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The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It (P.S.)
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Original price was: $17.99.$14.99Current price is: $14.99.
Detailed description:
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Haley Bennett, Tom Sturridge, and Sam Riley!
“Narrative history that fizzes with life and feeling.” — Benjamin Wallace, New York Times bestselling author of The Billionaire’s Vinegar
The New York Times bestselling biography of the visionary young woman who built a champagne empire, became a legend, and showed the world how to live with style
Veuve Clicquot champagne epitomizes glamour, style, and luxury. 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, who, after her husband’s death, defied convention by assuming the reins of the fledgling wine business they had nurtured together. 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.
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 the captivating true story of a legend and a visionary.
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Categories: Women Writers
Product name:
The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It (P.S.)
Price:
Original price was: $17.99.$14.99Current price is: $14.99.
annied –
I love historical fiction and Verve Cliquot is a marvelous champagne. The book is well written and gives much detail about the beginnings and difficulties of the champagne industry. I read a friend’s book several years ago and wanted my own copy – so I bought it to reread.
Travel Books and Movies –
I’m a big fan of sparkling wine–I like tasting it, looking at it, learning more about it, and of course, reading about it. So reading The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It was a must for me.
The book details the life of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, the “Grande Dame of Champagne,” who revolutionized the champagne industry while being a widowed single mother and one of the first women in the world to run an international business.
Written in a thorough, but accessible way, The Widow Clicquot (in French: “Veuve Clicquot”) details the life of this remarkable woman and her rise to international business leader with interesting information on the development of champagne (spoiler alert: Dom Perignon did not actually invent it), the French Revolution, life in France during the 19th century, and, of course, the personal story of Barbe-Nicole and her family.
The author admits to having difficulty finding information on this fascinating woman, but brings together an interesting portrait of a woman, a time period, and a product that has resounding effects today. (She also includes some information on which places are left from Barbe-Nicole’s time to visit if you find yourself in Reims, too.)
I listened to the audio version (because it’s great listening to this while enjoying a glass) and found the narrator pleasant with excellent French pronunciations.
If you’re a fan of the bubbly, you’ll like this book. If you’re a fan of France, you’ll like this book. If you’re a fan of strong women, you’ll like this book. I’m a fan of all three, so I’m going to celebrate the discovery of this book with a bottle!
Amazon Customer –
Well-reasearched and well-written.
Suze –
Because so little has been written about the widow or saved from her writings this is all surmised from research. It is thorough but not that comprehensive for lack of material. Some of the facts about her life are very interesting.
Joseph Vollmer –
Great addition to elevate your decor!! Also makes for a very cute house warming gift!
Amazon Customer –
Highly enjoyable!
Theresa Rose DeGray –
My absolute favorite book! If you are looking for inspiration, look no further. This book should be read at all Business Schools. The author had audacity to pull together all the little bits of information she could find and weave them through history to give us what could only be described as a moving tale of one woman’s quest to survive and thrive dispute revolution, being widowed and being a woman in business when there really was no such thing. Cheers to the authors brilliance, dedication, immense research and clear command of history.
PS: Also make a great gift with a bottle of the Yellow Label for almost any occasion!
Monique –
Tutto a posto, grazie.
Denise in Denver –
I purchased this book in advance of a trip to France wine country. I was looking for some insight into the history of the Champagne region and the woman who made such a major impact on the Champagne industry. This book delivered on both of those topics. While not much is known about the Widow Clicquot’s younger years, the author did an admirable job of painting a picture of what her life was probably like based on what is generally known about French society and local politics at the time. The evolution of the Champagne business through the lens of this family-owned winery was also interesting, and even suspenseful as the author took us through the strategies and risks employed by the Widow in her pursuit to create a great Champagne house. The only drawback to the book is that it felt repetitive at times. Perhaps since not a lot is known about the details of the Widow’s life, some of the same information was covered in different contexts throughout the chapters. In all, however, I recommend the book for anyone interested in the rise of the Champagne industry and insights into this particular woman who was so instrumental in that rise.
melinda nodwell –
Much information on fermentation and infiltration. Feminism, survivalism, how the champagne sabre came to be and everything in between. I actual went out and bought a bottle of Clicquot to celebrate the last page as I read and realized that thought it is not a long story, I would miss having Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin to look forward to at the end of my day.
Janie U –
I’d been fortunate enough to visit the Champagne region a couple of times and am planning to go again this year. I was recommended this book a long time ago and thought now would be a good time to read about this part of the Champagne story.
There are 191 pages split into 16 chapters plus various other sections. The book was first published in 2008.
Whilst reading about the life of Madame Cliquot there is a lot of be learnt about French history – much of which was new to me.
The author tells the story in a way that is engaging, encouraging readers to put themselves into certain situations. She has some great phrases included which are often thought provoking (example – “all politics are local, even if it is in the middle of great world events”).
Over the centuries many stories have emerged about the Champagne industry and some of them are challenged strongly in this book (e.g.. Dom Perignon did not invent champagne as he was actually working to remove the naturally occurring bubbles).
We learn huge amounts about the development of champagne and, alongside it, some of the major changes to French society, influenced by the revolutions then Napoleon’s power grabbing.
The families that produce the champagne operate in such a small area that it should be no surprise it is an incestuous industry – some people working successfully in partnerships then others becoming arch enemies and strong competitors. This book shows all aspects of the business culture from the period.
This is a book I genuinely couldn’t put down with each page revealing something new – about Madame Cliquot or the world in which she was operating.
It’s clear that the research has been very extensive and I admire the author’s restraint in not allowing her references/notes to get in the way of the story. I’ve seen too many nonfiction books spoilt by the interruption of copious notes. There are over 40 pages of references but they are all put together at the back of the book along with the extensive bibliography, encouraging the eager history to read further whilst allowing the more casual reader to ignore entirely.
There are also sections at the end about the author and the process of writing – fascinating!
Andrea L. Stoeckel –
“This is the heart of Barbe-Nicole’s story. A woman who lived with audacity and intelligence, who could look forward to the future and grasp the reins of her own destiny at a moment in her life when the natural thing to do would have been to retreat into grief and misery and a paralysis of inaction”- p 181
This is the story of a woman whose life spanned almost four revolutions in France over her 91 years. Barbe-Nicole Cliquot Ponsardin aka “The Widow Cliquot” bucked every expectation of a woman of her time (1777-1866) and became a wealthy entrepreneur in a world where women married well and retreated from society Widowed at 27, she found a head for business and with the power as a widow, built the empire of Cliquot and changed the world of wine, riding the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, marketing and labels, riddling racks to clear wine, copyrighting, blockade running…an adventurous life for a woman alone with children to raise. By the time of her death she had long outlived almost her whole family and left the most prominent Champagne Houses on earth
WF van der Hart –
The life of the Widow Clicquot is certainly an interesting story, but the book is not one of the amazing biographies I’ve read in the past. It’s okay and since I’m a champagne fan the book does reveal interesting facts. But the overall writing style is not making me enthusiastic. The writer makes it clear he does not really know what happened exactly and uses lots of might, perhaps, maybe etc.. to speculate on what the widow might have done. It reads like extensive research with lots of speculation about the missing parts.