Champagne......An Entrepreneur's Story

When I say champagne who is the first person that comes to mind? I have to admit before I became a wine nut I too thought this person as the one who put the champagne region on the map. I bought a bottle a few years back (quite a few years actually but I refuse to say how many) when a friend had passed away (much too young) and it was in celebration of his life that we drank it. That bottle of champagne was none other than Dom Perignon. I still have it.

So how would you feel if I were to tell you that it was someone else who was to put the champagne region onto the world stage? What would you think if I were to say that it was not a man but a woman?

Hint: The bottle's label colour is orange. How about the word "Veuve". Any guesses?

The name is "Veuve Clicquot". The word veuve in french translates to "widow". Widow Clicquot is her name.

I want to recommend a book for you to read. It is called "The Widow Clicquot, The story of a champagne empire and the woman who ruled it." If you are a woman entrepreneur this is definitely a book for you! If you need inspiration and motivation this is the book for you. If you like champagne you will most assuredly have to read this book. If biographies are your thing or you are a history buff, again a must read. This book will touch anyone who reads it.

It is a story of one woman and her sheer determination, tenacity, audacity, risk taker extraordinaire, and resilience. It is the story of a woman who followed her own path much like Amelia Earhart when it was not a woman's place to do so.

There's the French Revolution and the Franco-Prussian War, Napoleon Bonaparte and Russian Czars. You have the collapse of international markets and risky business decisions.

In the book Veuve (Widow) Clicquot is credited with three achievements: "internationalizing the champagne market, establishing brand identification and developing the process known in french as Remuage Sur Pupitre which is an efficient system for clearing champagne of the yeasty debris trapped in the bottle after secondary fermentation. " It truly is an awe inspiring story of one woman who believed in herself so completely.

I could not put this book down. You will also discover along the way the other women who were the heads of some of the most famous champagne houses. I don't want to give away everything. It honestly is an amazing story. You will not be disappointed!

Au revoir for now!

Mademoiselle Jacqueline

p.s. The signature that you see on the label of a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne is actually her signature. Have a look next time your in the liquor shop. The book is written by a woman.......Tilar J. Mazzeo