Veuve Clicquot

Philippe Clicquot, a textile merchant from Reims, founded the House in 1772, making use of vines he already owned in Bouzy. His son François Clicquot married Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, the daughter of a wealthy Reims textile manufacturer, in 1798. Following François Clicquot (d. 1805), Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin (1777-1866) took over the House in 1805, at 27, and became known as Veuve Clicquot, or 'widow Clicquot'. The House's full name is Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. By 1821 she was selling 280,000 bottles a year, mainly to the Tsar's Court. In 1866 the House was exporting around 750,000 bottles a year.

• Founded in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot, a textile merchant from Reims
• Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin (1777-1866) took over the House in 1805, at 27
• Around 750,000 bottles a year exported in 1866

In 1810 Madame Clicquot created the region's first recorded vintage Champagne, the product of a single harvest. The exceptional 1811 harvest gave the House its Comet Vintage, and in 1814, as the blockades on French shipping began to reduce, she shipped 10,550 bottles of 1811 Veuve Clicquot champagne to Saint Petersburg, with the help of her salesman Louis Bohne. In 1816 she invented riddling, placing bottles upside down in holes cut in a table. In 1818 she introduced the first rosé Champagne blended from red and white wine, adding red wine of the Bouzy cru. At Veuve Clicquot today, riddling is semi-automatic and semi-manual, and only La Grande Dame and large formats are riddled by hand.

• 1810: the region's first recorded vintage Champagne
• 1814: 10,550 bottles of the 1811 shipped to Saint Petersburg
• 1816: invention of riddling
• 1818: the first rosé Champagne blended from red and white wine

The 'V.Clicquot P. Werlé' Yellow Label trademark was registered on 12 February 1877. In 1909 Veuve Clicquot set up on the outskirts of Reims in 482 crayères (chalk cellars), former quarries, where its production site and visitors' centre are now located. To mark its 200th anniversary in 1972, the House launched La Grande Dame and created the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award, since renamed Bold by Veuve Clicquot. In 1986 Veuve Clicquot joined Louis Vuitton, and LVMH was founded the following year. In July 2010, 47 bottles of Veuve Clicquot were found in a shipwreck off Finland's Åland Islands. Veuve Clicquot's own history counts its crayères among those of the Saint Nicaise Hill in Reims listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2015. For its 250th anniversary the House presented Solaire Culture, its first global travelling exhibition. Veuve Clicquot is part of Moët Hennessy, the Wines and Spirits division of LVMH.

• 1877: 'V.Clicquot P. Werlé' Yellow Label trademark registered
• 1909: move into 482 crayères on the outskirts of Reims
• 1986: joined Louis Vuitton, the year before LVMH was founded
• Today part of Moët Hennessy, the Wines and Spirits division of LVMH

Thomas Mulliez is CEO of Veuve Clicquot and Didier Mariotti is its Cellar Master, the 11th in the House's history. A tasting committee of eight oenologists under Mariotti meets from November to March to taste the wines destined for the blends. Dominique Demarville was chef de cave when La Grande Dame 2004 was launched.

• CEO: Thomas Mulliez
• Cellar Master: Didier Mariotti, the 11th in over 250 years

As of 2019, Veuve Clicquot had 390 hectares under vine and an annual production of 1.5 million cases. Madame Clicquot acquired ten of the Maison's twelve iconic plots, which lie mainly on the Montagne de Reims. Grapes are harvested by hand, parcel by parcel, and the House's historic press in Verzy remains in use. Veuve Clicquot presses in six pressing centres, vinifies each grape variety, fraction and cru separately in one of 29 presses, and generally uses only the cuvée, the first and best-balanced juice. Veuve Clicquot mainly conducts malolactic conversion, but since 2018 it has stopped malolactic conversion in some wineries to preserve the freshness of its blends. A small percentage of the wine is fermented and aged in large oak barrels for the vintage and Cave Privée wines. The House keeps 400 reserve wines from 17 different years. Non-vintage wines age for a minimum of 30 months, vintage wines for a minimum of five years and La Grande Dame for a minimum of seven years, in the Crayères at 10-12°C.

