19th century entrepreneur extraordinaire,
Champagne entrepreneur, wine-lover 

Our hats are off to any woman, living or not, who steers a business to success. That’s why we salute Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin who, as Featured Ladies go, is a real corker. Widowed at age 27, this 19th century entrepreneur extraordinaire, with determination and intelligence but no first-hand experience turned her late husband’s floundering small family wine business into one of the most celebrated champagne houses in the world. Madame Clicquot, or Veuve (”widow” in French) Cilcquot, was known as “la grande dame” for defying rigid 19th century society expectations and displaying an unflappable ability to take risks, stick to her guns, and pave the way for women entrepreneurs everywhere. Clicquot built a brand synonymous with celebration by revolutionizing the way sediment is removed from Champagne, making it less labor-intensive, more affordable, and the international New Year’s nip of choice. So break out the bubbly, ladies, and let’s toast this brainy woman whose business acumen was considered, in her day, unbecoming of the fairer sex. Without her we would have something far inferior in our flutes.

What we learned from Madame Cliquot: Opportunities are everywhere in times of economic instability. Look for them and act. If you don’t, someone else will.

Click HERE to buy the new book The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It. 

As much as we love her champagne, we would love even more to talk to the Widow Clicquot. With only one of those luxuries available to us, we think an interview would sound something like this:

Early Influence

My father was the wealthy, influential owner of a textile business in Reims, France. In 1775 at age 28 he served on the coronation committee of King Louis XVI. But my father was no fool; when the French Revolution exploded in 1789 he cut ties with the aristocracy and joined the radical Jacobins, publicly siding with the revolutionary government to save his family. I was almost 13 at the time and while our lives and our country changed in an instant, I watched my father react to it with incredible insight just as fast.

Let Them Eat Wedding Cake

I grew up in a mansion called Hotel Ponsardin right in the center of town which, to give you an idea how big it is, today houses the chamber of commerce. In better days my father would have arranged an aristocratic husband for me. But as their ilk were being beheaded in the streets, my father chose Francois Clicquot, the son of a wealthy textile merchant who owned a substantial amount of land in French wine country and dabbled in the trade. We were married as the revolution was finally winding down in June of 1798, only to see General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrow the French government in November, 1799.

Learning the Ropes of Grapes

We decided to focus on what had been my father-in-law Philippe’s passing fancy, distributing the wine that local growers made and bottled. Francois toured Europe trying to sell our wines to aristocrats while I stayed home to keep watch over the business. Francois enjoyed modest success. But not content to be merely a distributor, he decided we should start bottling our own wines, a technically daunting task to say the least. I was fascinated by the process, and watched as skilled winemakers used intuition and years of experience to accomplish their tedious, time-consuming task.

Widowed at 27

In 1804, when I was only 27, I lost Francois to what was then a horrifying plague which you now know as typhoid. Devastated, I nonetheless convinced my father-in-law to let me continue running the business. He partnered me as an apprentice with a prominent winemaker, Alexandre Jerome Fourneaux. We both invested 80,000 francs, an astonishing gamble for us both given the fact that because Napoleon had declared war on Russia, Austria, Sweden and Great Britain, our political climate was hardly conducive to international wine trading success. And beyond that I was also risking my family fortune and my independence, two commodities I could never, as a widow, regain.

Down, Not Out

Political tensions caused staggering storage costs, port fees, merchant blockades, unstable currency rates, and the sobering fact that no insurance company would dare cover wine in wartime. But we stayed true to our product and by 1808, as political tensions eased, were becoming all the rage in Russia. But then in 1809, the economy came to a stand-still. Orders dried up in 1810, and Alexandre, seeing no future in fine wine, walked away from the business.

Staying the Course

I soldiered on. To stay afloat I sold red wine by the barrel locally and temporarily moved away from the international luxury wine market, although I did continue to make champagne. I recognized champagne’s appeal and was determined to streamline and perfect the process in order to avoid big bubbles, frothy foam, and unappealing sediment.

Success Uncorked

Keeping my name out there was one of the best decisions I ever made. By 1815 Veuve Clicquot was a recognized, sought-after brand. I knew needed to produce more champagne, quickly, in order to edge out my greatest competition, Jean-Rémy Möet. After being told by my workers that creating clear wine any faster than we already were was impossible, I secretly took my kitchen table to the cellars and riddled it with slanted holes, inserting a champagne bottle’s neck in each. Every day I secretly turned and tapped the bottles so the unsightly sediment would settle on the cork. After only six weeks I discovered I could pop the temporary cork, release the debris all at once, and produce crystal-clear champagne in a fraction of the time. This streamlined remuage process gave me the upper-hand I needed and by 1820 I was exporting over 175,000 bottles a year and was on my way to becoming the first woman to run an international commercial empire.

The Legend Lives On

I not only changed forever the way champagne was made, but I gather I altered the way it is ordered. Today you can call for a bottle of “The Widow” and receive exquisitely-crafted quaff from one of the world’s greatest champagne houses. Talk about branding!

This Featured Lady was posthumously profiled by Susie Lacey, Associate Editor, Ladies Who Launch