Veuve Clicquot Archives

Thrilled to have been quoted in today’s Financial Post – In a Madame Clicquot feature! 🥂

In this special Madame Clicquot feature, I state: “Madame Clicquot’s success was exceptional, given the early 19th century’s oppressive, Napoleonic expectations of women in which they were expected to stay home, have children, and keep quiet”“They did not have the right to vote, could not attend university, nor open a bank account in their own name. None of that for La Grande Dame Barbe-Nicole.”

Madame Clicquot was married at 21 and widowed at 27 in 1805. Against considerable opposition, she wanted to take over her husband’s business and approached her father-in-law with a proposal and convinced him to let her manage it. Philippe agreed, with one condition, that she must go through an apprenticeship, which proved to be a success. Success – Madame Clicquot become the first woman to take over a champagne house and was the first “female” champagne producer.

Veuve Clicquot continues to thrive today, and it became a force in the industry due to Madame Clicquot being an extraordinary and cleaver businesswoman.

The Strength and Friendship of Women in Champagne 🍾

While doing research for this piece, I found a Harvard Business Review Study from 2017, entitled “A Study of the Champagne Industry Shows That Women Have Stronger Networks, and Profit from Them” – this is an interesting read.

I have also witnessed this firsthand when I visited the region multiple times 6 years ago. I was conducting research for my book “The Ultimate Guide To Champagne” and was interviewing female CEOs running champagne houses. During my many meetings, lunches, and dinners with these female leaders I found that have bonded together and do meet every few months over dinner to discuss their friendship, business and the industry as a whole.

Honoured and thrilled to be Inducted into the Champagne fraternity The Order of the Coteaux (Paris) in 2021, as a Knight. Over the past few years, I’m happy to see more and more women inducted into this fraternité, and in addition more women added to the Chapter Council. I’m looking forward to attending in June the Chapter de La Fleur de Vigne, Versailles, Paris and catching up with some female members.

Click here for the article ➡️ https://canadianfamilyoffices.com/family-business/this-valentines-day-raise-a-glass-to-the-widow

#veuveclicquot #womeninwine #womeninwinebusiness #womenleaders #veuveclicquotcanada #veuverose #brutrose #champagne #popbottles #bubbles #LiveClicquot #quotes #wine #madameclicquot #yellowlabel #champagne #champagnelover #champagnelife #winelover #champagnetime #financialpost #vday #valentinesday

Champagne is on a strong upswing in the U.S. market

Propelled by a new generation of highly aspirational consumers, Champagne is on a strong upswing in the U.S. market. Depletions have accelerated each of the past two years, advancing by 5% in 2016 to surpass 1.4 million cases, according to Impact Databank. Meanwhile, shipment value has exploded. Since 2010, Champagne shipments to the U.S. have grown by two-thirds—or about 11% annually—to reach €540 million ($607m) in 2016. Last year, the pace of value expansion slowed slightly, to 5%, and Champagne shipments’ per-case value dipped about 1%—but that marginal correction followed a breakout 2015 during which value had surged by 28%.

Champagne marketers are bullish on the category’s future prospects. “Whether it’s with Prosecco or another sparkler, younger consumers are starting to enjoy sparkling wines on more occasions,” says Bill Terlato, president and CEO of Terlato Wine Group, which markets the Piper-Heidsieck and Duval-Leroy Champagne brands. “If we get them involved with sparkling wine, eventually they’re going to start to want Champagne, which is the ultimate sparkling wine.

Veuve Clicquot and Moët & Chandon, both imported by Moët Hennessy USA, continued to dominate the category in 2016, comprising 51% of the total U.S. Champagne market. Together, Moët Hennessy’s dynamic duo has expanded by more than 20% over the past three years, and is poised to break the 900,000-case threshold in combined volume this year. Two sweeter line extensions—Moët & Chandon Ice Imperial and Veuve Clicquot Rich—are appealing to younger consumers, according to Rodney Williams, CMO at Moët Hennessy USA. “Moët Ice was the first Champagne to launch at a higher dosage level, specifically to accommodate ice,” he says, noting that reception has been strong. Veuve Clicquot Rich ($63) is aimed at injecting Champagne into the mixology movement. “We believe these two innovations can take hold and create a whole new segment in the Champagne category,” Williams says. Moët Hennessy USA’s higher-end bubbly stable is also on the rise. Dom Perignon, ranked fifth in the market by volume despite a price point of above $160 a bottle, grew 4.3% to 61,000 cases last year.

