The widow who outplayed every man - Veuvu Clicquot

For our inaugural post and celebrating the New Year, we are sharing a label that you may have seen before. But do you know its rich history behind?

At just 27 years old, Barbe-Nicole Clicquot lost her husband to typhoid. Instead of retreating into a quiet life as expected of women in the 19th century, she defied the Napoleonic Code and social conventions to take the reins of the business. She rebranded the house as Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (Veuve means widow), turning her status into a symbol of authority and becoming one of the first modern businesswomen in history.

Before Madame Clicquot, champagnes were almost always non-vintage blends. In 1810, recognizing an exceptional harvest, she made the groundbreaking decision to bottle that single year's harvest alone. This created the world’s first recorded "Vintage Champagne," establishing the concept that a specific year’s weather and terroir could create a unique masterpiece.

With her business on the brink of collapse due to trade blockades during the Napoleonic Wars, she took a massive risk. She smuggled 10,550 bottles of her famous 1811 "Comet Vintage" onto a ship bound for St. Petersburg. She beat her competitors to the Russian court, where the Czar and nobility (starved of luxury) declared it the only wine they would drink. This daring move saved the company and conquered the Russian market.

This is her greatest technical contribution. At the time, champagne was cloudy due to yeast sediment. Madame Clicquot invented the table de remuage (riddling table). By placing bottles upside down at an angle and rotating them slightly every day, the sediment settled in the neck for easy removal. This invention allowed for crystal-clear wine and is still the method used by every champagne house today.

Prior to this, rosé champagne was made by staining white wine with elderberries. Finding this method crude, Madame Clicquot broke tradition again. She created the first Rosé d'assemblage (blended rosé) by blending her finest Bouzy red wines with her still white wines. This method created a rosé with better structure, flavor, and color stability, setting the modern standard for pink champagne.

Madame Clicquot passed away in 1866, but her spirit is immortalized in the house's prestige cuvée: La Grande Dame. Launched in 1972 to celebrate the bicentennial, this ultra-premium champagne is produced only in the very best years. It is dominated by Pinot Noir—the grape she believed gave the wine its power—serving as the ultimate tribute to the "Grand Dame of Champagne."

☄️ Comet Vintage
Madame Clicquot marketed the legendary 1811 vintage as "The Year of the Comet," linking a celestial event to one of the first great vintages.

🚢 Shipwreck Treasure
The first official vintage was release in 1984 (25 years later). Sold out 12k bottles.

🟡 The Yellow Label
The iconic yellow label was created to distinguish her drier (Brut) champagne from the sweeter versions that were common at the time

Lemon zest, crisp pear, grapefruit, and subtle notes of raspberry, red cherry, or strawberry, with hint of white blossom.

Veuvu Cliquot Brut uses Autolysis (also known as lees aging) and Malolactic Fermentation (MLF for short). You are going to taste biscuit, brioche, toasted bread, and buttery.

Subtle hints of honey, dried apple, or almond.

Serve at 43–50°F (6–10°C) rather than ice-cold. If you pull it straight from a standard refrigerator (38°F), let it sit on the table for 10–15 minutes before pouring.

Use a Tulip glass or a standard White Wine glass. Because Veuve Clicquot is rich and aromatic, a narrow flute traps the bouquet.

Effortlessly versatile to start a meal: ideal as an aperitif, or paired with seafood, pasta, crackers, or Parmesan cheese.

12 Rue du Temple, 51100 Reims, France