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While there are many stories of famous female winemakers, such as Lily Bollinger, Louise Pommery and Mathilde-Emile Laurent-Perrier, none of them compares to the incredible tale of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot.

Born in 1777, Barbe-Nicole took over the struggling House of Clicquot at the young age of 27 after her husband’s death. By the year 1866, when she died at the age of 89, she had converted the struggling cellar into one of the most prominent champagne companies in the world.

Today, Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut is the world’s second best-selling Champagne brand, retailing for an average of R1,300 a bottle, while the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin La Grande Dame Brut ranges from R3,800 to R9,000.

The rise of the House of Clicquot is as much a story of champagne as it is of female entrepreneurship in an age. Today, we might have gotten used to female-run businesses, but for a 27-year-old in the early 1800s, the challenges were huge.

The incredible ‘against-all-odds’ story of Barbe-Nicole is now the subject of a powerful new film, Widow Clicquot, which will debut on July 19, 2024.

For producer, Christina Weiss Lurie, it was a story that simply had to be told.

“After reading Tilar Mazzeo’s NY Times Bestseller, Widow Clicquot, I instantly felt this was a story that needed to be told.”

“Here was a fascinating, wholly contemporary woman, living at a time when building a business in 19th Century France, during the Napoleonic wars, was fraught with challenges.”

“Especially for a woman, it was incredibly difficult to succeed,” Christina continues. “Even though her journey started over 200+ years ago, her struggles still feel incredibly timely. And her determination is something to embrace.”

The movie stars Haley Bennett, Tom Sturridge and Sam Riley, but Lurie believes the true star of the period film is the power of female entrepreneurs.

“Barbe-Nicole Clicquot’s techniques revolutionized the industry. She did so by being resourceful, audacious, and hard-working. She had an unwavering dedication and refused to ever give up.”

Cheers to that. Watch the trailer below.

[source:forbes]