- Moët et Chandon
Infobox company
name = Moët et Chandon
type = Part-holder ofLVMH
genre = French winery
foundation =1743
founder =Claude Moët
location = 20, avenue de Champagne
BP 140, 51333Epernay France
locations =
area_served = Worldwide
key_people =
industry =Winery
products =French wine
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
assets =
equity =
num_employees =
parent =
homepage = [http://moet.com www.moet.com] Infobox French Winery
winery_name =Moët et Chandon
region =Epernay
appellation = Champagne (wine region)
classification_rank =
commune =
hectares =
cases_per_year = 2,000,000
prestige_cuvees = Dom Perignon
grand_caption =
vintage_wine =
non_Vintage = Brute Imperial
varietal1 =Pinot Noir
varietal2 =Chardonnay
varietal3 =Pinot Meunier
varietal4 =
varietal5 =
website=http://www.moet.comMoët et Chandon (pronounced|moɛt‿e ʃɑ̃ˈdɔ̃), also Moët, is a French winery and co-owner of the
luxury goods company Moët-Hennessy • Louis Vuitton. Moët et Chandon is one of the world's largest champagne producers and a prominent champagne house. The company holds aRoyal Warrant to supply champagne to Queen Elizabeth II. [ [http://www.royalwarrant.org/ The Royal Warrant Holders Association ] ] Moët et Chandon was established in 1743 byClaude Moët , and today owns more than 1,500 acres (6.0km²) of vineyards, and annually produces more than 2,000,000 cases of champagne.History
Foundation
Moët et Chandon began as Moët et Cie cite web|url=http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/1/Lvmh-Mo-t-Hennessy-Louis-Vuitton-Sa.html|title=History of Moët at Chandon|accessdate=2008-05-17] (Moët & Co.), established by Épernay wine trader
Claude Moët in 1743,cite web|url= http://www.lvmh.com |title= Moët & Chandon |accessdate=2008-05-17] and began shipping his wine from Champagne to Paris. The reign of King Louis XV coincided with increased demand forsparkling wine . Soon after its foundation, and after son Claude-Louis joined Moët et Cie, the winery's clientele included nobles and aristocrats.Moët began business with
Madame de Pompadour in 1750. She continually supplied the Royal Court atCompiègne with Moët's champagne. Also in 1750, Moët began establishing business in Germany, Spain, Eastern Europe, and colonial British America. In 1792, on Claude Moët's death, grandsonJean-Rémy Moët assumed control of Moët et Cie, and expanded the business buying the vineyards of theAbbey of Hautvillers — where Benedictine monk Dom Perignon perfected double-fermentation for creating champagne.Moreover, the Moët surname was prestigious before the winery's establishment; King
Charles VII ennobled brothers Jean and Nicolas Moët (Claude's ancestors) in 1446.Into the 19th century
The company truly attracted a loyal international following after it initiated an account with
Napoleon I ofFrance . Jean-Rémy, who had become mayor of Epernay in 1802, met Napoleon in 1804. Within the new guest houses at Moët's headquarters on 20 rue de Champagne, Napoleon I and his entourage were lavishly dined and wined. Historian of champagne Patrick Forbes wrote: "everybody who was anybody in Europe was passing through the Champagne district en route from Paris to the Congress of Vienna and they all wanted to visit the celebrated champagne maker. ... His 10 years in the Napoleonic limelight had made him the most famous wine-maker in the world and orders for his champagne began pouring in with such profusion that he hardly knew how to fill them." In appreciation for Jean-Rémy's generosity, the Emperor of the French gave Jean-Rémy his, Napoleon's, Officer's cross of the Legion of Honor. In honor of Napoleon, Moët later in its history dedicated its Brut Imperial to him.After his connections with Napoleon, the company of Moët contained a portfolio of prominent figures which encompassed
Tsar Alexander II of Russia , EmperorFrancis II of Austria (Napoleon's father-in-law), the Duke of Wellington,Madame de Staël ,Queen Victoria , and the Prince Royal ofRussia (later to become emperor ofGermany ) among many more. Sales durign the 1820s are believed to have been on average 20,000 bottle annually. Leadership of the company changed in 1832 when Jean-Rémy retired and left the company in the hands of his son Victor Moët and son-in-law Pierre-Gabriel Chandon de Briailles. As M.Chandon became incorporated into the company as co-owner, the name was officially changed that same year to "Moët et Chandon." Following the introduction of the concept of a vintage champagne in 1840, Moët marketed its firstvintage in 1842. Their best-selling brand, Brut Imperial was introduced in the 1860s.The
