I first encountered Krug in Paris in the late ’70s. I lived with a couple of rather bourgeois Bohemians. This is a paradox which can only occur in France. Both were very successful media people. They wore baggy jeans and shirts, listened to Ella Fitzgerald and ate very simple, high quality, down-to-earth food. We had no wine cellar since the apartment was on the sixth floor of one of the most fashionable avenues on the Left Bank. And so the Chablis, the Bourgognes and the Krug lay in their cases on the floor next to the dining table. No wine was bought individually in this house, only by the case. And they were generous enough to share whatever was being opened with anyone who happened to walk into the house and, of course, with its occupants, even temporary ones like me.

I had drunk champagne on and off in London, mostly on special occasions for which this drink is reserved in Britain. In France, champagne is drunk whenever you feel like it. You don’t have to wait for a wedding or anniversary or even good news. So, at the tender age of 18, when I was first introduced to Krug, I was in fact being inducted into a certain way of life and an attitude which I more or less have faithfully followed to this day. Champagne and Paris at the age of 18 is a devastating combination. Krug and Paris is lethal. Nothing can better the high.

Almost 20 years later, I was introduced to Remi Krug in Delhi on the eve of a Krug event in India. He asked me if I liked champagne and I told him about my experiences with Krug, not knowing who he was. Destiny couldn’t have been kinder. A year later I visited Reims, the heart of champagne country about 150 kms north east of Paris. Remi and Henri, two brothers and the fifth generation of Krug champagne makers, more or less ran the show. To say that Krug is Remi’s passion would be an understatement. He is almost theatrical in his devotion. “If I am re-incarnated,” he laughs, “I want to be born back into the Krug family again.” Although the ownership of this relatively small family business went out of its hands some time ago and now belongs to LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, the big luxury brand giant), the family still holds the secrets of blending and producing this magic. “We know their people and we stand to benefit from their huge marketing and distribution network,” assured Remi. Krug is now available at all major international airports and food stores throughout the world.

Once you have sipped this complex, gold nectar, you can’t forget it and with this first sip begins a life-long devotion, an expensive and demanding one. According to Remi, “Krug can be a demanding mistress, lover or slave.” It is about a lifestyle, some hype (most of it well-deserved) and making a statement in the luxury market. And a luxury it definitely is, at more than double the price of any decent champagne.

We dined at Les Crayeres, a magnificent three-star Michelin restaurant situated in a park. This was at one time the chateau of Madame Pommery, a fitting and well-deserved tribute to its neighbours, the Champagne houses. We tasted, blended, tried some other champagnes for comparison and finally drunk some more Krug. I was hooked. Remi had done his job. Krug is clearly above others in terms of both quality and style. While people may prefer Dom Perignon or Cristal in the same range, I am very clear about my preference. Other ‘Krugistes’ include Gerard Depardieu, Maria Callas, Yves Montand, Ernest Hemingway, Georgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Catherine Deneuve, The Queen Mother, Michael Caine and Elton John. Interesting to note that their single largest individual buyer in the US is a physicist called Bipin Desai!