Veuve Clicquot, the renowned French champagne brand, is no stranger to innovation. In fact, it’s has been an inherent part of the maison’s DNA ever since Madame Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, an intrepid businesswoman, first took over the company’s reins after her husband’s passing back in 1805 and became known within oenologist circles as La Grande Dame of Champagne.
To pay homage to this avant-garde female entrepreneur, back in 1972 – coincidentally the label’s 200th anniversary – Veuve Clicquot launched a new prestige cuvée range of La Grande Dame champagnes, which debuted with a 1962 vintage.
Last week, the prestigious maison introduced its latest iteration, La Grande Dame 2008, to Hong Kong with an exclusive lunch at Central’s Sevva rooftop restaurant. Celebrating the audacious spirit of Madame Clicquot, the event was jointly hosted by Gaëlle Goossens, one of the brand’s three female winemakers, and Bonnie Chan Woo, winner of the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award Hong Kong 2018.
From the go, La Grande Dame 2008 breaks the mold set by its predecessors. Where the 2004 and 2006 vintages featured a 61 and 53 percent pinot noir content respectively, this newest member boasts a staggering 92 percent pinot noir content, a first for Veuve Clicquot. It is perhaps a tad less surprising when you consider that it is also the first vintage overseen by the brand’s newest chef de cave, Dominique Demarville.
“My vision is to bring La Grande Dame towards the finesse and elegance that the Pinot Noir offers us in these Grands Crus,” said Mr. Demarville. “In a way, this is the Veuve Clicquot twist: to combine depth and silkiness with lightness and elegance in this exceptional cuvée.”