Every Note Counts: Max Richter x Krug make music from champagne

An ambitious creative dialogue between champagne house Krug and genre-defying composer Max Richter – first explored by Wallpaper* in 2025 – celebrated a trio of distinctive Krug expressions by translating each into an evocative musical composition. As the partnership moves into its next chapter, a compelling new film goes behind the scenes of the alliance, offering fresh insights into a story of meticulous craft and creativity.

The encounter, titled Every Note Counts, centred on the exceptional grape harvest of 2008, a year that bestowed the Champagne region with the promise of an outstanding vintage. This inspired Krug cellar master Jule Cavil to compose three distinctive Krug expressions – each the result of experimentation and a deep understanding of time and terroir. Some 17 years later, Richter was invited to the cradle of Krug’s savoir-faire in Champagne to experience the maison’s unique craft firsthand and translate his own tasting sensations into music.

The resulting pieces beautifully reflect the singular nature of the champagnes: Krug Clos d’Ambonnay 2008 was translated into ‘Clarity’, a soloist piece capturing the radical purity of a single plot, a single grape, and a single year – ‘Every nuance is exposed and carries meaning,’ says Richter. Krug 2008 inspired ‘Ensemble’, a chamber composition evoking the ideal meteorological circumstances of that year; it ‘widens the frame, creating a more intricate dialogue’, adds the composer. Finally, Krug Grande Cuvée 164ème Édition, the most generous expression of champagne, assembled from 127 wines across 11 different years found its sonic representation in ‘Sinfonia’, which Richter refers to as ‘the full orchestra – like painting with a larger brush on a bigger canvas’.

The project explores a shared vision: two disciplines, two methods, united by one belief – that craft is in the detail and that the most generous creations are those made with precision, purpose and care.

Now, the new documentary expands the narrative. It captures the dialogue between Richter and Cavil, and reveals the quiet resonance between music and champagne. The film underscores their profound philosophical alignment: both masters of their craft are grounded in experimentation, precision, and the unwavering conviction that every note – whether tasted or heard – must be intentional. Creation, for each, is a process of assembling, refining, and balancing distinct elements until a complete and profound harmony emerges.

For Cavil, the connection is far more than a simple metaphor. As she notes in the film, hearing and tasting are closely linked in the brain; sound, for some people, can powerfully shape flavour perception, as the senses continually inform one another. The documentary positions Cavil as a conductor, orchestrating wines in pursuit of Joseph Krug’s founding vision – to craft the most generous expression of champagne each year by celebrating the character of each plot of vines.

This project invites epicureans to reconsider tasting as a fundamentally multisensory experience. Watch the full documentary to discover the results of a special pairing that shows how, whether in champagne or music, Every Note Counts.

The three cuvées at the centre of the project are presented as ‘Krug from Soloist to Orchestra in 2008, Act 2’. Find out more, listen to the compositions and watch the film in full at krug.com/maxrichter

Please enjoy responsibly.