place of work, a creative atelier sitting atop a network of cellars, where craftsmen meticulously and silently nurture the bottles below. The cellars: a dimly-lit arched stairway leads down. The air is cool, your eyes adjust slowly to the darkness.  You are greeted by endless rows of racks in which countless bottles of Krug sleep. A stay of around seven years in the cellars will reveal the fullness of flavours and aromas of Krug Grande Cuvée. Two men in overalls closely examine the contents of their charges, and skilfully upend each one. Further on in another vast cellar, another man works by candlelight, rotating bottle after bottle in wooden racks, just a quarter-turn each. Every step in the creation of Krug Champagnes requires the utmost precision and care. The weather in the Champagne region is consistently terrible, making it difficult for grapes to ripen perfectly every vintage. That is what makes vintage Champagne, a sparkling wine consisting of grapes grown in one specific year, so special. Weather conditions don’t allow for such a feat every year. In contrast, a non-vintage Champagne is a composition of wines from several different years. It’s what Krug Champagne refers to as a symphony. The blend includes a generous portion of reserve wines, each unique to the final profile. Some reserves provide the bass notes or the structure. At the same time, other reserves showcase the high notes of the expression, perhaps acting as the melody. It’s a different symphony for every edition of its Grande Cuvée. Today, the creation of each Grande Cuvée edition is a long, detailed and arduous process. The bulk of the responsibility lies on the shoulders of cellar master (or chef du cave) Julie Cavil. She took over from Eric Lebel in 2020 after being a member of the winemaking team for 13 years. Cavil and her team taste and rate samples over several sessions to determine each edition’s blend. This happens following harvest after the team gets a sense of what the vintage has provided. Samples from individual plots are recorded and tasted numerous times. Following this, the team identifies any missing elements needed to re-create the unforgettable and undeniable Krug expression. For this, they “audition” approximately 150 reserve wines. A shortlist of final blends is created, with each receiving a final vote from members of the tasting committee in the spring. The choice Champagne becomes the next Grande Cuvée edition and proceeds to the bottling line between April and May. It then moves to the Krug cellars, where it rests for at least six years. Between the age of the reserve wines and the time needed to cellar the wine before release, it takes approximately 20 years to create a single edition of Grande Cuvée. The Grande Cuvée is, by far, the most well known sparkling wine the House makes. However, it does produce several other styles, although in significantly lesser quantities. In years that allow, Krug makes a vintage Champagne. Its most recent vintage is 2008 and is a wine that expresses Classic Beauty, as nicknamed by the House. As part of Krug’s vintage program, they also offer Krug Collection. Krug Collection is the second release of older vintages. Very limited number of bottles are kept under ideal conditions in the Krug cellars and released when its ‘second life’ is ready to be experienced by drinkers. To the delight of collectors around the world, a very limited number of bottles of Krug Vintage are kept in ideal conditions in the House’s cellars. They are tasted and appraised as they wait to blossom into a second life. Krug Vintage then becomes Krug Collection and reveals a new personality. Krug Collection Champagnes are true examples of time sublimation; maturity exposes hidden facets and depth. New flavours surprise, while old ones have gained structure. Krug Collection is always a wonderful discovery, a deeper story of the Krug Vintage.

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Krug Collection 1989 is time’s second revelation of Krug 1989.
Krug 1989 is part of the House of Krug’s unique trilogy of three exceptional years (1988, 1989, 1990) with completely different climates that resulted in completely different Champagnes, all of them very Krug. Krug Collection 1989 is an expressive vintage, as opulent, charming and sensual. Deep intense golden yellow colour that announces maturity, opulence, harmony and elegance. Exotic, complex nose consisting of honey with spices and white fruits, truffle, earth, slightly browned apples, a hint of high-toned flowers, yeast, and a gentle nuttiness in the background. Deep palate with bright, high youthful tones of pear, green apple, citrus fruits, marmalade, fresh figs and even a touch of earth with a finish which goes on and on with undertones of mineral and spices.