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437th out of 1,210 books
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6,528 voters
The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It
The story of the visionary young widow who built a champagne empire, showed the world how to live with style, and emerged a legend
Veuve Clicquot champagne epitomizes glamour, style, and luxury. But who was this young widow--the Veuve Clicquot--whose champagne sparkled at the courts of France, Britain, and Russia, and how did she rise to celebrity and fortune?
In The Widow C...more
Veuve Clicquot champagne epitomizes glamour, style, and luxury. But who was this young widow--the Veuve Clicquot--whose champagne sparkled at the courts of France, Britain, and Russia, and how did she rise to celebrity and fortune?
In The Widow C...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
October 28th 2008
by HarperBusiness
(first published January 1st 2008)
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I love historical novels and this one was good for me because we were in Champagne last summer. I wish I had read this before we went because I would have tried to find the places written about here. It is the story of a very industrious, bright and determined woman to continue and prosper in the wine making business her husband left her with. Needless to say, this was not a time of women owned businesses! She was very young when she was widowed. In the process of making a go of the business, sh...more
If you've ever looked at the bright yellow label and wondered if there really was a Veuve Clicquot rather than a marketing creation, the answer is oui--Barb-Nicole, bourgeois survivor of the French Revolution, bankrupt widow and winemaking genius was not just a real person, but a revolutionizer of 19th century industry. While managing vineyards and negotiating the every changing political allegiances of France, she also invented labels and international name recognition, a secret method for stor...more
Thin. Based largely on speculation, this book would have made a much better historical novel than biography. Little actual information is known about Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, so Mazzeo filled in based upon the known history of France (and the rest of Europe) in the 1800s. The details about the history of the wine industry made up most of the solid information and were interesting, but the book was supposed to be about more than that--Ponsardin and the rise of Veuve Clicquot. Additionally, for com...more
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The 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 priv...more
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 priv...more
A non-fiction novel about Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin and her role in the creation, reputation, and success of the champagne Veuve Clicquot. Given to me by my Auntie Gail. Although I do believe that the story was a good one, I did not like the book. It was repetitive, both in information and in phrases, and the author idolizes Barbe-Nicole and creates a lot of hype over her. The end of the novel read like a high school student trying to write enough to fill a page requirement, with no fluidi...more
At the face of it, this seems like a good long biography. Until you realize that you've never seen more 'perhaps'es, 'likely's, 'surely's, 'must have's, and on and on, in one place in your life. More that 90% of this book is the author imagining the widow Clicquot's life from little tiny details she gleaned from here and there. 3+ "perhaps" per page is a conservative estimate, not including all the other fluffy imagination words. And yet Mazzeo still tries to present this as nonfictional biograp...more
Apr 12, 2010
Carrie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Frncophiles, Foodies & Women business owners
Recommended to Carrie by:
Tracy Kitchens
During July 2008, two of our friends from Sonoma came to visit Jay and I while we were living in Brussels. Greg is a winemaker, so we took him and his wife, Tracy, to Reims. We stopped by a french farmers market, purchased aged cheese and bread so fresh it was warm... and headed to grab some bubbly.
At GH Mumm a tall, thin, immaculately put together (isn't every French woman) guide, Madeline, told us about the history of sparking wine. I learned that King Louis XIV & XV and Napoleon were love...more
At GH Mumm a tall, thin, immaculately put together (isn't every French woman) guide, Madeline, told us about the history of sparking wine. I learned that King Louis XIV & XV and Napoleon were love...more
Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin was born in Reims, France, in 1777. She was plain, yet her merchant father married her to the wealthy young Francois Clicquot, a man of her class. With ample support, Francois and his wife took over his family's languishing wine business. They hired a brilliant salesman, Louis Bohne, who persuaded Russians that they should buy Clicquot. Still the couple struggled, set back by wars (which got in the way of commerce) and weather (which was alternately too hot for stored wine...more
I really enjoyed this book. The author admits throughout that she is piecing together the story of this remarkable woman from scraps - I admire her for taking on the job and think she wrote an interesting, convincing story in a credible conversational style. Her point that women and their lives were not documented as reliably as those of men is completely valid and an important aspect of this book on its own. The author's gives an interesting explanation of how changing views of woman within the...more
After Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin and François Clicquot are married, they begin trying to enlarge and enhance the Clicquot family's sparkling wine business, until then a small sideline income for the family. Francois is determined to open up exports to Russia and beyond, and after his untimely death Barbe-Nicole carries on his work. Over a period of years and despite many setbacks, she succeeds in creating the Champagne empire we know today as Veuve Clicquot.