Pernod Ricard’s Perrier-Jouët was the only top-five brand to register a consumption decline in 2016. The third-ranked Champagne brand slipped 3.6% to 77,000 cases in 2016, a drop that came on the heels of a 12% gain the year before. Nicolas Feuillatte, at number four, registered a 7.9% increase to 62,000 cases, regaining half the volume it had lost in 2015, when depletions slumped 16.2%. Overall, 12 of the top 20 Champagne brands in the U.S. market posted volume increases last year.

Aygline Pechdo, brand director, Champagne and sparkling at Pernod Ricard USA, says millennials are becoming key drivers of category volume. “The consumer base has diversified over the years and the consumption of Champagne is no longer reserved to the elite or older demographics,” Pechdo says. “In fact, most of the volume today is driven by ‘high-energy’ occasions, very much in line with millennials’ lifestyle and their desire to celebrate each day to its fullest—not just special occasions.”

Top 6 Champagne Brands in the U.S.
(thousands of nine-liter case depletions)

1 Veuve Clicquot Moet-Hennessy USA (LVMH)
2 Moet & Chandon Moet-Hennessy USA (LVMH)
3 Perrier-Jouet Pernod Ricard USA
4 Nicolas Feuillatte Ste. Michelle Wine Estates
5 Dom Perignon Moet-Hennessy USA (LVMH)
6 Piper Heidsieck Terlato Wines International

Sources: Shanken News; Impact Databank

Veuve Clicquot introduces Extra Brut Extra Old Champagne

Veuve Clicquot recently unveiled Extra Brut Extra Old champagne. This happens to be the brand’s novel low-dosage cuvée and an “exclusive expression of Yellow Label”.

The international launch event for the cuvée was hosted a few weeks ago by cellar master Dominique Demarville, who announced that the new creation is a result of the richness of the wines he used to make the Champagne.

The notion behind the creation of the enriched cuvee was to create a blend dedicated to extra brut, but also to bring out the imminence of reserved wines. Demarville started out with a vision of displaying how reserve wines are aged at Veuve Clicquot and showing how important they are for Yellow Label. He succeeded in creating the special Veuve Clicquot Extra Brut Extra Old which is an unique combination of reserve wines from six different vintages, including – 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 1996 and 1988. Further, a dosage of 3 g/l places the blend in the Extra Brut category, which is used for Champagne with 6g/l of sugar or lower.

The blending and maturity cycle for the cuvée takes almost three years in the bottle and another one year to age in Clicquot’s cellars post-disgorgement. This cuvee is limited to a very small production of 30,000 bottles.

The U.S. Becomes Champagne’s Top Export Market

The Champagne category is bubbling over in the U.S. market, driven by a dynamic premiumization trend. With per-case value up 20% to over €300 ($334) last year, the U.S. overtook the U.K. as Champagne’s top export market by value in 2015. Champagne shipments to the U.S. leapt 28% to €515 million ($573m) for the year, surpassing the U.K.’s total of €512 million ($570m), which itself represented a 7% bump. U.S. depletions, at 1.4 million cases last year, remain shy of their 2007 total of 1.6 million cases, but shipment value has surged by nearly 60% since 2010, according to Impact Databank. A slide in the euro—whose value against the dollar is down by about 20% over the past two years—has helped to stoke growth.

From 2010-2014, Champagne’s value on a per-case basis rose a respectable 10% in the U.S., adding around $25. But in 2015 alone, it more than doubled that incremental growth, tacking on about $55 in value to the average case of Champagne. Price hikes and a stronger emphasis on higher-end bubblies are both contributing to the dramatic rise in value.

