Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin is a champagne house in Reims, France and a brand of champagne, easily recognised by its distinctive bright yellow bottle labels. Founded in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot-Muiron, Veuve Clicquot (roughly pronounced vuhv klee-koh) played an important role in establishing champagne as the beverage of choice of European nobility and the wealthy bourgeoisie. Situated in Reims, Veuve Clicquot has been part of the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy group of luxury brands since 1987. Veuve Clicquot now owns a controlling interest in New Zealand's Cloudy Bay Vineyards.

Nicole-Barbe Ponsardin, born on 16 December 1777, married François Clicquot on 10 June 1798, the son of Philippe Clicquot-Muiron, but her husband died on 23 October 1805, leaving her a widow (French veuve) and in control of the company. Up until this point, the company was splitting its affairs between Champagne production, banking, and wool trading. Under Madame Clicquot's guidance, the company invested its entire focus into Champagne production.

During the Napoleonic Wars, she was successful in exporting her champagne (to Imperial Russia in 1814, among others) and establishing it in the royal courts.

Madame Clicquot died on 29 July 1866, leaving behind a well-established brand of champagne.

Madame Clicquot is credited with the industrialisation of champagne production in the early 19th century. With the assistance of her cellar master, Antoine de Müller, Clicquot invented the riddling rack that allows the dégorgement of dead yeast and sediment from the wine in a cleaner process. Clicquot's invention was composed of a wooden desk with circular holes drilled in it that 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 the dead yeast and sediments to settle in the neck of the bottle. Once the yeast settled in the neck, it was frozen. After the cork was released, the sediments would fall out, allowing the clean wine to be topped and recorked. The Champagne also holds a royal warrant for Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.