Krug Grande Cuvee Brut NV

A founder's dream, written down in 1848

Johann-Joseph Krug was born in Mainz in 1800. He worked for eight years at the Champagne house Jacquesson, married Emma-Anne Jaunay in 1841, moved to Reims in 1842 and founded his own house in 1843. His son Paul, born in 1842, would succeed him on his death in 1866.

Krug's idea, as the house tells it, was to make the very best Champagne he could every single year, whatever the weather. To do that he paid close attention to the character of each vineyard plot and its wine, and built up a library of reserve wines from many different years, so that a poor harvest could be balanced with the best of earlier ones.

In 1848 he wrote his philosophy into a dark cherry personal notebook, which the house still treats as its founding text. 'We cannot obtain good wines without using good elements and good terroirs,' he wrote, warning that a good-looking Champagne made from mediocre wines was an exception 'on which you can never rely.' The wine that grew from that idea is the one sold today as Krug Grande Cuvee.

Six generations and a handful of cellar masters

The Krug family has guided the house for six generations. Paul Krug died in 1910 and was succeeded by his son Joseph II; Jean Seydoux became joint manager in 1924; Paul Krug II led the house from 1959 to 1977, when Henri Krug became president. Olivier Krug, of the sixth generation, became director of the house in 2009.

The fifth generation, brothers Remi and Henri Krug, shaped the modern house. In 1978 they renamed the Private Cuvee as Grande Cuvee and introduced Krug's narrow-necked bottle, meant to reduce the exchange of oxygen as the wine ages. They also bought the walled Clos du Mesnil, a 1.84-hectare Chardonnay plot enclosed since 1698, whose first Krug wine came from the 1979 harvest, and created Krug Rose, first presented in 1983. In January 1999 the house was sold to LVMH, and the brothers stayed on to run it.

Eric Lebel was cellar master from 1999 to 2019. Julie Cavil took over in 2020. Of the Grande Cuvee she has said that all Editions share a myriad of flavors and aromas and that, as the years pass, 'their uniqueness is simply affirmed.'

How an Edition is built

Each year Krug composes a new Edition around the wines of a single recent harvest, then fills it out with reserve wines from its library. The house says every Grande Cuvee is a blend of more than 120 wines from more than 10 years, and that more than 20 years of work go into each one once the oldest reserves are counted.

The recent Editions show how much the recipe moves. The 172nd, built around the wet, then hot 2016 harvest, blends 146 wines from 11 years running back to 1998, with reserve wines making up 42 percent; it is 44 percent Pinot Noir, 36 percent Chardonnay and 20 percent Meunier, and spent about seven years in Krug's cellars. The 173rd, built around 2017, blends 150 wines from 13 years back to 2001, with 31 percent reserves, at 44 percent Pinot Noir, 34 percent Chardonnay and 22 percent Meunier. The 174th, built around 2018, uses 143 wines from 10 years, again back to 2001, with 36 percent reserves and a Pinot-heavy 54 percent Pinot Noir, 29 percent Chardonnay and 17 percent Meunier.

Krug's own explanation for blending so widely is that it gives a fullness of flavor and aroma 'impossible to express with the wines of just a single year,' which it likens to a full orchestra playing together. The house recommends serving its Champagnes between 9 and 12 degrees Celsius and says all of them continue to gain complexity with time.

Reading the bottle

Because Grande Cuvee carries no vintage, Krug gives collectors two other ways to tell one bottling from another. Since 2011 every bottle has carried a Krug iD, six digits on the back label that, entered online or scanned in the house's app, reveal the story of that bottle's creation and composition.

Since 2016 the front label has also shown an Edition number. The house says the number counts how many times the founder's dream has been re-created; the 163rd Edition, composed around the 2007 harvest, was the first to carry one. Bottles that left Reims before the mid-2010s carry no Edition number, and older ones may have no Krug iD either.

That matters to collectors because the Editions age differently. Krug has made a point of it by holding back a small number of bottles of the 163rd Edition and presenting them a decade later alongside the 173rd, under the title 'A Tribute to Time.'

On the shelf

In October 2026 a New York merchant listed a single 750 ml bottle of the 173rd Edition at $299, in stock, an asking price, not a sale.

Older Editions and early bottles have their own following. A European merchant has offered a bottle described as the first Grande Cuvee, from the period 1978 to 1983, priced in euros and shown as sold out.

The numbers

Wines per Edition

More than 120 (172nd: 146; 173rd: 150; 174th: 143)

Years per Edition

More than 10 (172nd: 11; 173rd: 13; 174th: 10)

Reserve wines

172nd: 42%; 173rd: 31%; 174th: 36%

174th Edition blend

54% Pinot Noir, 29% Chardonnay, 17% Meunier

173rd Edition blend

44% Pinot Noir, 34% Chardonnay, 22% Meunier

172nd Edition blend

44% Pinot Noir, 36% Chardonnay, 20% Meunier

Cellar aging

About seven years (172nd Edition)

Serving temperature

9-12 C, per the house

Timeline

1. 1800

   Johann-Joseph Krug is born in Mainz.

2. 1843

   Krug founds his Champagne house in Reims after eight years at Jacquesson.

3. 1848

   Joseph Krug sets down his philosophy in his personal notebook.

4. 1866

   Joseph Krug dies; his son Paul takes over.

5. 1924

   Jean Seydoux becomes joint manager of the house.

6. 1977

   Henri Krug becomes president.

7. 1978

   Private Cuvee is renamed Grande Cuvee, and the narrow-necked bottle is introduced.

8. 1979

   The first Krug Clos du Mesnil is made from this harvest.

9. 1983

   The first Krug Rose is presented.

10. Jan 1999

    Krug is sold to LVMH; Eric Lebel becomes cellar master.

11. 2009

    Olivier Krug, sixth generation, becomes director of the house.

12. 2011

    Krug introduces the six-digit Krug iD on its back labels.

13. 2016

    Edition numbers appear on Grande Cuvee labels, starting with the 163rd Edition.

14. 2020

    Julie Cavil becomes cellar master.

15. 2024

    Krug begins building Joseph, a new winery in Ambonnay.

16. Oct 2026

    A New York merchant lists the 173rd Edition at $299 a bottle.

The world in 2017

• Jan 21, 2017

  Millions join the Women's March worldwide after Donald Trump's inauguration.

• Mar 29, 2017

  The United Kingdom triggers Article 50, starting Brexit negotiations.

• May 7, 2017

  Emmanuel Macron wins the French presidential election.

• Jun 14, 2017

  The Grenfell Tower fire in West London kills 72 residents.

• Aug 21, 2017

  A total solar eclipse crosses the entire contiguous United States.

• Aug 25, 2017

  Hurricane Harvey strikes the United States as a Category 4 storm.

• Sep 19, 2017

  Hurricane Maria strikes, less than a month after Harvey.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Krug Grande Cuvee Brut NV is number 87 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (71 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Krug Grande Cuvee was called Private Cuvee until 1978.
• The Edition number on the label counts how many times the founder's yearly blend has been re-created.
• The 173rd Edition blends 150 wines from 13 different years.
• Krug's narrow-necked bottle was designed to reduce oxygen exchange as the wine ages.
• Every bottle's six-digit Krug iD unlocks the story of its own blend.
• Krug designed a glass with Riedel in 2011 to show off Grande Cuvee.