La Grande Dame
⏳ Drinking Window
2020 - 2040
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Fresh oysters, roasted turbot, aged Comte cheese
✨ Technical Specifications
La Grande Dame is the prestige cuvee of Veuve Clicquot, first created in 1972 to celebrate the bicentenary of the house and to honor the legendary 'Grande Dame of Champagne,' Madame Clicquot. Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, widowed at just 27, took the reins of the house in 1805 and revolutionized Champagne production with the invention of the riddling table. This exceptional cuvee is a tribute to her determination and obsession with quality. Crafted only in outstanding vintage years, it showcases the ultimate expression of the house's historical Grand Cru vineyards, particularly in the Montagne de Reims. The wine is celebrated for its remarkable structure, silkiness, and complexity, achieved through extensive cellar aging on its lees.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot, Maison Veuve Clicquot attained legendary status under the stewardship of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, who was widowed in 1805. Madame Clicquot pioneered landmark innovations, creating the first recorded vintage Champagne in 1810, developing the riddling table (pupitre) in 1816, and formulating the modern blended rosé Champagne method in 1818. Today owned by LVMH, the house oversees roughly 390 hectares of estate vineyards—dominated by Grand and Premier Cru parcels across the Montagne de Reims, Côte des Blancs, and Vallée de la Marne—all certified under Haute Valeur Environnementale (HVE 3) and Viticulture Durable en Champagne (VDC). Under Cellar Master Didier Mariotti, the winemaking philosophy remains anchored in Pinot Noir, imparting structure, breadth, and vinous intensity. Masterful reserve-wine blending and extended maturation inside Reims' UNESCO-listed Gallo-Roman chalk crayères define benchmark cuvées such as Yellow Label Brut, Extra Brut Extra Old, and the prestigious vintage cuvée, La Grande Dame.
🍇 Grapes
Pinot Noir (typically around 90%), Chardonnay (typically around 10%)
🍷 ABV
12.5%