The Cruse Family : Bordeaux wine negociants

The first known member is Hans Cruse (1650-1734) who was a brewer and the rector of Crempe in Denmark.

His grandson, Jean-Christian Cruse (1742-1828) had a high position in the Lutheran clergy in Segeberg (Duchy of Holstein), he was invited every year to the Danish court where he dined with the King.

In 1819 one of his sons, Hermann (I) Cruse (1790-1855) founded the CRUSE Frères & Fils Company in Bordeaux. In 1820 he married Emma Raake who came from a powerful family in Brem-Sur-Mer. With their financial support and to the astonishment of the crippled industry, he indulged in a momentous speculation by purchasing nearly all of the exceptional 1847 vintage of Bordeaux Grands Crus during the worst days of 1848.

Hermann (I) was a tireless worker who, accompanied by his three sons, raised CRUSE & Fils Frères to rank among the leading wine companies in Bordeaux – as attested by the visit of Napoleon III in 1851.