The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It
Written by Tilar J. Mazzeo
Narrated by Susan Ericksen
4/5
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About this audiobook
In The Widow Clicquot, Tilar J. Mazzeo brings to life for the first time the fascinating woman behind the iconic yellow label: Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin. A young witness to the dramatic events of the French Revolution and a new widow during the chaotic years of the Napoleonic Wars, Barbe-Nicole defied convention by assuming-after her husband's death-the reins of the fledgling wine business they had nurtured. Steering the company through dizzying political and financial reversals, she became one of the world's first great businesswomen and one of the richest women of her time.
Although the Widow Clicquot is still a legend in her native France, her story has never been told in all its richness-until now. Painstakingly researched and elegantly written, The Widow Clicquot provides a glimpse into the life of a woman who arranged clandestine and perilous champagne deliveries to Russia one day and entertained Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte on another. She was a daring and determined entrepreneur, a bold risk taker, and an audacious and intelligent woman who took control of her own destiny when fate left her on the brink of financial ruin. Her legacy lives on today, not simply through the famous product that still bears her name, but now through Mazzeo's finely crafted book. As much a fascinating journey through the process of making this temperamental wine as a biography of a uniquely tempered woman, The Widow Clicquot is utterly intoxicating.
Editor's Note
A champagne empire…
A must-read for any wine enthusiast, this essential oenobiography details the rise of a champagne empire, with one of history’s most fascinating, fearless female entrepreneurs at its helm.
Tilar J. Mazzeo
Tilar J. Mazzeo is the New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle bestselling author of books that include The Widow Clicquot, The Secret of Chanel No. 5, and Hotel on the Place Vendôme. She also writes on food and wine for the mainstream press, and her work has appeared in venues such as Food & Wine and in her Back-Lane Wineries guidebook series (Ten Speed Press). Her course on creative nonfiction (Great Courses), featured as in-flight viewing content on Virgin America airlines, is widely distributed and has made her a nationally prominent teacher of writing in nonfiction genres. The Clara C. Piper Associate Professor of English at Colby College, she divides her time among coastal Maine, New York City, and Saanichton, British Columbia, where she lives with her husband and stepchildren.
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Reviews for The Widow Clicquot
45 ratings17 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The subject (the life of the widow Clicquot, famous Champagne entepreuneur) is interesting and the english quite easy to understand even for a non native speaker. In particular, the part regarding the hard times widow Clicquot faces during the Napoleonic Empire catches the reader attention and makes him genuinely wonder how she is going to resolve the situation. Unkuckily there is one fatal flaw in this book: it is a matter of fact that not much has remained to the present to understand the private life and thoughts of this woman and most of the letters we have refer to the central years of her life. The author tries to compensate for this lacking of material by “imagining” what a woman like Barbe-Nicole Clicquot could have felt and thought, basing her assumption on nothing. This way she ends writing a “docudrama”, a book which is nor fiction, neither an objective documentary. For this reason, especially in the first half, writing style can be very annoying: the author keeps reminding us that she doesn't know what her protagonist was thinking but nonetheless she wants to try guessing it. The words “perhaps”, “must” and “surely” keep coming again and again and again. "Perhaps Barbe-Nicole thought this" "Perhaps she thought that" "Surely she must have heard of X" "Surely she imagined that".Terrible.In the second part, thanks to a broader availability of original documents the rythm slightly improves, but many people will probably give up before reaching that point.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It.Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin was born on the eve of the French Revolution. Her wealthy father read the signs of change and positioned himself to ride the wave, saving his textile business, his homes, his fortune and his family. When Barb-Nicole was of age, she married Francois Clicquot, the only son of another wealthy textile merchant, whose family had begun to dabble in wine. As fate would have it, Francois died before his vision was realized, but his young widow took over and cornered the market before anyone realized what she was doing. The dynasty she built remains today as one of the premier champagne houses. The author, in an effort to not misrepresent, frequently qualifies statements with “perhaps” or “might have.” Mazzeo herself writes about this lack of information. It is a surprisingly thin biographical record, considering Barbe-Nicole’s celebrity and accomplishments, and writing this book has been an exercise in the oblique. … I wanted to discover not just what she did and when she lived, but how she was able to imagine for herself a different future and how she was able to negotiate those familiar crossroads of grief, despair, and opportunity.I appreciate that Mazzeo was stymied by scarce records, few (if any) letters or documents that would support a definitive and declarative portrait, and that she wanted to produce a work of non-fiction, not a fictionalized biography. But the result, in my humble opinion, is a book that gives me facts but never brings the lady at the center of the story to life. I love champagne, though I admit to never having sampled Veuve Clicquot. I also love reading about strong, independent women, especially when they were clearly ahead of their time. But I was bored for much of this book. I wanted more of Barbe-Nicole, herself.