While this is a fascinating book in theory...more
While this is a fascinating book in theory...more
I'd really like to be able to award three and a half stars here. The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It contained some wonderful social history and fun champagne-related factoids. The Veuve Clicquot, as the woman and brand she created are known, is credited with three major innovations: (1) internationalizing the champagne market, (2) establishinging brand identification, and (3) developing the process known as remuage sur pupitre--the last item a means of...more
A fascinating, engrossing read about the woman who ruled a champagne empire. You won't put this down. Her story is told against the backdrop of the Champagne in 19th Century France. When I'm done with the book, I plan to buy a bottle of Veueve Clicquot to celebrate. Care to join me?
7/13/09: A breathtaking memoir I have just finished.
This is a book for every woman, entrepreneurial or not. Those who are can charge on and those who aren't will be inspired to dream.
One of Barbe-Nicole[the Widow Cliq...more
7/13/09: A breathtaking memoir I have just finished.
This is a book for every woman, entrepreneurial or not. Those who are can charge on and those who aren't will be inspired to dream.
One of Barbe-Nicole[the Widow Cliq...more
This book was fairly well written and flowed nicely for most of the book. There were a few strange parts where it seemed as if the author or the editor lost her train of thought and let the narrative get away.
I thought the story was a very interesting juxtaposition of the history of France, the history of Champagne, and the history of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot. The three pieces were woven together nicely and the context and interplay of time period really drove the story.
The trickiest part of the bo...more
I thought the story was a very interesting juxtaposition of the history of France, the history of Champagne, and the history of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot. The three pieces were woven together nicely and the context and interplay of time period really drove the story.
The trickiest part of the bo...more
My favorite cocktail is a kir royale. I can't say I'm sophisticated enough to have a preference in the champagne or sparkling wine that is used to make it - but I know that there is something special about that bottle in the simple orange box. I also don't much care for stories about how any type of alcohol is made. It's kind of why I'm not hugely impressed by tours of wineries (unless the buildings are architecturally interesting or the vineyards are particularly beautiful). My enjoyment come...more
A strong female character, a look at the consequences of the French Revolution outside the walls of Paris and a history of the ubiquitous celebratory bubbly – this great historical look at the Barbe-Nicole Clicquot was as informative as it was enjoyable.
Yes, I was a little late to the game of Tilar Mazzeo’s The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It (the paperback came out in 2009), I had heard about it, and even had a borrowed version sitting on my shelf for...more
Yes, I was a little late to the game of Tilar Mazzeo’s The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It (the paperback came out in 2009), I had heard about it, and even had a borrowed version sitting on my shelf for...more
I think the best way to describe what this book is about is to use a quote from a letter Madame Clicquot wrote to her great grand daughter
"I am going to tell you a secret... you more than anyone resemble me. you who have such audacity. It is a precious quality that has been very useful to me in the course of my long life ... to dare things before others ... I am called today the grand lady Champagne! Look around you, this chateau, these unfaltering hills, I can be bolder than you realise. The w...more
"I am going to tell you a secret... you more than anyone resemble me. you who have such audacity. It is a precious quality that has been very useful to me in the course of my long life ... to dare things before others ... I am called today the grand lady Champagne! Look around you, this chateau, these unfaltering hills, I can be bolder than you realise. The w...more
The story of the visionary young widow who built a champagne empire, showed the world how to live with style, and emerged a legend
Veuve Clicquot champagne epitomizes glamour, style, and luxury. But who was this young widow--the Veuve Clicquot--whose champagne sparkled at the courts of France, Britain, and Russia, and how did she rise to celebrity and fortune?
In The Widow Clicquot, Tilar J. Mazzeo brings to life--for the first time--the fascinating woman behind the iconic yellow label: Barbe-Nico...more
Veuve Clicquot champagne epitomizes glamour, style, and luxury. But who was this young widow--the Veuve Clicquot--whose champagne sparkled at the courts of France, Britain, and Russia, and how did she rise to celebrity and fortune?
In The Widow Clicquot, Tilar J. Mazzeo brings to life--for the first time--the fascinating woman behind the iconic yellow label: Barbe-Nico...more
While I normally enjoy historical novels, and I do, from time to time, enjoy biographies - this book wound up being neither and both at the same time. It was very obvious that painfully limited subject matter was being stretched as thin as it could, and liberally padded with guess work, a fist full of "maybe this happened" and far too much detail on the wine making process in an effort to give some credibility to the book. It was a subject I did not find appealing, written about poorly. To say t...more
Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot was certainly a woman ahead of her time in taking a struggling Champagne house and making it into an empire. From the perspective of wine history, this is a good read (especially if you enjoy Champagne). For what it's worth, this effort might make better material to develop a entertaining screenplay based on the Widow's life than it made for an in-depth biography. Much of the author's efforts at filling in the blanks from the somewhat scarce background materials a...more
There’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 ma...more
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 ma...more
This book was very interesting, however the lack of documentation left behind by Barbe-Nicole Clicquot means that most of this book is mere speculation. The information about the history of champagne was fascinating as was the descriptions of how it is grown and produced. The author was obviously aware that she did not have a lot of information to go on and repeated many of the same kinds of things throughout the book in order to fill more pages. Many of the chapters ended with something about h...more
I read the Chocolate Wars and this book on the same long overseas trip. Don't know why i was drawn to read about chocolate and champagne... Anyway, this is also an intersting, historical story about the development of an industry through the lens of one family. It starts in the early 1800's against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. I really like champagne and the Veuve Clicquot brand so it was intersting to me to read about it. It wasn't terribly well-written though and was a bit boring at ti...more
Mazzeo tells the story of Barbe-Nicole, which might be interesting, but it lacks any real *story-telling* - it's strictly supposition. It's clear that the author is a strong writer but this novel is "extra brut". Like the title, it is repetitious and drawn out. I feel strongly that this work would be better suited for a single chapter in a book about similar female pioneers.
