champagne house . for the american soda company see clicquot club company . veuve clicquot ponsardin industry champagne production founded 1772 244 years ago founder philippe clicquot muiron headquarters 12 rue du temple reims france key people jean marc gallot president 1 jean marc lacave former president revenue 1.2 billion 2012 parent lvmh website www.veuve clicquot.com veuve clicquot ponsardin french pronunciation v v kliko p sa d is a french champagne house based in reims specializing in premium products . founded in 1772 by philippe clicquot muiron veuve clicquot played an important role in establishing champagne as a favored drink of haute bourgeoisie and nobility throughout europe . the 1811 comet vintage of veuve clicquot is theorized to have been the first truly modern champagne due to the advancements in the m thode champenoise which veuve clicquot pioneered through the technique of remuage . 2 3 contents 1 history 2 in popular culture 3 modernisation of production 4 oldest bottle 5 shipwrecked bottles 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit portrait of madame clicquot and her great granddaughter anne de rochechouart mortemart by l on cogniet . in 1772 philippe clicquot muiron established the original enterprise which eventually became the house of veuve clicquot . in 1775 it was credited to be the first champagne house to produce ros champagne using the method of adding red wine during production . 4 philippe s son fran ois clicquot married barbe nicole ponsardin in 1798 and died in 1805 leaving his widow veuve in french in control of a company variously involved in banking wool trading and champagne production . she became the first woman to take over a champagne house . 4 under madame clicquot s guidance the firm focused entirely on the last to great success . 5 during the napoleonic wars madame clicquot made strides in establishing her wine in royal courts throughout europe notably that of imperial russia thus becoming the first champagne house to ship champagne through the blockade to russia in 1811 . 4 during this time she also gave champagne to the prussian guards enforcing the blockade and the soldiers opened the champagne with their swords so started the technique of sabring champagne . 6 by the time she died in 1866 veuve clicquot had become both a substantial champagne house and a respected brand . easily recognised by its distinctive bright yellow labels the wine holds a royal warrant from queen elizabeth ii of the united kingdom . since 1987 the veuve clicquot company has been part of the louis vuitton mo t hennessy group of luxury brands and today owns a controlling interest in new zealand s cloudy bay vineyards . in popular culture edit veuve clicquot is featured in several films including casablanca and babette s feast . veuve clicquot is mentioned in downton abbey series 6 episode 1 . veuve clicquot is mentioned as having been consumed by the fictional british secret service operative james bond written by ian fleming . bond drank clicquot veuve clicquot and veuve clicquot ros in at least three of the original novels casino royale diamonds are forever and thunderball . modernisation of production edit bottles of veuve clicquot ranging from piccolo 0.188 l to balthazar 12 l madame clicquot is credited with a great breakthrough in champagne handling that made mass production of the wine possible . in the early 19th century with the assistance of her cellar master antoine de m ller clicquot invented the riddling rack that made the crucial process of d gorgement both more efficient and economic . 7 clicquot s advance involved systematically collecting the spent yeast and sediments left from the wine s secondary fermentation in the bottle s neck by using a specialised rack . composed much like a wooden desk with circular holes the rack allowed a bottle of wine to be stuck sur point or upside down . every day a cellar assistant would gently shake and twist remuage the bottle to encourage wine solids to settle to the bottom . when this was completed the cork was carefully removed the sediments ejected and a small replacement dose of sweetened wine added . 8 oldest bottle edit in july 2008 an unopened bottle of veuve clicquot was discovered inside a sideboard in torosay castle isle of mull scotland . the 1893 bottle was in mint condition having been kept in the dark and was the oldest bottle known to exist . it is now on display at the veuve clicquot ponsardin visitor centre in reims and is regarded as priceless . 