Legend has it that Champagne was invented by Dom Perignon, a Benedictine monk who was lucky enough to taste the drink in 1668 and was so happy that he began to cry.
The most famous champagne brand was named after him - "Dom Pérignon".
However, the way Benedictine invented champagne was definitely in need of improvement and Madame Barbet-Nicole Clicquot, known as the Great Lady of Champagne, or Veuve Clicquot, contributed to the emergence of a new method that significantly improved the quality of the drink.
Madame Clicquot.
More than 200 years ago, 27-year-old Frenchwoman Barbet-Nicole Clicquot decided to take over the management of champagne production, which she started with her husband François Clicquot. It was said that her husband died of a fever on October 23, 1805.
Many people did not understand the cause of his death, since he and his wife Barbet-Nicole were engaged in the production of champagne, known for its high quality. And in those days, many believed that champagne was the most effective "medicine" for high temperatures.
According to another version, at the time of his death, Francois was suffering from severe depression.
Madame Clicquot in her youth.
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After the death of her husband, Madame Clicquot was left alone with a small child. There was no one at Clicquot who thought the young Barbie-Nicole would take over the family business that she started 33 years ago, but she did.
This was an unprecedented decision in the early 19th century. Women had no power, and society was not used to trading with them. The Widow Clicquot not only coped with the task of supporting her husband's project, but also modernized the company.
Barbet-Nicole Clicquot company, photo by Ra Boe.
Fascinated by the complex champagne production process, she made several improvements.
Among other things, the Great Lady of Champagne invented the "mystery table" process. In 1816, she discovered that by storing bottles of champagne at an angle and gradually turning them upside down, sediment would fall on the necks, next to the cork (puzzle), and from there it could be removed, leaving a clear champagne.
The mysterious table invented by the Widow Clicquot.
This resourceful young woman used her dining table, which she turned on its side and drilled holes in the lid so that the corks in her champagne bottles were at an oblique angle to the floor.
Known today as the "mystery table" for sedimentation, it is a simple device still used in the production of champagne.
She also created a rosé champagne formula that is now highly regarded by professionals.
Pink champagne.
On February 10, 1806, she signed a business agreement in which she poured all her wealth to start a huge business development. Barbie Nicole was an amazingly skillful businesswoman. She knew how to run her business, and she succeeded. She transformed the family-owned champagne company into an internationally renowned company that produced 100,000 bottles of champagne a year.
She also founded the "House of Champagne" - a company engaged in the successful production and sale of this drink.
Wine cellar, Reims.
Barbey-Nicole had many impressive ideas that effectively helped to grow the popularity of her family business.
She refused to fight for the local market: she was not too interested in the English market.
Her intuition told her to try to develop less dense markets. Therefore, she looked far to the east and above all at Russia.
Champagne is very popular in Russia.
In 1814, warned of the victory of the coalition against Napoleon (1803-1815), she ordered to deliver a significant batch of 10 550 bottles to St. Petersburg by boat. Apparently they were sold out right away. The success was such that the "House of Champagne" could not fully meet the demand.
A. S. Pushkin in his novel "Eugene Onegin" awarded champagne, calling it "the blessed wine of the gods," and Russia remained the largest importer of champagne until the October Revolution (November 7, 1917).
Interestingly, not all Madame Clicquot champagne deliveries were successful. In 2010, there was a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea and several dozen bottles of the delicious and famous Veuve Clicquot champagne, dating from about 1840, appeared at the bottom.
Champagne bottles at the bottom of the sea.
Of course, as in any business, the Champagne business of Barbet-Nicole has experienced both ups and downs in those turbulent times with wars and restrictions, as well as a difficult political situation in Europe. For one year, the company's position was so critical that it tried to sell its jewelry to cover losses, but during this time no one had enough money to pay. Once again, this brilliant business woman has handled the problems well and raised the company.
During the 1820s Veuve Clicquot & Cie exported about 175,000 bottles of champagne, and within about 10 years, it expanded its empire even further.
Veuve Clicquot Champagne cork.
She died in 1866 at the age of 88.
Today Veuve Clicquot produces more than 10 million bottles of champagne, which, perhaps, goes to all markets in the world.