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll never drink a glass of champagne the same way again. This was an interesting look at a female entepreneur in the early - mid 1800's, a time when most women were nowhere to be seen in public life. There is some interesting stuff about the development of champagne but it is more about her extraordinary life.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The book is poorly written. It struggles between being nonfiction since there is limited information. At the same time, the author appears to have a wealth of letters between the widow and her sales and that she skims over. The editor would have been wise to advise her to either make the book historical fiction or not to speculate so much in the book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Very engaging, interesting story of a 19th century businesswoman and champagne magnate. Great for readers of womens' and wine history. I agree that there is a lot of speculation about Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin's inner life but Tilar Mazzeo tells a great story and very well.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I expected a biography; however, it became apparent early into the book that Mazzeo simply did not have near enough material to write one. Instead Matteo uses the arc of Clicquot's career to show the development of the champagne industry against the backdrop of enormous political and economic changes in nineteenth century Europe. Although Clicquot was unique in terms of being a female CEO, she was not that unique in terms of the particular industry she was in . I did learn some new facts about champagne, including the fact that it originally was very sweet, with about 300 grams of sugar per bottle - more than say sauternes. There is also a suggestion that champagne originally was invented by the British, Moreover it was the British preference for dryer wine that lead to the development of the brut which is the favored modern style. Sacrebleu!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good to read while drinking Christmas bubbly - lots of history, biography and wine making details (perhaps too much of this)
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I admit that I initially read this book due to my great interest in wine. But I soon realized that it was really a great study in successful entrepreneur-ism under incredibly challenging conditions.The Widow Clicquot is the story of France's first Champagne empire, one created and ruled by an entrepreneurial woman who overcame huge challenges in a man's world of the late 1700's-early 1800's. I highly recommend it to all women entrepreneurs who want some insights in making it in a male dominated society.I won't go into the whole story as the book is a quick read, but just review a few highlights. Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin was born into a middle class entrepreneurial family in 1778 in Reims--today the world capital of Champagne production. She barely survived the French Revolution in 1789, only by a kindly servant smuggling her out of danger. She married young, and asked for the families wine shipping business as part of her dowry. Her husband promptly died and she was left with running the business. Wars constantly shut down European borders to wine exports, poor vineyard management ruined vintages, business partners were untrustworthy, to name a few of her travails. Having a top sales guy who traveled Europe, avoided arrest at every turn and was consistently loyal to her for years was a key success factor. She expanded in the early years beyond shipping other producers wine into making her own Champagne, working tirelessly to create a cachet around her brand by convincing kings, queens and nobles--especially the Russians-- to fall in love with the bubbly. At least twice the business should have failed but Barbe-Nicole always found a way to survive, including smuggling her wines across closed borders.To be sure, the book has its faults. Little is known about Barbe-Nicole's personal life and much of her business savvy needs interpolation from scanty company records. This does not take anything away from her remarkable feats in surviving during a time when war was the norm and peace a distant hope in Europe. The author takes liberties with lots of references on what might have happened instead of facts. But the facts do not exist and I never felt she seriously overstepped her bounds
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was pretty dry reading (pun intended), but I did learn a lot about one of my favorite drinks: Champagne.
Barbe Nicole Poussardin Clicquot was born during th French Revolution to a very well off family who for obvious switched sides during & after the revolution.
It wasn't until after she was married that she & her husband began dabbling in wine making.
Champagne was Not "discovered" by Dom Perirgnon...most ALL wines vinted in the area of Champagne France had bubbles due to climate conditions. Dom Perignon was trying to find a way to get rid of the bubbles. Later, bubbles were added in a second fermentation process by including more yeast & sugar to the already fermented wine.
Champagne was originally a dark color and a very sweet dessert wine.....
Champagne is made from only 3 types of grapes.....
Vintage refers to the fact that all the grapes used came from the same harvest
The sweetness or tartness indication is opposite of still wines. A tart still wine is labeled "Dry". Whereas a tart Champagne is labeled Brut or Natural. A "Dry" Champagne is sweet.
I knew much of this information prior to reading the book, but it was interesting to know the history of the process. The history part was rather boring and written in an over scholarly style for my taste. - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5There’s not a lot of personal detail in this biography of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, the Widow Cliquot, who revolutionized the champagne business in the early 19th century. There are no letters or journals that survived, so there’s no way to know what she was thinking, and the author doesn’t fantasize or even guess, but sticks to the little information that exists.
