Heidsieck

In 1777, the German emigrant Florenz-Ludwig Heidsieck (1749-1828) settled in Reims. He originally came from Westphalia (Borgholzhausen). With his newly acquired French citizenship, his name changed: He was henceforth called Florens-Louis Heidsieck.

Shortly afterwards, he married the daughter of the wealthy textile merchant Nicolas Perthois and founded a company in 1785, initially trading in textiles with his son, but shortly afterwards turning to the production of champagne.

In 1794, the company name was changed to Heidsieck & Co. However, his son died unexpectedly at a young age. Thus, Mr. Heidsieck decided to invite his three nephews, who were still living in Germany, to join his company in Reims.

In 1795, his nephew Henri-Louis Waldbaum joined the company. In 1805, another nephew named Charles-Henri Heidsieck followed. After that, Christian Heidsieck, the younger brother of Charles-Henri, also joined the company in 1808. The parents of the nephews as well as friends from Germany also followed.

Family names like Waldbaum, Piper, Deliuse and Kunkelmann were closely connected with Heidsieck. From then on, Heidsieck & Co. was equipped with capable, ambitious family members and friends, which seemed to secure the long-term future of the house Heidsieck & Co.

In 1818, Charles-Henri Heidsieck married a lady named Émelie Henriot (the name Henriot would prove to be very important in connection with 'Heidsieck' years later).

As early as in 1824, Charles-Henri Heidsieck died and left behind his widow as well as a still young son named Charles-Camille Heidsieck. Four years later, the founder of the house, Florens-Louis Heidsieck, also died. It is thought that these family losses hit the two remaining nephews hard. They decided to temporarily suspend the house's trade. A little later, Henri-Louis Waldbaum and Christian Heidsieck started trading their champagnes again. Soon after, however, this new alliance fell apart and the two nephews went their separate ways.

Henri-Louis Waldbaum founded the house Waldbaum-Heidsieck & Co. in 1834. The present house Heidsieck & Co. Monopole has its historical origin in this house.

Christian Heidsieck also founded a company in 1834 and traded champagne under the brand 'Heidsieck'. However, he died only one year later, whereupon the house was managed by his widow and consequently became known as Veuve Heidsieck. His widow married her brother-in-law, a Mr Henri-Guillaume Piperk, in 1837. He himself was a grand-nephew of the original Heidsieck founder, Florens-Louis Heidsieck. In 1845, the name Piper-Heidsieck appeared on the labels, although the Heidsieck brand was also retained in parallel. At the same time, Charles-Camille Heidsieck, the aforementioned son of Charles-Henri Heidsieck, joined the company. In 1851, Charles-Camille Heidsieck left Piper-Heidsieck again and joined Henriot Frères, Soeur & Co. Together with a Mr. Ernest Henriot, the house Charles Heidsieck was founded in the same year.

Thus, from the original root Heidsieck & Co. grew three strong and independent champagne houses, which are now world-renowned as the prestigious houses Heidsieck & Co. Monopole, Piper-Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck.

Disputes among the houses about the exclusive use of the name Heidsieck were already preprogrammed at that time. Without a doubt, all three houses had (and have) historically a legitimate claim to the name Heidsieck.

According to historian Nicholas Faith, when the house Heidsieck & Co. Monopole celebrated a centenary in 1885 (i.e. using the founding year of the original Heidsieck & Co. as a basis), there was legal trouble with the house Charles Heidsieck. However, since the house Charles Heidsieck was founded later than Heidsieck & Co. Monopole and Piper-Heidsieck, the court at that time allowed both Heidsieck & Co. Monopole and Piper-Heidsieck to refer to 1785.

Heidsieck & Co. Monopole in turn attempted to prohibit Piper-Heidsieck from relying on the date 1785. However, this did not succeed legally, as the lawyers of the house Heidsieck-Monopole in the original legal dispute with Charles Heidsieck had indirectly conceded the disputed foundation year to the house Piper-Heidsieck itself.

In the meantime, the dispute among the three houses has long been buried, especially since at the time of this report both Charles Heidsieck and Piper-Heisieck belong to the Rémy-Cointreau group and Heidsieck-Monopole meanwhile belongs to the well-known Vranken empire.

All three houses still produce excellent champagnes. However, despite their common roots in the history of Champagne, the three houses have their own very special individuality, which no champagne fan should miss to take a closer look at. In this sense (in alphabetical order):

Charles Heidsieck
Heidsieck & Co. Monopole
Piper-Heidsieck