• 390 hectares under vine (2019)
• Ten of the Maison's twelve iconic plots acquired by Madame Clicquot
• Hand harvest; six pressing centres and 29 presses
• 400 reserve wines from 17 different years

Brut Yellow Label, also called Brut Carte Jaune, is the House's signature cuvée: 50 to 55% Pinot Noir, 28 to 33% Chardonnay and 15 to 20% Meunier, with 25 to 45% reserve wines and a dosage of 9 g/L. Brut Rosé is based on the Yellow Label blend and completed with 12% red Pinot Noir wine. La Grande Dame, the prestige cuvée, has been 90% Pinot Noir since the 2008 vintage; its first vintage was 1962, of which only 6,000 bottles were made, and La Grande Dame 2018, the 25th vintage of the cuvée, is 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay with 6 g/L dosage. La Grande Dame Rosé 2018 takes its Pinot Noir red wine from the Clos Colin parcel, a Grand Cru in Bouzy. Vintage 2019, the 68th vintage since 1810, blends 60% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 10% Meunier, with 13% of wines aged in oak foudres. The Cave Privée collection re-releases older vintages, such as Cave Privée 1989, a blend of 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Chardonnay from 25 Grands and Premiers Crus. Extra Brut Extra Old is crafted exclusively from reserve wines; its fourth edition blends reserve wines from 1996, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 with a dosage of 3 g/L. RICH, at 55 g/L dosage, is crafted to be served on ice or very chilled, and Demi-Sec carries 45 g/L.

• Brut Yellow Label (Carte Jaune): Pinot Noir-led signature cuvée, 9 g/L dosage
• La Grande Dame: prestige cuvée, first vintage 1962, 90% Pinot Noir since 2008
• Vintage: 2019 is the 68th vintage since 1810
• Cave Privée: re-released older vintages
• Extra Brut Extra Old: crafted exclusively from reserve wines

The House motto is "Only one quality, the finest." Veuve Clicquot defines its style as "strength and complexity." Writing in Decanter, Michael Edwards found that the house produces significant volumes without losing its attachment to quality across the range.

Veuve Clicquot's Visit Center is at 1 Rue Albert Thomas, 51100 Reims, where the House offers cellar tours with tastings. The Clicquot Café there, open since March 2023, is the House's first permanent Clicquot Café in the world.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/madameclicquot.html, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/vinetowine.html, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/artdupinotnoir.html, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/our-champagnes/our-champagnes/brut-yellow-label/, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/our-champagnes/our-champagnes/brut-rose/, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/veuve-clicquot-la-grande-dame-2018-10969622.html, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/veuve-clicquot-vintage-2019-brut-1099606.html, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/veuve-clicquot-cave-privee-1989-1089607.html, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/veuve-clicquot-extra-brut-extra-old-4-444411694.html, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/veuve-clicquot-new-rich-10672121.html, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/veuve-clicquot-champagne-demi-sec-333311691.html, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/lagrandedame2018rosereveal.html, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/clicquotinthemaking.html, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/visitus.html, https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-us/our-champagnes/our-champagnes/. Group site (LVMH): https://www.lvmh.com/en/our-maisons/wines-spirits/veuve-clicquot. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/premium/veuve-clicquot-producer-profile-409736/ (Decanter, Michael Edwards, 2 March 2019), https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/veuve-clicquot-launches-la-grande-dame-2004-28419/ (Decanter, Adam Lechmere), https://www.winespectator.com/articles/2017-new-york-wine-experience-veuve-clicquot-grande-dame (Wine Spectator, 23 October 2017), https://www.winespectator.com/articles/iron-ladies-of-champagne-47802 (Wine Spectator, 20 December 2012). Last verified 2026-10-21. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.