Houses
Krug
A Reims house founded in 1843, built around a house style that privileges extensive multi-vintage blending, fermentation in small oak casks and long lees ageing.
- Founded
- 1843
- Location
- Reims, France
- Ownership
- Part of LVMH (acquired 1999)
- Known for
- Krug Grande Cuvée (multi-vintage blend) · Krug Vintage · Clos du Mesnil (monopole) · Clos d'Ambonnay (monopole) · Use of small oak casks for first fermentation
- Grapes
- Chardonnay (4) · Pinot Noir (4) · Meunier (3)
- Official site
- www.krug.com
Style
Krug's entire production is anchored in two distinctive choices: primary fermentation in small 205-litre oak casks, and deep blending across vintages drawn from a reserve library of more than 150 wines. The goal is a consistent, richly textured house style rather than a vintage expression; Krug does not release a non-vintage cuvée of the conventional kind.
History
Founded in 1843 by Johann-Joseph Krug, a German-born cellar master who had worked at Jacquesson. The house stayed under family leadership for five generations. It was acquired by Rémy Cointreau in 1971, then by LVMH in 1999; the Krug family remains active in creative leadership.
Positioning
Krug sits entirely in the prestige tier of champagne; every cuvée is a luxury release and the house does not produce an entry-level expression.
Cuvées
-
Krug Clos d'Ambonnay Prestige
assemblage · brut · millésimé
Chardonnay · Pinot Noir
-
Krug Grande Cuvée Prestige
assemblage · brut · NV
Chardonnay · Pinot Meunier · Pinot Noir
-
Krug Grande Cuvée Édition 174 Prestige
assemblage · brut · NV
45% Pinot Noir · 35% Chardonnay · 20% Pinot Meunier
-
assemblage · brut · millésimé
53% Pinot Noir · 25% Chardonnay · 22% Pinot Meunier
-
assemblage · brut · millésimé
Recent
2026
- Release
Krug released its vins clairs from the 2025 vintage on 12 May 2026, marking the house's first formal assessment of the harvest.
Read article Google News — maisons de champagne (FR) 12 May 2026
- Release
Krug's release of clear wines is described as an act of transparency, inviting scrutiny of the vintage at its most unguarded.
Read article Google News — maisons de champagne (FR) 12 May 2026
- Business
Krug partnered with composer Max Richter to create original musical scores conceived specifically to accompany expressions from its 2008 vintage.
Read article Google News — champagne houses (EN) 20 April 2026
- Note
Krug's winemaking approach emphasises the expression of individual years and individual plots.
Read article Google News — champagne houses (EN) 20 April 2026
- Note
Founded in Reims in 1843 by Joseph Krug with a founding belief that the finest champagne is a blend of many vintages rather than a single year.
- Release
Maintains an extensive library of reserve wines spanning numerous years to enable multi-vintage blending across ten or more different harvests.
- Note
Uses small oak barrels for fermentation rather than stainless steel tanks, imparting texture and richness to the finished wine.
- Release
Assigns an edition number to every release, allowing drinkers to trace the precise composition of the blend through house records.
- Note
Krug is among the Champagne houses assembled within luxury conglomerates across the twentieth century.
- Award
Krug ranked second in Vinetur's 2026 Most Admired Champagne Brands ranking, published in March 2026.
Read article Google News — champagne houses (EN) 10 March 2026
- Note
Krug secured second position in Vinetur's 2026 ranking of the most admired champagne brands.
Read article Google News — champagne houses (EN) 10 March 2026
- Note
Krug's winemaking philosophy centers on building great cuvées from wines of character rather than wines of individual greatness, emphasizing the act of blending itself as central to the winemaker's craft.
Read article Terre de Vins 28 April 2026
- Release
Krug maintains a long and unbroken sequence of numbered edition cuvées, each assembled through the same underlying blending method.
Read article Terre de Vins 28 April 2026
- Note
Manuel Reman has led Krug since 2022, continuing Joseph Krug's founding philosophy of achieving consistent champagne expression annually regardless of climatic conditions.
Read article Terre de Vins 22 April 2026
- Note
Krug operates within the LVMH group and remains based in the Champagne region of France.
Read article Terre de Vins 22 April 2026
- Note
Krug's founding philosophy prioritises depth and consistency over the celebration of climatic accident, with each year intended to yield a champagne of complete expression.
Read article Terre de Vins 22 April 2026
2025
- Business
Krug has partnered with composer Max Richter to create a musical tribute to the 2008 Champagne vintage, announced on 21 October 2025.
Read article Google News — champagne houses (EN) 21 October 2025
- Note
Krug occupies a singular position in the Champagne landscape and has a history of aligning itself with elevated cultural and culinary moments.
Read article Google News — champagne houses (EN) 13 August 2025
- Note
Krug is engaging with audiences through experiential occasions that communicate the depth of the Champagne category beyond the purely transactional.
Read article Google News — champagne houses (EN) 13 August 2025
Related reading
- Tasting
Krug unveils clear wines from the 2025 vintage, offering an early glimpse of the harvest
- News
Krug Unites Its 2008 Vintage with Original Scores by Composer Max Richter
- Tasting
Krug and the art of plenitude: why multi-vintage blending defines a house
- Business
How Corporate Consolidation Reshaped the Grandes Marques of Champagne
- Market
Louis Roederer, Krug and Bollinger Lead Vinetur's 2026 Most Admired Champagne Brands Ranking
- News
Krug and Max Richter unite to honour Champagne's superb 2008 vintage through music