Summary
Veuve Clicquot from Reims is one of the most storied and best-known Champagne houses in the world. Founded in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot, the house owes its name and fame above all to Madame Clicquot – the young widow who ran the business from 1805 and left a lasting mark on Champagne making with the riddling table, the first recorded vintage Champagne and the first rosé Champagne made by blending. The house farms around 390 hectares of its own vineyards, cultivates a powerful style built on Pinot Noir and is present worldwide with its yellow-labelled Yellow Label. Today Veuve Clicquot belongs to the luxury group LVMH.
History
The story of the house begins in 1772, when Philippe Clicquot founded a trading house in Reims that dealt in wine as well as textiles. His son François Clicquot married Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin in 1798. When François died unexpectedly in 1805, the 27-year-old widow – veuve in French – took over the running of the company. At a time when women were barely allowed to do business, she turned the house into one of the first international Champagne brands.
Madame Clicquot was a remarkable entrepreneur and innovator. In 1810 the house bottled the first recorded vintage Champagne. Around 1816 she and her cellar master developed the riddling table (table de remuage), which lets the yeast collect in the neck of the bottle so it can be removed – the basis for the clear Champagne we know today. In 1818 she created the first rosé Champagne by blending in red wine from Bouzy. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars she also pulled off a legendary coup: she shipped large quantities of Champagne to Russia early on, where the house's wine became all the rage.
Her business partner Édouard Werlé continued to run the house after her death in 1866. In 1877 the distinctive yellow label was registered as a trademark. At the beginning of the 20th century the house acquired the historic chalk cellars in Reims. In the mid-1980s Veuve Clicquot became part of the group from which the luxury conglomerate LVMH emerged. Since 2020 Didier Mariotti has been responsible for the house style as cellar master.
Location & Terroir
Alongside Épernay, Reims is the centre of the great Champagne houses. Beneath the city lie Veuve Clicquot's crayères – chalk pits, some dating back to Gallo-Roman times, that were extended into kilometres of cellars. They offer constantly cool temperatures and high humidity, ideal for long ageing on the lees. The hillsides, houses and cellars of Champagne, which include these cellar worlds in Reims, have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2015.
The around 390 hectares of the house's own vineyards are spread across Champagne's classic sub-regions, a very high share of them in Grand Cru and Premier Cru villages, especially on the Montagne de Reims with its focus on Pinot Noir. The chalk soils store water, release warmth evenly and give the base wines freshness and mineral tension.
Style & Philosophy
The style of Veuve Clicquot is shaped by Pinot Noir. The red variety forms the backbone of most cuvées and provides structure, power and a full, aromatic texture. Chardonnay brings elegance and finesse, Pinot Meunier fruitiness and roundness. An important building block are the reserve wines from earlier vintages, of which the house keeps a large library. They give the Yellow Label its consistent depth and harmony.
Alongside the non-vintage line, the house produces vintage Champagnes in selected years as well as Rich, a deliberately somewhat sweeter style that is also intended as a base for mixed drinks. At the top stands the prestige cuvée La Grande Dame, a tribute to Madame Clicquot, which is made only in especially good years and traditionally relies heavily on Pinot Noir from Grand Cru sites.
Notable Sites & Wines
The range extends from the classic to the prestige cuvée:
- Yellow Label Brut – the style-defining non-vintage Champagne with the yellow label and the flagship of the house
- Rosé – the rosé Champagne in the tradition of the first blended rosé of 1818
- Rich – a sweeter style, intended to be enjoyed over ice and in mixed drinks
- Vintage – vintage Champagne from especially good years
- La Grande Dame – the house's prestige cuvée, named after Madame Clicquot
Awards
Veuve Clicquot is one of the great names in Champagne and, with the Yellow Label, is present in practically every country in the world. The prestige cuvée La Grande Dame regularly receives high scores from international wine critics. At least as significant is the historical legacy: Madame Clicquot is regarded as one of the first great businesswomen of the wine world, and her innovations – from the riddling table to blended rosé – still shape Champagne making today.