Piper-Heidsieck, which transitioned from the Rémy Cointreau USA portfolio to Terlato Wines last July, is employing both of those tactics. Piper is extending with a Rare Rosé this year, which will be priced at a premium to prestige cuvée Rare Brut, becoming the brand’s highest-priced offering. While looking to increase its high-end sales, Piper has also taken price hikes on its core Brut non-vintage. “Previously you’d sometimes see the Brut as low as $29.99 on the shelf. Over the holidays last year the average was above $39.99, which is a nice move in the right direction,” says Terlato CEO Bill Terlato.

The third-largest Champagne in the U.S. market, Pernod Ricard’s Perrier-Jouët, is seeing strong results for its prestige cuvée Belle Epoque, which sells above $150 a bottle. “The on-premise is back on a healthy trend and it’s a key driver for our portfolio,” says Aygline Pechdo, brand director for Champagnes at Pernod Ricard USA.

Meanwhile, market leader Moët Hennessy USA continues to enjoy impressive progress with the dynamic duo of Veuve Clicquot and Moët & Chandon, which dominate the category with a combined 60% share. Portfoliomate Dom Perignon is also among the top five Champagnes in the U.S. in volume terms—totaling nearly 60,000 cases annually—despite a retail price above $160 a bottle.

Fourth-ranked player Nicolas Feuillatte tells SND it’s focused on expanding Champagne into new consumption occasions. “We’ll be launching new advertising and social media campaigns this year which support our vision for the future of Champagne as more modern and accessible,” says Feuillatte’s Americas export manager Olivier Zorel. —Daniel Marsteller

			Depletions			Percent Change3
U.S. – Top Six Champagne Brands (thousands of nine-liter cases)
Rank	Brand	Importer	2013	2014	2015	2013-2014	2014-2015
1	Veuve Clicquot	Moet Hennessy USA (LVMH)	383	415	453	8.3%	9.3%
2	Moet & Chandon1	Moet Hennessy USA (LVMH)	354	369	382	4.1%	3.6%
3	Perrier-Jouet	Pernod Ricard USA	71	71	80	-0.3%	11.8%
4	Nicolas Feuillatte	Ste. Michelle Wine Estates	67	68	68	1.5%	0.0%
5	Dom Perignon	Moet Hennessy USA (LVMH)	56	59	58	5.2%	-1.7%
6	Piper Heidsieck	Terlato Wines International	51	45	42	-11.4%	-7.0%
Total Top Six2			983	1,027	1,083	4.5%	5.4%
1 excludes Dom Perignon 2 addition of columns may not agree due to rounding 3 based on unrounded dataSource: IMPACT DATABANK

Source: Shanken News

Liz Palmer

liz-palmer.com

@Champagnehouses

@LizPalmer_

#TBT FIVE TOP CHAMPAGNE BRANDS BY GLOBAL SALES FOR 2014

2014 Champagne sales hit second highest total on record with
over 308m bottles of Champagne being sold. This represent a 1% rise in global Champagne sales from 2013.

The Comite Champagne, formerly the CIVC, also estimated that worldwide Champagne sales reached 4.5bn euros in value terms, up from 4.3bn euros in 2013 and the second highest annual total on record, behind 2007.

This suggests consumers have traded up to higher priced Champagne, despite fierce discounting. Exports drove the increases in volume and value in 2014.

Most champagne houses, growers and co-operatives lowered their dosages since the start of the century, with an average reduction of 2.8 g/l over the last 15 years, a measurable reflection of an increase in BNV quality resulting from harvesting riper, cleaner grapes, and producing richer, more complex blends.

Compiled here is a list of the top Five Champagne brands, by global sales, for 2014. Where are your favourite Champagnes ranked?

1. Moët & Chandon

Size (approx. annual sales, 2014): 2.45m cases

Cellar master: Benoît Gouez

It’s widely acknowledged that the quality of the world’s biggest Champagne brand – and flagship wine in the LVMH stable – has improved since Benoit Gouez became cellar master in 2005.

Within the last decade the category leader has benefitted from updated winemaking facilities, an increased proportion of reserve wine, better viticultural management and, as a result, riper fruit and richer, cleaner wines, which, in turn, have allowed for a lower dosage – Moët dropped to 9g/l in 2012, having previously hovered around 12 g/l.

During this period, they shifted its celebrity allegiance from actress Scarlett Johansson to tennis star Roger Federer – who remains the global Moët brand ambassador today.

