The German-born winegrowing pioneer Charles Krug (1825-1892) emigrated from Kassel in Prussia to San Francisco in California in 1852, where he initially worked as a newspaper editor. There was no family connection to the famous French champagne family Krug. From 1858, Charles Krug worked seasonally as a cellar master in the Napa Valley, later conducting his own viticultural experiments in San Mateo and Sonoma.
Encouraged by winegrowing pioneer Agoston Haraszthy (1812-1869), he settled in Napa Valley in 1860 and founded a winery in St Helena a year later. Thanks to his great success in public relations and sales, as well as the use of new cellar techniques, he became the biggest competitor of his promoter Haraszthy and his Buena Vista Winery in the Los Carneros area. Among other things, he was the first to use mechanical presses. Krug also trained young, immigrant winegrowers and later wrote a chronicle about the early years.
![]()
I have great respect for the scope and quality of the wein.plus encyclopaedia. It is a unique place to go for crisp, sound information on terms from the world of wine.
Dr. Edgar Müller
Dozent, Önologe und Weinbauberater, Bad Kreuznach