LA GRANDE DAME
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Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin has been producing great champagnes ever since it was founded in 1772. Its story is linked to the work and personality of a remarkable woman, Madame Veuve Clicquot, who invented the riddling table in order to clarify her wines.
Madame Clicquot’s life could have been typical of that of many 18th-century young ladies in France. Born into a wealthy family, she made a good marriage to Francois Clicquot, who owned a champagne business. However, her natural curiosity encouraged her to take an interest in the house’s affairs, and, when her husband died prematurely (Madame Clicquot was only 27 years old at the time), she decided to take up the reins of the estate. Her strength of character and business sense transformed her family-in-law’s trade into a great Champagne House.
The House has always perpetrated a tradition of winning export markets, beginning with Philippe Clicquot, Madame Clicquot’s father-in-law, who set up the company to produce and sell champagne. In 1775, Veuve Clicquot exported its Rosé champagne for the first time and today over 85% of its shipments are sent abroad, both to countries with a large consumer base and those where the champagne market is developing. Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin is now positioned second worldwide and is perceived by consumers as the most exclusive and prestigious of champagnes.
The 382 hectares of vines currently owned by Veuve Clicquot were acquired over the years by Madame Clicquot and her successors. This vineyard has become one of the most important in the Champagne region both in terms of size and quality. The grapes used are carefully selected each year from the best crus in the region, with Pinot Noir providing structure, Pinot Meunier roundedness and Chardonnay freshness and elegance.
This guarantee of excellence and the knowledge of wines and winemaking has enabled Veuve Clicquot to make non-vintage champagnes of a consistent quality year after year, like the Brut Yellow Label or Demi-Sec, and to blend extraordinary vintage wines in years producing a particularly good harvest. La Grande Dame, a truly prestigious vintage, is made only during exceptional years with a blend of eight Grands Crus traditionally used by the House.
The secret of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin’s reputation lies in a taste for excellence, a quest for perfection, a refusal to submit to passing trends and, above all, a passion for its art.
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SELECTED LINKS
THE DINNER PARTY 10 “THE NORDIC EXPERIENCE
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