Marne Valley fell under the ownership of Moët et Chandon in 1879, expanding the company's operations. The introduction of more flavorsome grapes fromCramant ,Le Mesnil ,Bouzy ,Ay , andVerzenay also followed. As expansion grew, so did the employee count. At the time, about 2,000 people were under the employment of Moët et Chandon and a type of "social security" was formed which gave free medical attention, housing assistance, pensions, maternity benefits, sick pay, and free legal aid. Job holders included cellarmen, cork cutters, clerks, vineyard farmers, tinsmiths,needlewomen , basketmakers, firemen, packers, wheelwrights, and stableboys. Sales in 1872 are reported to have been at 2,000,000 bottles and at 2.5 million by 1880, while consumers continued to consist of the upper social hierarchy.Milestones in the 20th century
During
World War I , France suffered much destruction. Moët et Chandon lost the offices and guest houses, whereNapoleon I had stayed, to bombing raids. After the war, the company re-established its position in the market by introducing the Dom Pérignon brand of vintage champagne in the late 1920s. The introduction of the Dom Pérignon label set a trend in which many other champagne houses came to introduce their own premium label of champagne intended to surpass their regular vintage champagne. Nevertheless, it was Dom Pérignon which came out to be the most successful brand. Dom Pérignon was recognized byconnoisseur s as the most perfect champagne available, and was also the most expensive on the market. During the Second World War in whichFrance fell under the power ofNazi Germany led byAdolf Hitler , business was negatively affected. However, due to the modernization of operations within the firm, it managed to recover well. The goals of fairness and efficiency were emphasized in all aspects of production, from the installation of new wine presses to a comprehensive system of work incentives.Count Robert-Jean de Vogüé, a prominent figure in wine purchasing, became the leader of Moët et Chandon in the 1950s. Transformed from a family-owned business into a
Société Anonyme (or corporation), Moët et Chandon under de Vogüé gained great success and an expansion rate never before experienced. In 1962 it became the first champagne house to be listed on the Frenchstock market . K. Gargett, P. Forrestal, & C. Fallis "The Encyclopedic Atlas of Wine" pg 166 Global Book Publishing 2004 ISBN 1740480503] That same year, the company acquired full rights to France's oldest wine maison and main competitor of Moët et Chandon,Ruinart Père et Fils . Another rival wine house,Mercier , was taken over by 1970. Soon afterwards Moët et Chandon purchased an interest in Parfums Christian Dior, the first out-of-winery investment by the company, which was soon taken over by Moët. The company took a milestone step in 1971 when it merged with the prominent winery Jas Hennessy & Co. (recognized for its world renown cognac) to create Moët-Hennessy. The decision was made as a result of a 1927 statute which limited the champagne growing region to 34,000 hectares. De Vogüé believed that the supply of land under cultivation (less than 25,000 hectares) would be exhausted by the demand for champagne by 2000. Thus it seemed logical to merge with Hennessy who could supply diversification and a stable future for Moët. Together, both houses grew greatly financially and were able to, as a group, "stimulate the growth of their interests abroad."In 1973, the company launched
Domaine Chandon ,a winery subsidiary inCalifornia . The company undertook its final merger; withLouis Vuitton , a prominentluxury goods purveyor whose goods remain renown as status symbols. This final merger gave birth to the largest luxury group in the world, Moët-Hennessy • Louis Vuitton (LVMH), netting over 16 billioneuro s in fiscal 2004. In 2006, Moët et Chandon Brut Impérial issued an extremely limited bottling of its champagne named "Be Fabulous", a special release of its original bottle with decorative Swarovski crystals, marking the elegance of Moët et Chandon. Also in 2006, Moët et Chandon illuminated theStatue of Liberty on its 120th anniversary.In 2007, the company opened its Grand Vintage 2000 European Launch at the
Musée de l'homme inParis .Domaine Chandon
In 1973, the then Moët-Hennessy company founded
Domaine Chandon , an outpost winery in the Los Carneros region of Napa Valley. It was the first French-owned sparkling wine venture in the United States. The restaurant "Etoile" is situated at the winery.Domaine Chandon in
Australia was established in 1986 atGreen Point, Victoria .Pronunciation
Various mispronunciations of Moët are known, including "mo-way," "mow-ee" and "mow-ett". The correct pronunciation is "mo-wett" [Citation
last = Enting
first =Carolyn
title =Moët for Linguists
newspaper =Lucire Living Magazine
date = 2002
url = http://www.lucire.com/2002/0530ll0.shtml]References
ee also
*
List of champagne producers
*French wine
*Champagne Riots of 1911 [MUSA MACHINA Sound design Agency work with Moet&Chandon] : [http://www.musamachina.comExternal links
* [http://www.moet.com Official site]
* [http://www.lucire.com/2002/0530ll0.shtml Moët for linguists]
* [http://www.chandon.com Official site of Domaine Chandon California]
* [http://www.greenpointwines.com/ Domaine Chandon Australia (Green Point Wines)]
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