KRUG

Krug. Even the name feels different to your run-of-the-mill champagne house, if there were such a thing. But Krug are undeniably different; their ‘entry-level’ multi-vintage Grande Cuvée – a blend of over 120 wines from ten or more years, cellared for at least seven years prior to release – is the equivalent of many higher-level offerings. Krug inhabit their own distinct universe, producing only prestige champagnes and making no compromise when it comes to time or expense. The Rolls Royce of champagne producers? Quite possibly, and it would be entirely appropriate that they indeed own one.

In fact, the company’s founder, Josef Krug, was originally from Germany. Josef’s vision was to create the finest champagne possible every year, regardless of variations in climate. He was convinced that terroir was crucial, and to liberate the process from the rigours of being held hostage to the weather, he began to build a reserve of wines, each made of grapes from a separate plot of land with its own specific character. Josef drew upon this increasingly vast library of reserve wines to compose his prestige champagne, a practice that has been carried down now through six generations.