Veuve Clicquot - La Grande Dame

Veuve Clicquot was founded over 200 years ago.

The Champagne house was founded by Phillippe Clicquot-Muiron in 1772. At the time, the company was involved with banking and wool trading in addition to Champagne production.

Veuve Clicquot translates to “Widow Clicquot,” named for the first woman to run a Champagne house.

Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin was the actual “Veuve Clicquot,” widowed at the age of 27, just seven years after marrying the company’s heir, François. Madame Clicquot was known for being strong-willed and innovative through her years at the house’s helm.

Veuve Clicquot created the first-ever vintage Champagne

After five years of bad vintages, war, and near-failure, Madame Clicquot celebrated the success of 1810 with the first single-vintage Champagne. The concept became a huge success the following year, when the iconic 1811 vintage Champagne was labeled ‘The Year of the Comet.’

Veuve Clicquot invented the riddling rack, allowing Champagne to be mass-produced.

Created by Madame Clicquot and the house’s cellar master, the riddling rack (which looked more like a riddling table at that time) allowed a more efficient process of disgorgement for the final corking of Champagne bottles. It is still used by sparkling producers around the world.

Veuve Clicquot was one of the first producers of rosé Champagne.

Ruinart had already produced a rosé Champagne by tinting Champagne with elderberry juice, but Veuve Clicquot was the first to produce rosé Champagne by adding still red wine to its sparkling. First made in 1818, Veuve Clicquot Rosé is now made by adding Pinot Noir to the classic Yellow Label.

Veuve Clicquot’s signature yellow label has adorned the bottle for over 180 years.

The label started appearing on bottles around 1835 and was officially trademarked in 1877. It was created to distinguish “dry” bottles from the usual sweeter ones in the British market and became a huge hit.

Veuve Clicquot’s vineyard holdings are almost entirely comprised of Grand and Premier Crus.

Fifty-five percent of Veuve Clicquot’s vineyards are categorized as Grand Cru and 40 percent are Premier Cru.

Veuve Clicquot Champagnes are always Pinot Noir-dominant.

The house believes that Pinot Noir adds strength and structure to its wines.

The house’s prestige cuvée is ‘La Grande Dame.”

It was introduced in 1972 to celebrate Veuve Clicquot’s 200th anniversary.

Veuve Clicquot sells over 1.5 million cases of Champagne each year.

And 400,000 of those Veuve cases go to the United States. Compare that to one of Champagne’s “larger” grower-producers, Chartogne-Taillet, which produces just 6,500 cases of Champagne each year.

In 1668, Dom Pérignon is said to have discovered how to make sparkling wine; today his technique is used the world over, although Champagne continues to make some of the finest. France’s most northerly wine region, Champagne is now home to 15,000 growers and 290 ‘houses’. A blend of grape varieties is usually required: white Chardonnay to add fruit and elegance, and two reds – Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – to provide body and backbone.