In recent years the brand has not been tempted to release a drier variant of Moët and the house has no extra brut (6 g/l or below) or brut nature (0 g/l) Champagne, but, in the same year it discontinued its White Star, Moët introduced the Ice Impérial, which, with a 45 g/l dosage, is a much sweeter version designed for serving over ice.

Brand owner: Moët Hennessy

Head office: 20 Avenue de Champagne, 51200, Epernay, France

Website: www.moet.com

Product range: Moët & Chandon, Impérial NV, Rosé NV, Ice Impérial, Grand Vintage Blanc, Grand Vintage Rosé

2. Veuve Clicquot

Size (approx. annual sales, 2014): 1.55m cases

Cellar master: Dominique Demarville

Similar to Moët, Veuve Clicquot has seen its dosage fall by a few grams per litre over the last decade, but has retained its relatively opulent style, a function of the high Pinot Noir content in the blend, as well as high proportion of reserve wine, and more than 30 months spent ageing on its lees in the cellars.

It is the first brand to use biodegradable gift boxes made from its own grapes.

Brand owner: Moët Hennessy

Head office: 13 Rue Albert Thomas, 51100, Reims, France

Website: www.veuve-clicquot.com

Product range: Brut Yellow Label, Rosé, Demi-Sec, Vintage, Rosé Vintage, Cave Privée, La Grande Dame

3. Nicolas Feuillatte

Size (approx. annual sales, 2014): 875,000 cases

Cellar master: David Hénault

Director of winemaking: Guillaume Roffiaen

Made at, and owned by, the cooperative The Centre Vinicole Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte (CV-CNF), the brand has access to 2,250 hectares of grapes from 5,000 growers at a winery which can ferment as much as 300,000 hectolitres each year.

Founded in 1976 – the label has a strong following for its contemporary packaging, good value blends, and partnerships with the arts.

Nicolas Feuillatte’s best selling blend is its Brut NV, accounting for 80% of sales.

Brand owner: Centre Vinicole–Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Head office: Chouilly, BP 210, 51206, Epernay Cedex, France

Website: www.nicolas-feuillatte.com 

Product range: Brut NV, Brut Réserve, Brut Grande Réserve, Demi Sec, Rosé NV, D’Luscious Rosé NV, Brut Vintage, Brut Extrem’, Cuvée Spéciale Vintage, Brut Chardonnay Vintage, One Four Brut, One Four Rosé, Cuvée 225 Brut Vintage, Cuvée 225 Rosé Vintage, Grand Cru Chadonnay Vintage, Grand Cru Pinot Noir Vintage, Palmes d’Or Brut Vintage, Palmes d’Or Rosé Vintage

4. G.H Mumm Cordon

Size (approx. annual sales, 2014): 638,000 cases

Cellar master: Didier Mariotti

Famous for its red stripe and regular appearances on Formula 1 podiums, GH Mumm sits alongside Perrier-Jouët in the Pernod Ricard Champagne portfolio.

Niche, but excellent Champagnes in the range include the Mumm de Cramant blanc de blancs and Mumm de Verzenay blanc de noirs – the latter launched in 2012, initially just for the French market

Brand owner: Pernod Ricard

Head office: 29 rue de Champ des Mars, 51053 Reims, France

Website: www.ghmumm.com

Product range: Brut Cordon Rouge, Brut Rosé, Demi-Sec, Brut Millésimé, Mumm de Cramant Blanc de Blancs, Mumm de Verzenay Blanc de Noirs, Brut Séléction, Cuvée R. Lalou

5. Laurent-Perrier

Size (approx. annual sales, 2014): 545,000 cases

Cellar master: Michel Fauconnet

It is the largest family-owned house in France and currently headed by Alexandra and Stephanie, daughters of the legendary Bernard de Nonancourt

Brand owner: Group Laurent-Perrier

Head office: Domaine Laurent-Perrier, 51150, Tours-sur-Marne, France

Website: www.laurent-perrier.com

Product range: Brut NV, Rosé NV, Ultra-Brut, Demi-Sec, Brut Millésimé, Grand Siècle, Les Réserves Grand Siècle, Alexandra Rosé

Source: Drinks Business and Decanter