The Champagne region is world-renowned for its sparkling wines, and one house in particular helped elevate the bubbly to its top-tier status: Veuve Clicquot. In fact, there are several surprising facts about Veuve Clicquot that transformed the Champagne world — and therefore Champagne, France, itself.
I recently visited France for a tour of Champagne producers, visiting houses big and small. It was my second time visiting Veuve Clicquot, and I’m convinced it’s one of the must-visit houses in Champagne. (Book a tour here.)
5 Surprising Facts About Veuve Clicquot
1. Veuve Clicquot is named after a woman: Barb Nicole Clicquot.
This may not be one of the most surprising facts about Veuve Clicquot, but it’s likely the most important. The wine company that would eventually be Veuve Clicquot started in 1772 by a textile businessman, Phillipe Clicquot, who dabbled in sparkling wine on the side. He arranged the marriage of his son François to Barb Nicole Ponsardin, the daughter of another textile businessman. François and Barb took over the wine business but he suddenly died 7 years after their marriage. At just 27 years old, Barb Nicole convinced her father-in-law to let her continue the wine business. Surprisingly, he agreed.
The company came to be known as Veuve Clicquot. In French, veuve translates as “widow”. For a while the official name was Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (Barb Nicole’s maiden name), which is why the brand’s logo is the initials VCP.
Fun fact: Barb Nicole never stopped wearing black mourning attire. She wore black her entire life — right up until her death at age 89.
2. Barb Nicole transformed sparkling wine production.
When Barb Nicole first learned to make wine, one of the most time-consuming and wasteful processes was disgorgement. Disgorgement is when the dead yeast cells (called lees) are removed after fermenting in the bottle. Back then, this was mostly done by filtration, which wasted a lot of wine (and time!).
Barb Nicole thought there had to be a better way. She designed the riddling table, an A-shaped rack that allowed the yeast sediment to settle in the bottle’s neck. That made disgorgement — and therefore production — much faster and wasted less wine. This created the traditional method or méthode Champenoise — what is considered the traditional way to make Champagne.
The new riddling table would stay a Veuve Clicquot house secret for almost 10 years. Their competitors had no idea how they were producing wine so quickly. Eventually the secret got out and it revolutionized sparkling wine production. Today the riddling rack is seen all over the world in sparkling wine production. I even spotted it at sparkling wine producers in Mendoza!
Fun fact: Barb Nicole is also credited with inventing rosé Champagne in 1818. Instead of using the skins of red wine grapes like rosé outside of the Champagne region, Veuve Clicquot blended red wine with their Yellow Label Champagne to create their rosé.
3. War helped solidify Veuve Clicquot’s place in Champagne history.
With a brand dating back to 1772, it’s not surprising that history plays a part in the brand’s development. But what is surprising is just how war changed Champagne — and especially Veuve Clicquot.
In 1814, Russia occupied France during the Napoleonic wars. Russian soldiers stationed in Champagne developed a taste for sparkling wine and reportedly loved Veuve Clicquot. They loved it so much they bought (not stole!) lots and lots of bottles. When the Napoleonic wars ended, the soldiers celebrated with their favorite wine: Veuve Clicquot. Mallory O’Meara writes in the book Girly Drinks: A World History of Women & Alcohol that “this forged Champagne’s cultural identity as a drink of celebration.”
When the Russian soldiers returned home, they took their love of Veuve Clicquot with them. And as soon as the international trade ban was lifted, Barb Nicole had cases of Veuve Clicquot waiting for them to enjoy, creating international demand for her wine.
Fun fact: Because of this international demand for Veuve Clicquot, Barb Nicole became the first woman in modern history in control of an international commercial empire.
4. The Veuve Clicquot Champagne Caves contain tons of history.
Many Champagne houses in the Reims area age their wine in underground caves. The caves are thanks to the Romans, who mined chalk underground starting in the 3rd Century. Called crayères, in the 18th Century wine-makers discovered that the now-abandoned caves were the perfect place to age wine: they were dark, maintained a constant temperature of 11* Celsius (about 50 degrees Fahrenheit) with perfect humidity (about 100%), and completely lacked vibration.
During World War I, the Champagne region was right on the front line. So people took refuge in the caves, surviving more than a thousand continuous days of bombing underground. Schools and churches were established, butchers and shops set up, and concerts and plays were conducted. There was even a hospital, and its iconic red cross is still visible in Veuve Clicquot’s caves. (And yes, Champagne production continued despite the harsh conditions!
Fun fact: The Champagne houses of Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart, Martel, Taittinger, Charles Heidsieck, and Vranken-Pommery all age their wine in crayères. In fact, the caves are all connected — more than 35 miles! — aging tens of millions of bottles of Champagne!
5. Veuve Clicquot has a hotel that was once a private mansion.
For me, one of the most surprising facts about Veuve Clicquot was that the brand has a hotel. The invite-only guest house sits down the street from the caves in Reims, and I learned about it when my friend invited me to join her for a stay there.
Barb Nicole originally purchased the land with the intention of expanding the winery, but ended up giving it to her successor, Édouard Werlé. He built a mansion on the site in 1840 and lived in the house the rest of his life, even dying there. (That may explain some of the weird noises I heard during the night!)
Next to the mansion is the Pavillon de Muire, one of the few Renaissance buildings in Champagne to survive World War I (built in 1565!). Édouard Werlé bought the Pavilion in 1846 with the aim of using the cellars under it for wine storage, but that never happened.
After Édouard Werlé died, the house became the residence of Vueve Clicquot’s director. After LVMH acquired the brand, they spent four years completely restoring the property before opening it for private receptions and VIP guests in 2012. It is full of modern art mixed with classical decor — and it’s beautiful.
Fun fact: Called the Hotel du Marc, the guest house has six rooms and each one is designed and decorated completely differently.
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Champagne would not be the drink it is today without the influence of Veuve Clicquot. The famous Champagne house is responsible for internationalizing the Champagne market, revolutionizing the sparkling wine making process, and helping symbolize the bubbly wine as a celebratory drink. Now I’ll raise a toast to that!
Related :: The Best Itinerary for Champagne Tasting in Champagne, Staying at Veuve Clicquot’s Hotel du Marc, and 7 Tips for a Day Trip to Champagne from Paris
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