Veuve Clicquot is a historic maison founded in 1792 by Philippe Clicquot. Philippe's son married Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, who became a widow in 1805 and at the age of 27 she carried on the business alone. She had such strength and spirit of initiative that she managed to supply Tsar Alexander I with smuggling. Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin played an important role in the history of Champagne, in fact she invented the rémuage, that is the system that allows the yeasts to slide into the neck of the bottle and expel them through the disgorging operation.
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin bottled the first Rosé Champagne and was the first to produce a vintage Champagne. She was named the “Grande Dame de la Champagne” and the maison's prestige cuvée, created in 1972, was dedicated to her under the name of Grande Dame. It is a cuvée from 8 Grand Cru vineyards.
The style of the maison is based on Pinot noir and favors the fermentation in steel of base wines and the important use of vin de réserve. In fact, every year half of the wines of the harvest are set aside as vin de réserve.
Today Veuve Clicquot is the second Champagne maison with a annual production of 19 million bottles and belongs to the LVMH group (Louis Vuitton Möet Hennessy).