Champagne is also a wine to which many female figures are attached. There is one whose name everyone knows but few know its unusual story, Barbe Nicole Ponsardin, who became Madame Clicquot at her wedding, and “La Veuve Clicquot” after the death of her husband.
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims. Madame Clicquot, known as the “Grande Dame of Champagne“, took on her husband’s wine business when widowed at 27. Guided by her innate sense of innovation and a perpetual quest for perfection, she is credited with major breakthroughs. In 1810, she creates the first known vintage champagne. In 1816, she invented the riddling table that would go on to facilitate the disgorgement of deposits after fermentation, making it possible to clarify the wine. The process is still used today. In 1818, she broke with tradition by creating, the first rosé blend, the Champagne rosé of Veuve Clicquot. The cuvée is based on the traditional blend of Champagne Veuve Clicquot Brut yellow card, supplemented by 12% of Pinot Noir red specially selected to bring strength and aromatic richness. The red wine used in Veuve Clicquot’s rosé champagne was made using a maceration method. The process is still used by the majority of champagne producers.
Thus, Barbe Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, this woman with unparalleled energy, revolutionizes the world of champagne and paves the way for success in the marketing of champagne. She died at Boursault on 29 July 1866 at the age of 88.
In 1972, the champagne house Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin created an annual award in her honor, the Veuve Clicquot prize rewarding women entrepreneurs or managers. This award now exists in 18 countries.
And! Last news! Last month, a passionate bargain hunter authenticated a photograph of the Veuve Clicquot he bought forty years ago. Until now, there was only one photo of her.
(Dr.FX)