Veuve Clicquot

Madame Veuve Clicquot (1777-1866) was an extremely enterprising lady at a time that is historically regarded as one of the most dangerous and insecure periods in France

Moreover, there were hardly any women in business at the time. In 1772, Philippe Clicquot-Muiron founded his company Clicquot, which (in addition to banking and textiles) traded in Champagne was active.

His son François was particularly involved in viticulture and also proved to be a successful champagne merchant. The young Mademoiselle Nicole-Barbe Ponsardin from Reims married François Clicquot in 1798 and their daughter Clementine was born in 1800, but her husband died unexpectedly of a fever in 1805.

The widow Clicquot (27), who was still young at the time, took over the management of the Clicquot company despite numerous difficulties, despite the great reservations of her father-in-law Philippe Clicquot and to the great astonishment of many of her contemporaries.

Together with her loyal employees, she rapidly developed the House of Clicquot into an extraordinarily successful company. Clicquot champagne was particularly popular with the Russian aristocracy. Madame Clicquot-Ponsardin was not only an extremely capable businesswoman, however, but also knew how to recognise true talent in people. One example of a true talent she recognised was a Bavarian emigrant named Antoine Müller. Together with the excellent cellar master Antoine Müller, the pupitre (shaking desk) was invented in 1818 and remuage (the shaking of bottles) was brought to perfection.

Édouard Werlé is probably an example of one of their well-maintained friendships. Mr Werlé came from Hattenheim am Main in Germany and later became French by naturalisation. Édouard Werlé was initially a simple employee at Clicquot. However, the bank in Paris, where the assets of the Clicquot family were managed, collapsed in 1828. Werlé jeopardised his own fortune in order to satisfy pressing creditors. Madame Clicquot only learnt of Werlé's gesture after the event and subsequently appointed Werlé as a partner of the House of Clicquot.

Nicole-Barbe Clicquot-Ponsardin passed away peacefully at her Chateau de Boursault in 1866 at an advanced age. In her will, she bequeathed the entire company to Édouard Werlé and his son Alfred. Father and son continued to run the Clicquot house very successfully. To celebrate its 200th anniversary in 1972, Clicquot produced a fantastic cuvée called La Grande Dame, which is still regarded by connoisseurs as the superlative among champagnes and at the same time commemorates this truly remarkable lady.

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