9 shipwrecked bottles edit in july 2010 a group of finnish divers found 168 bottles from the f gl wreck in the baltic sea off the coast of the land islands . 10 11 12 the bottles were initially claimed to have been produced between 1782 and 1788 . they were sent back to france for analysis . shortly after this the bottles were traced to a now defunct champagne house juglar . in november 2010 it was reported that the wreck indeed included veuve clicquot bottles as well . 13 14 veuve clicquot stated that experts checking branding of the corks were able to identify with absolute certainty that three of the bottles were theirs . the other bottles examined were attributed to juglar . 14 on 17 november the local government of the land islands announced that most of the bottles were to be auctioned off . 15 in january 2011 further information about the land bottles was released . ninety five of them were identified as juglar 46 as veuve clicquot and at least four as heidsieck . 16 the well preserved wine was considered drinkable when it was tasted in 2015 . chemical analysis showed levels of sugar 150 g l much higher than modern champagne . it also had much higher levels of salt iron lead copper and arsenic compared with modern vintages . it is believed the arsenic and copper originated from antiquated pesticide bordeaux mixture applied to the grapes . the iron probably came from nails used in the wine barrels and the lead leached from brass valve fittings of the winemaking equipment . modern champagne producers begin with wine from stainless steel barrels yielding lower iron and lead levels . 17 see also edit louis bohne sales agent for veuve clicquot mireille guiliano former spokesperson co founder and ceo of clicquot inc. in the us . references edit champagne jean marc gallot prend la direction de veuve clicquot lvmh . 12 september 2014 . g. harding a wine miscellany pp 45 47 clarkson potter publishing new york 2005 isbn 0 307 34635 8 h. johnson vintage the story of wine pg 337 simon & schuster 1989 isbn 0 671 68702 6 a b c glengarry victoria park store new look episode 2 regan and the champagne area don and petie kladstrup champagne how the world s most glamorous wine triumphed over war and hard times new york william morrow 2005 p. 77 . isbn 0 06 073792 1 . sabre champagne don and petie kladstrup champagne p. 78 . hugh johnson and jancis robinson the world atlas of wine 5th ed . london mitchell beazley 2001 pg 79 . isbn 1 84000 332 4 . priceless champagne discovered . bbc news . 28 july 2008 . retrieved 17 july 2010 . the world s oldest champagne official web site of the land islands finland archived 25 november 2010 at the wayback machine . treasure bubbles to the surface . the australian . news limited . 18 july 2010 . retrieved 18 july 2010 . world s oldest champagne found on baltic seabed . bbc news . 17 july 2010 . retrieved 17 july 2010 . lechmere adam decanter.com 17 november 2010 . champagne still fresh after nearly two centuries in baltic a b veuve clicquot shipwrecked champagne was ours . yahoo news . 17 november 2010 . retrieved 17 november 2010 . auction of the world s oldest champagne press release of aland finland permanent dead link ahvenanmaan samppanjahylyst l ytyi uusi juomalaatu . helsingin sanomat . 17 january 2011 . archived from the original on 20 january 2011 . retrieved 17 january 2011 . sarah everts . 170 year old champagne cache analyzed chemical analysis of shipwrecked bubbly reveals secrets of 19th century french winemaking . chem & eng news april 20 2015 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to veuve clicquot ponsardin . champagne veuve clicquot video of the oldest bottles being recovered bbc news v t e lvmh board of directors albert fr re antoine arnault bernadette chirac bernard arnault charles powell charles de croisset delphine arnault diego della valle felix rohatyn gilles hennessy hubert v drine yves thibault de silguy fashion and leather goods berluti c line donna karan international eluxury emilio pucci fendi givenchy kenzo loewe louis vuitton marc jacobs stefanobi thomas pink perfumes and cosmetics acqua di parma benefit cosmetics fresh guerlain kenzo parfums labrosse et dupont make up for ever parfums christian dior parfums givenchy perfumes loewe retailing le bon march dfs galleria la samaritaine sephora miami cruiseline starboard cruise services watches and jewellery bulgari chaumet dior watches fred 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