Madame Clicquot: The Woman Who Revolutionized Champagne
When Barbe-Nicole Clicquot took over the family champagne business against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, she defied the odds and transformed Veuve Clicquot into an international icon.
Philippe Clicquot had weathered many storms in his life. He had built a successful career as a textile merchant, navigating industrialization, the French Revolution, and securing his family’s future by arranging the marriage of his only son to the daughter of his greatest competitor. Together, the Clicquot and Ponsardin families dominated the textile industry in and around Reims, France.
But nothing could have prepared him for the death of his son François at the age of thirty.
In the autumn of 1805, François caught some terrible illness (possibly typhoid?) and after twelve days of relentless fever, he died. He left behind his 27-year-old wife, Barbe-Nicole, and his six-year-old daughter, Clémentine.
The family was devastated by the loss. Though their marriage was arranged, François and Barbe-Nicole grew to love each other, and they shared a mutual passion: champagne.
Textiles were the family’s mai…