My only other complaint is that she refers to location, Champagne, France, as "The Champagne". Maybe she wants her readers...more
My only other complaint is that she refers to location, Champagne, France, as "The Champagne". Maybe she wants her readers...more
Unfortunately it does not seem as if Barbe-Nicole de Ponsardin-Clicquot left behind too many personal documents. So, the writer had to really build a story around the subject. This leaves an interesting biography, one which really captures the history of the French Revolution through the 1850s in France through one woman's lifetime and - for all my fellow winos out there - through wine making & the craft Barbe-Nicole lent to champagne.
I don't think this would have been as interesting had Ti...more
I don't think this would have been as interesting had Ti...more
I liked this a lot -- more than a three star rating shows but couldn't bring myself to give it 4.
I love Veuve Clicquot champagne and was so happy to find this book at a bookstore in Calistoga when I went to the Napa Valley Writers Conference last year.
This is really a quick reading history of business during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic years as much as a biography of one woman. It made me wish I were in college and could try to find grant money to do research of this sort -- the ris...more
I love Veuve Clicquot champagne and was so happy to find this book at a bookstore in Calistoga when I went to the Napa Valley Writers Conference last year.
This is really a quick reading history of business during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic years as much as a biography of one woman. It made me wish I were in college and could try to find grant money to do research of this sort -- the ris...more
A biography of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot. Widowed at age 27, Barbe-Nicole assumed control of her family’s wine business amid the chaos of the Napoleonic Wars. With shrewd management and innovation she built the Veuve Clicquot brand and the future of Champagne, becoming a prominent female leader at a time when industry was almost exclusively male. The problem that the author faced was finding little in the way of records of her subject's private life or even of her experience of her profess...more
Another book about an extraordinary woman where the author, a woman, has to reconstruct an undocumented life. The Widow's rise to international business tycoon is carefully documented in the context of the social and political environment in which she started and grew her business.
There's no doubt that the drink we enjoy today would not have been possible without her innovations to the production process and her focus on international markets. I won't drink another glass of bubbly again with ou...more
There's no doubt that the drink we enjoy today would not have been possible without her innovations to the production process and her focus on international markets. I won't drink another glass of bubbly again with ou...more
This was like reading required reading for college; not terrible if it's required, but definitely not interesting enough to bother with otherwise. There is very little information about the Barbe-Nicole Cliquot -- no letters, few contemporay accounts-- so the author pieces together a story from what is going on generally in that time and place and record books. A fine bit of historical research, but boring to the lay person. And even to the historian, it suffers from the author's contention abou...more
Wow! What a little-known, hardly realized story of a woman who almost singlehandedly launched an international luxury brand. Unfortunately, since not much is known of the Widow Clicquot's intimate life details, Mazzeo incorporates a lot of speculation making this story at times seem more like a novel. But she grounds any speculation in reality and gives good reasoning for the conclusions she makes. Aside from learning about Barbe-Nicole, this is also a great overall history of champagne. I learn...more
I actually doublly enjoyed this book because I drank Clicquot along with the book! Learning about the Widow Clicquot and the challenges she and France faces with Napoleon and the ups and downs of the crops was amazing. Barne-Nicole Clicuot is the ultimate model of a successful woman! Clicquot surged the champagne market to depths higher and mightier than you can imagine...from Russia to America she created a luxury product that bubbles today!!!
A must read if in to French history and/or culinary...more
A must read if in to French history and/or culinary...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| woman that achieve in life | 1 | 14 | Nov 11, 2008 09:51pm |
Tilar J. Mazzeo is a cultural historian, biographer, and passionate student of wine and food culture. She divides her time among the California wine country, New York City, and Maine, where she is a professor of English at Colby College.
(from the author's website)
More about Tilar J. Mazzeo...
(from the author's website)
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