Saturday 8 March is International Women’s Day, a perfect time to celebrate the many remarkable, tenacious and innovative women who shaped modern champagne production, transforming the sparkling wine into the luxurious drink we enjoy today, says David Carne

Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin is better known as Veuve (Widow) Clicquot. In 1805, French law prohibited women from running businesses, but it made an exception for widows. Despite the challenges of the Napoleonic Wars, Veuve Clicquot not only turned around her husband’s failing wine business by smuggling champagne into Russia but also persuaded Tsar Alexander I to drink only her champagne.

Barbe-Nicole’s most significant contribution to modern champagne was the creation of the process known as ‘riddling’. Champagne is a base wine, to which sugar and yeast are added, causing a secondary fermentation in the bottle, trapping carbon dioxide and producing bubbles. In the early 1800s, champagne producers removed the remaining sediment from the secondary fermentation by pouring the wine into a clean bottle. This was a wasteful process that often damaged the wine.

BREAKTHROUGH

Barbe-Nicole realized that if the bottle was slowly rotated and turned upright, the sediment would sink to the neck of the bottle and could then be removed using the natural pressure. This breakthrough transformed champagne production and significantly sped up the process. She was also likely the first to make rosé champagne using the process of blending, known as d’assemblage. Champagne is still one of the few wines regions which allow rosé wine to be created by blending red and white wine.

Another champagne widow, Louise Pommery, is credited with creating the ‘brut’ style of champagne. In 1874, she crafted a champagne with just eight grams of residual sugar – far less than the 300 grams typically used at the time – to appeal to the British market, who she observed favoured dry ciders. This innovation led to the creation of the ‘brut’ style that accounts for about 90 per cent of champagne sales today.

BRUT NATURE

Widow Mathilde Emilie Laurent-Perrier took this one step further, producing a completely dry champagne (Grand vin sans Sucre), what we now call ‘brut nature’. Like Barbe-Nicole and Louise Pommery, her strong business acumen turned her deceased husband’s failing champagne house around.

Lilly Bollinger is widely acknowledged as having transformed champagne into the more refined, complex wine we appreciate today. Her Récemment Dégorgé (‘Recently Disgorged’) champagne, made by allowing the wine to age in contact with the sediment (‘lees’) from the secondary fermentation, imparted the toasty, brioche, biscuity flavours that have become synonymous with quality champagne. Today, all genuine champagnes are aged at least 15 months before release, and at least 12 months on the lees.

HEROINES LEGACY

There are many more heroines of champagne we could mention: Jeanne Krug, a nurse for the Red Cross who established an infirmary, school, and Protestant temple in the Krug cellars during World War II; Camile Orly-Roederer who saved the Roederer champagne house from bankruptcy and launched the infamous ‘Cristal’ champagne in 1945; and Apolline Henriot who founded the Henriot champagne house, to name just three.

Today this legacy of remarkable, tenacious and innovative women lives on with the likes of Vitalie Taittinger (Tattinger), Séverine Frerson (Perrier-Jouët), Elise Losfelt (Charles Heidsieck), Julie Cavil (Krug), Charline Drappier (Drappier) and others who are producing some of the best prestige champagnes and driving carbon-neutral and organic wine production.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, it seems appropriate to raise a glass of champagne and toast the incredible women who have made, and continue to make, it the symbol of luxury it is today!

DAVID’S 6 OF THE BEST FROM FEMALE WINEMAKERS 

In honour of International Women’s Day, this month’s wine recommendations are all from female winemakers.

Something sparkling:

Drappier Premier Cru Champagne – £39, Majestic.

In celebration of modern women winemakers, this Drapper premier cru champagne showcases the very best of toasty, brioche flavours with a creamy mousse and aromas of pear and vanilla. 

Something fresh and fruity:

Emma Marris Sauvignon Blanc 2024, Marlborough – £11.99, Majestic.

Fresh and zingy with notes of lime, green apple, lemongrass and subtle florals. Refreshing, but with a degree of complexity. 

Something big and bold:

Finca Constancia Entre Lunas Organic Tempranillo – £13.95, Cheers Wine Merchants.

A nice blend of both red and dark fruits, with hints of chocolate, coffee and smooth tannins on the palette. 

Something classic:

Bread & Butter ‘Winemaker’s Selection’ Chardonnay 2022/23 – £16.99, Majestic.

Rich, fuller bodied, with a buttery, creamy mouth feel. Citrus fruit, apple and toast on the palette. 

Something English:

Nyetimber Classic Cuvee – £42, Sainsbury’s.

The best of British, Nyetimber is widely acclaimed as one of, if not the, best English wine producers. Expect a delicate mousse, flavours of yellow apple, melon, mayer lemon, honied notes, brioche and mild cooking spices.  

Something different:

Bread & Butter Pinot Noir – £16, Sainsbury’s.

A grape variety that tends to divide the crowd. Expect a lighter style of red wine which is fresh with cherry, raspberries and cranberries, with some subtle toasty oak.