France, Champagne

Alexandre Pommery made his fortune in the wool business and was content to sit back and enjoy his success when his wife, Louise, announced that at the age of 38 that she was pregnant. To support this unexpected baby Alexandre decided to go back into business but, with the wool trade in some decline, opted to concentrate on wine. In 1858, with his daughter not even a year old, Alexandre Pommery died and the nascent company fell into his widow’s hands. Far from floundering, the company flourished under the young widow and then, after her death in 1890, under her two children Louis and Louise Pommery.

In the 1860’s, Madame Pommery decided to utilise the Gallo-Roman chalk quarries under the estate and turn them into cellars, something copied across the region. She also initiated the construction of the extraordinary Neo-Elizabethan Gothic house and cellars that stand to this day. At a time when most Champagne was sweet, Pommery perfected the first vintage Brut Champagne in 1874 paving the way for Champagne as we know it today. Champagne Pommery are based in Reims.