Veuve Release Fabulous New ‘Cocktail’ Champagne

If you’re a fan of Veuve Clicquot sparkling wine, you may be excited to learn that the firm has recently released a new Champagne which is designed to serve as a killer summer cocktail mixer!

Veuve Clicquot

Over the years, Veuve Clicquot Champagne have developed a reputation for excellence. This is because throughout its history, Veuve Clicquot has been an extremely innovative Champagne house, with its founder Madame Barb Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, setting the bar extremely high. Madame Clicquot is famous for creating the riddling table, an invention which revolutionised the Champagne industry.

Never one to live in the past, Veuve Clicquot is currently focusing on finding innovative ways to move into the 21^st Century. The business recently, for instance, launched a clever new marketing campaign to target younger drinkers, who are fast becoming one of Champagne house’s most important demographics. Drawing on Madame Clicquot for inspiration, the campaign features online videos which show why Veuve Cliquot is such a standout product.

Rich Rose Champagne

The experts at Veuve Clicquot also realise that increasingly, people aren’t just drinking Champagne straight anymore. If you find the right ingredients, this signature French sparkling wine can make a fabulous yet versatile cocktail mixer. Industry portal The Drinks Business reports that Veuve Clicquot have capitalised on this trend by releasing a new product which is designed to be a cocktail mixer.

The product is the second ‘Rich Rose’ Champagne to be launched by Veuve Clicquot and is currently on sale at Selfridges for £64.99. This is a blended rose which has been aged for at least three years before release. Veuve Clicquot has been blending roses ever since the days of Madame Clicquot herself, so the company definitely has the experience required to create a fabulous blended drink.

Champagne cocktail mixer

This current rose features 12% red wine and as far as grape content goes, it contains the same mix as the previous Rich Rose; 45% Pinot Noir, 40% Meunier and 15% Chardonnay. We should note that in both this year’s and last year’s Rich Rose, there has been more Pinot Noir to raise the product’s sugar content to 60 grams per litre. This is to increase its suitability as a mixer. Meanwhile, Veuve Clicquot’s Rich Roses include Meunier grapes to ensure the products boast “fresh, fruity and gourmand” notes.

Veuve Clicquot advises that that Rich Roses are served over ice in a wide-brimmed glass, accompanied with fruit, to ensure they provide a stunning drinking experience. Suggested ingredients for the drink include pineapple, lime, ginger and even Earl Grey Tea, to give it a unique twist! Ideal Wine Company are impressed at how Veuve Clicquot has capitalised on its penchant for innovation to create a product which is sure to help you concoct delicious summer cocktails! 

The History of Veuve Clicquot

When you buy a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, you receive a vintage of the highest quality and character. To determine why, the Ideal Wine Company explains the fascinating history of this extraordinary Champagne maker.

The founding of Veuve Clicquot

Veuve Clicquot is a Champagne house that was founded by Philippe Clicquot in 1772. According to the Veuve Cliquot website, he decided to use his prominent family’s vineyards to establish a Champagne brand whose wares would “cross all borders.” Philippe then passed the business to his son François in 1798, as France was entering its notorious revolution.

Madame Clicquot

Yet the story really gets interesting when ownership of the company fell into the hands of François’ widow, Barb Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin in 1805. She had such an effect on the House that its modern name, Veuve Clicquot, is an homage to her memory; “veuve” is French for “widow.”

Madame Clicquot was such a character. After becoming the first woman to run a Champagne house at the tender age of 27, she created what has since became known as the first recorded “vintage Champagne” in history. Madame Clicquot is particularly famous for breaking the continental embargo that prevented trade with Russia during the Napoleonic Wars, by shipping 10,550 bottles of Veuve Clicquot to the realm of the Tsars in 1814.

Invention of the riddling table

However the widow’s greatest achievement was the invention of the riddling table in 1816. Prior to this date, Champagne was cloudy because there was no way to remove the lees (dead yeast) that built up during its unique double fermentation process.

The problem was that it was almost impossible to remove the lees without sacrificing a large portion of Champagne. The invention of the riddling table changed this; it allowed Champagne producers to remove the lees without losing too much liquid to create crystal clear wine in a process called “disgorgement.” A moderated version of this process continues to be used to this day.

Try the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin 1998

In conclusion, when you purchase a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, you buy a bottle that’s the product of one of the greatest minds in wine history. You can taste Madame Clicquot’s genius in every drop. If you want to see what we mean, why don’t you try the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin 1998, which you can buy for only £112 from the Ideal Wine Company today; it’ll blow you away.