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Krug, Grande Cuvée (NV)

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By Daniel Min · Tasted 2019-12-19 · Published 2026-09-15 · Updated 2026-09-15

In one paragraphKrug Grande Cuvée is the non-vintage prestige cuvée from Maison Krug in Reims, Champagne, blending Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier from ten-odd vintages and 120-odd individual wines, then cellaring for a minimum of six years before release. Vivino lists alcohol at 12.5%. With the largest sample of any wine covered in this magazine — 39,670 ratings — it averages 4.6 (690th among 3.36 million French wines, 2,640th of 12.35 million worldwide). Nearly 30 listed critic scores cluster mostly in the 92–98 range. The nose leads with a bread-and-nut group of brioche, toast and almond (3,262 mentions), followed by citrus and lemon (2,051) and apple and other tree fruit (1,808). Structure: acidity 4.3/5, fizziness 4.2, intensity 4.1. I've logged this wine six times between 2019 and 2025, scoring 5.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.0, 4.5 and 4.5 — never once below 4.5. Price: US$281 per 750ml ex-tax (Wine-Searcher, Sept 2026).

At a glance

About 30 critic scores on Vivino — from 93 in 1999 to 98 in 2018, mostly clustered in the 92–98 range, trending higher from the 2010s on

Market note: Grande Cuvée isn't sold as a single vintage but as a series of "editions" — Vivino reviews alone mention the 164th, 169th, 172nd and 173rd editions circulating under the same name. The six-digit Krug ID introduced in 2011 lets you look up each edition's exact blend.

What this wine is

Johann-Joseph Krug was born in 1800 in Mainz, Germany, the son of a butcher. He crossed into France in the 1820s and settled in Champagne, learning the trade at the house of Jacquesson. His fluency in French, English and German — with a little Russian — became the foundation for reaching international markets, and in 1843 he founded his own house in Reims under his own name.

Krug's identity has boiled down to one idea from the founding to today: if a vintage Champagne speaks for "that year," Grande Cuvée promises "the same Krug-ness, year after year." In practice that means blending ten-odd different vintages and 120-odd individual wines, then cellaring at least six years — a production cycle running nearly twenty years bottle to bottle. Since 2011 every bottle carries a six-digit Krug ID on the back label: the first digit marks the release quarter, the next two the year, letting you look up that exact bottle's blend through the Krug app. I never noted which edition this particular bottle was, but Vivino reviews alone mention the 164th, 169th, 172nd and 173rd editions of Grande Cuvée in circulation — each with its own vintage makeup.

LVMH acquired Krug from Rémy Cointreau in January 1999, and the Krug family has stayed involved in major decisions since. I also went looking for a story about Madame Krug's resistance activity during World War II, but what I could actually confirm belongs to a different war: during World War I, while her husband Joseph Krug II was held as a prisoner on the Western Front, his wife Jeanne Krug ran the house in his absence. I'm correcting the record here rather than repeating an unverified claim.

What the world says

This Grande Cuvée has been rated by 39,670 people on Vivino, averaging 4.6 — the largest sample of any wine this magazine has covered. It ranks 690th among 3.36 million French wines and 2,640th of 12.35 million worldwide. Nearly 30 critic scores are on file, ranging from 93 in 1999 to 98 in 2018, mostly clustered in the 92–98 range and trending upward from the 2010s on.

The flavor keywords lead decisively with the bread-and-nut group — brioche, toast, almond, hazelnut — at 3,262 mentions, followed by citrus and lemon (2,051), apple, pear and apricot (1,808), honey and minerals (1,548), and butter, oak and vanilla (1,085). Structure: acidity 4.3/5, fizziness 4.2, intensity 4.1 — the acid is what stands out in a Champagne built for long ageing.

"172nd edition. An amazing and clean edition, citrus apple lemon at first, brioche toast butter creamy palate, hints of hazelnut as well. Smooth finish, overall great." — Vivino review, Apr 2026, 4.7 stars

"Krug always feels like a homecoming. Familiar, comforting and yet endlessly complete, this 172ème Edition delivered its usual layered interplay of brioche, citrus oil, toasted hazelnut and chalk." — Vivino review, May 2026, 4.6 stars

Before this piece, I had given a perfect 5.0 to exactly two wines on this site — Dom Pérignon Brut 2008 and William Hill Central Coast Chardonnay 2015. Krug Grande Cuvée is the third.

How I drank it

"Always delicious. My favorite." 19 December 2019, 5.0 stars — one of the shortest notes I've ever written, but the meaning is clear. That night I opened it alongside Moillard Corton-Charlemagne 1997 (4.5) and Tenuta Luce 2012 (3.5): a white Burgundy to start, this Champagne in the middle, a Tuscan red to close — and this non-vintage Champagne came out on top of all three.

Krug Grande Cuvée shows up several more times in my Vivino log. 23 March 2020, 4.5 stars — "Brioche, honey, citrus, toast, lemon, almond, minerals… my second Krug. Everyone got excited just seeing it on the table. Whether or not it's actually made for Korean food, we all loved it anyway. The honey I tasted when I held it in my mouth still hasn't left me." 16 June 2020, 5.0 stars — "My third~ Absolutely delicious. I've come to realize mood and how you handle the wine matter just as much. From now on I'm hunting down vintage Krug instead of NV." On 1 July 2022 I opened two bottles the same day and scored them 5.0 and 4.5. Most recently, 8 November 2025, 4.5 stars.

Add it up and six entries between 2019 and 2025 read 5.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.0, 4.5, 4.5 — never once below 4.5. "My favorite" wasn't an exaggeration. What I find interesting is the June 2020 note where I wrote that I was ready to move on from NV to vintage Krug — having fully experienced Grande Cuvée's promise of "the same Krug-ness every year," my curiosity had shifted toward what a single year, on its own, tastes like.

Vivino community data

NV vintage rating distribution (39670 ratings, average 4.6)

Most-mentioned aromas

Structure: Acidity 4.3/5 · Intensity 4.1/5 · Fizziness 4.2/5

Average by vintage (all vintages: 39670 ratings, average 4.6)

My original note (Vivino, 2019-12-19)

Frequently asked questions

Links & sources

View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher

• Vivino — wine page and community data
• Wikipedia — Champagne Krug
• Krug official — Our Story
• The Drinks Business — Krug to number each Grande Cuvée blend