Maison Veuve Clicquot Champagne

In production since 1772 in the in the heart of France’s Champagne region (Reims), Veuve Clicquot’s trademark bright-yellow label is a staple on many restaurant, bar, and lounge wine lists. Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir grapes are all used by Veuve Clicquot in its portfolio of wines, which include Bruts, Rosés, the signature RICH (in a silver bottle, launched in 2015) and a demi-sec. For the Cuvée “Yellow Label,” grapes from between 50 and 60 growing areas are used to make the wine.

This is a high-volume production Champagne. Even in 1805, as original owner Philippe Clicquot’s widow Madame Clicquot took over the reins, the winery shipped a remarkable 110,000 bottles around the world. Madame Clicquot was also the first to use a riddling table, where workers manually rotate the bottles while upright, starting a tradition still used today at sparkling-wine houses in Europe.

Quick Facts

• In the summer of 2012, a bottle of 200-year-old Veuve Clicquot that was part of a case of Veuve Clicquot wine discovered two years prior by divers in a shipwreck during the 1820s sold for $18,600
• During the fall of 2015, one of only 15 Vertical Limit Champagne Cellars crafted by Porsche design studio was put up for auction in London, featuring 12 magnums of Veuve Clicquot (from vintages between 1955 and 1989)
• The hue for Veuve Clicquot’s “Yellow Label” is the Pantone 137c shade