Despite LVMH's majority ownership, the Krug family is still actively involved in all the key decisions of the house but does not manage the day-to-day operations.

[3] He was born Johann-Joseph Krug, a butcher's son, in Mainz, on the Rhine, in 1800, at a time when the city was part of the Napoleonic Empire.

[citation needed] He spent eight years with Jacquesson, with his work taking him beyond accountancy as he went on the road around Europe testing the market and assessing criticism from wine sellers and customers.

[4] In 1841 he married Emma-Anne Jaunay, the daughter of a French hotelier based in London's Leicester Square, and an English mother.

[5] In 1842 came the move to Reims and, following a year of negotiations, Krug et Cie. was founded in 1843 with sleeping partner Hyppolite de Vivès.

Joseph was also fluent in French, English and German and spoke some Russian, putting the company in position to exploit key overseas markets.

[6] Joseph died in 1866 and was succeeded by his son Paul Krug, who had been trained by his father for the business in France and abroad.

However, during World War I Joseph II was taken prisoner and his wife Jeanne played a key role in the House, at a time when the Western Front divided the region between the Allies and the Germans.

His father died in 1967, by which time he was, according to Patrick Forbes, "one of the most popular and respected figures in the Champagne district".

On the nose, Krug is characterized by toasted, grilled, pastry or almond notes born from at least 6 years of ageing sur lies.

A pressing contains 4,000 kg of grapes and yields 20.5 hectolitres of first juice (the "cuvée"), which is poured into twelve oak casks chosen at random.

Krug uses small 205-litre oak casks tailor-made from trees that are more than two centuries old in the forests of Hautes Futaies in Central France.

[citation needed] The House owns 30% of the vineyards that produce its wines[22] – a relatively high percentage in Champagne-making – with 20 hectares of vines in Ambonnay, Aÿ, Le Mesnil and Trépail.

[23] It obtains the rest of its grapes from long-term contract growers for a total of 250 plots selected from the 270,000 listed in France's Champagne region.

Upon their initial visit, they discovered that their purchase included a walled vineyard of a mere 1.85 acres located in the heart of the village and bearing an inscription: "In the year 1698, this wall was built by Claude Jannin and Pierre Dehée Metoen and in the same year the vines were planted by Gaspard Jannin, son of Claude."

Krug stresses that the wall and unusual location in the center of the village create a micro-climate that accords a unique character to its grapes.

It was for this reason that the House was inspired to devote a Champagne to a single plot for the first time in its history, resulting in Krug Clos du Mesnil 1979, presented in 1986.

In 1991, after seven years of searching, they found a walled plot of just 0.68 hectares on the edge the village, on the south-eastern slope of the Montagne de Reims.

Like the Clos du Mesnil, the plot was also surrounded by protective walls, which date back to the year 1766, although in this case the vineyard itself was not planted until the 20th century.

[27][28][29] LVMH, Paris, selected ceft and company new york, to create a global communications campaign for Krug Champagne.

[33] The House-created program offers a platform for stories, inspirations and favorite getaways and is open to the public via registration on the Krug.com website.

[36] In 2011, Krug, with the Silkstone events agency, shot a marketing campaign at the Burning Man festival in Nevada.

The Burning Man organization posted an exposé on their blog,[37] rebuking Krug for breaking many rules of the festival both in letter and spirit, including product placement, photography for commercial gain and leaving behind a mess.