The history of the times is exciting enough; it was a turbulent period in France. Beyond that, there’s a lot of information about the manufacture of champagne and about the champagne business. I think this would be of more interest to a person who is more interested in chemistry and economy – more than I am, anyway. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I found this book intriguing, especially if I regard it as an overview of 19th century France seen through the lens of Reims and champagne as it became an actual industry. The book is never dull or dry, but fascinating all the way through. Where it falters, though, is on the strong focus on the Widow Clicquot--not because she is uninteresting, but because the author had little factual material about the subject. The book--indeed, entire chapters--are based on guesses about where Clicquot was at the time or what she might have witnessed. To the author's credit, they are always quite clear about that line between primary source material and supposition.That said, I still recommend the book because the history and the region are wonderful to explore. I can't help but think that the Widow would lend herself well to a historical fiction novel.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Very interesting story about the French widow who took over the family Champagne business and made an outstanding success. Lots of personal details - well documented. Like Moby Dick, it is full of interesting facts about wine-making and marketing, and sparkling wines in particular, plus lots of history of the period (Napoleon I through Napoleon III and Louis-Philippe).
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Widow Clicquot is the story of the woman behind one of the world’s most famous and iconic champagnes. Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot was born in 1777 in Reims, and married an idealistic dreamer at a young age. When he died, Barbe-Nicole entered his family’s business, and proved herself to be a shrewd businesswoman. Barbe-Nicole survived the French Revolution, the Napoleonic wars (during which Napoleon apparently said that the vineyards of the Champagne would make perfect battlegrounds), and the civil wars of the mid-nineteenth century. She was a diminutive, nondescript woman, but she proved herself a force to be reckoned with in the champagne industry, turning a local curiosity into an international brand.The book is a combination of things: its part biography, part story of the Veuve Clicquot empire, and part history of champagne-making in general (surprise! It wasn’t the French who discovered the art of creating the now-famous bubbles). Although Barbe-Nicole was one of the most famous businesswomen of the nineteenth century, there’s not much biography here, per se: the author tries to fill in gaps with a lot of conjecture, using phrases such as “perhaps she felt…” and “maybe…” Generally, storytelling that way is for me an attempt by an author to put words into people’s mouths or thoughts into their heads that they might not actually have had. However, I thought the historical detail was quite good, as well as the descriptions of the techniques used to make champagne. Even I, as a non-connoisseur, was able to grasp what was going on there.However, I expected more of a biography; I was really drawn by the story of a completely average woman accomplishing extraordinary things. But what the reader is given here works, too: a lot of the book shows the author’s passion for wine and its production. I just wish that there had been a bit more focus. That said however, the book inspired me to track down a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, just to see what all the fuss was about. This is the kind of book that’s perfect for wine and champagne lovers.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If you like champagne; or strong, independent women; history; or perhaps les Francais, you will definitely enjoy this book. This was an amazing tour of the Champagne region of France, the origins of champagne, a tumultuous period in French history, as well as the story of one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in history. It unfolds with interesting details, humorous reflections, and great insight: an amazing blend of history, adventure, and science. The book itself reminds me of champagne: effervescent and intoxicating (but not Brut!). I read it straight through in a day. Five stars.In this story, we follow the life of Barbe-Nicole Cliquot from cloistered early childhood in a nunnery to her success “at the helm of an internationally renowned commercial empire” and through to her death at the astoundingly ripe old age of 89, living decades beyond the average life span of the times. She had three major achievements in her career: “internationalizing the Champagne market,” “establishing brand identification,” and developing the process known in French as remuage sur pupitre—literally “moving by desk” (the process still used today to remove impurities without losing the fizz of champagne). Along the journey, the reader will discover, among other things, who actually invented champagne (was it the English or the French?), how sabrage (the art of opening a champagne bottle with a sword) came to be, and how the end of Napoleonic Wars would help cement champagne’s broad commercial appeal as a drink of festivity and celebration.Details of women’s lives back in the late 1700’s were sketchy at best, unless you were royalty or married to someone famous. Barbe-Nicole Clicquot was neither, yet Mazzeo does a wonderful job of filling in the blanks. “I have found myself becoming a scavenger of uncollected details about her life and the world in which she lived…I wanted to discover not just what she did and when she lived, but how she was able to imagine for herself a different future and how she was able to negotiate those familiar crossroads of grief, despair, and opportunity. It sometimes took considerable imagination. The facts in this story are true—as true as history can make them…Barbe-Nicole was not, of course, immortalized in history at all--only the company that she created and the name she made famous survived beyond the end of the nineteenth century. I hope that here, at least, she has been the heroine of her own story.” And so she is.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Truly fantastic story about the woman behind the most iconic champagne!
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I found this unreadable. The prose is so unbearably repetitive I bailed out after just one chapter. One chapter in, I decided to stop reading because there was so much repetition. The writing is redundant, and I only read one chapter. I think I would have liked it had Mazzeo trusted me enough to only tell me everything one time.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book opened a portal to the past, allowing me to view a woman's life that had faded from male-dominated history. As a wine lover, I reveled in the details of how Widow Clicquot took the champagne industry to a new level. I also enjoyed learning aspects of a woman who "lived with audacity and intelligence."Tilar Masseo's phrasing is superb, and her research is unrivaled.I intend to recommend this writing to those who are champions of women's power to succeed and make the world a better place and my enology buffs.