In 1772, the banker and wool merchant Philippe Clicquot-Muiron founded a wine trade under the name Clicquot. This was the origin of one of the first and most famous champagne houses. Son François Clicquot (+1805) married Nicole Barbe Ponsardin (1777-1866) in 1798, the wedding took place in style in a champagne cellar. Representatives were sent to Russia as early as 1802 to boost exports. After the early death of her husband, the young widow took over the business and named it "Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin" (Veuve = widow). The perfectionist woman also inspected her wine cellars at night to watch over the development. She is often regarded as the first entrepreneur of the modern era; her champagne was supplied to all the European courts of rulers and princes. Her cellar master Antoine de Muller (1788-1859), originally from Swabia, succeeded around 1813 in the revolutionary invention of bottle riddling, remuage by means of riddling pulleys (pupitres). According to legend, the Madame sacrificed one of her pieces of furniture for the first such device. Until 1821, Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin was the only company to use this new process.
Invention of the Rosé Champagne
Madame Clicquot-Ponsardin was also the inventor of rosé champagne, until then only white had been produced. The design of the yellow label still used today for vintageless champagnes also comes from her. In 1814, Madame had the cellars bricked up because she feared looting by the Cossacks and the Prussians, who occupied the town several times between March and May. On 13 March 1814, while the French...
