AN ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION WITH A TWIST! VEUVE CLICQUOT’S COLORFUL PARTY MARKS 200 YEARS OF BLENDED ROSÉ
22 June 2018
On June 20, the Jardin d’Acclimatation was awash in rosé color for Veuve Clicquot’s 200th anniversary celebration of blended rosé champagne. Madame Clicquot’s remarkable innovation in 1818, still used today by most champagne makers, was an audacious and creative act. Unsatisfied with how rosé champagne was elaborated in her time, Madame Clicquot changed the rules and completely re-created the process.
The event, a tribute to Veuve Clicquot’s re-creation of rosé, brought out nearly 600 guests for a deliciously offbeat soirée in the House’s audacious and playful style. Veuve Clicquot welcomed prominent influencers and friends of the brand, including model and music producer Caroline de Maigret, French pastry chef Pierre Hermé, television presenter Ophélie Meunier, actress Audrey Fleurot, perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, journalist and literary critic Augustin Trapenard, actress and model Audrey Marnay, model Erin O’Connor, television presenter Anaïs Grangerac, actor Niels Schneider, and actress and director Aure Atika. Guests enjoyed glasses of Veuve Clicquot Rosé non-vintage, the true star of the evening, and they also sipped one of the House’s most recent rosé creations: Veuve Clicquot Rich Rosé.
The unconventional garden party broke with traditional codes, elegantly mixing genres to embody the Veuve Clicquot ‘twist’ at its finest. The experiences embraced themes of creation, re-creation and recreation (amusement) which are key to Veuve Clicquot and the House’s blended rosé innovation. For example, guests got in touch with their playful side at attractions such as Rosé Vita, an enchanted river. They got creative at the Rose Tattoo and Rose Jewelry workshops, and they danced the night away to the musical stylings of five different bands. Guests also discovered a multitude of surprising spaces such as the Lounge, complete with terrace, Veuve Clicquot Airstream and VIP area. Finally, every anniversary celebration deserves cake, and this one certainly didn’t disappoint: a 3-meter-high cake, made from 200 Veuve Clicquot gateaux, added an impressive touch of drama.
For this one special evening, the newly-reopened Jardin d’Acclimatation perfectly honored Madame Clicquot’s creative personality and the Maison’s vibrant and joyful spirit, and offered a colorful environment to discover - or rediscover - Veuve Clicquot’s blended rosé champagne.
More than two centuries ago, rosé champagnes were elaborated by coloration with a mixture made from elderberries. But this method didn’t satisfy Madame Clicquot, who once wrote, “our wines must be flattering both on the palate and on the eye.” She had an audacious new vision in which color, taste, and aroma were vital to the quality. So she broke with accepted norms, and re-created the process of making rosé champagne.
Madame Clicquot was very fond of red-wine grape parcels from the Bouzy region of Champagne, and she elaborated her own red wine from the area. Inspiration struck, and in 1818 she decided to blend this with her still white wines. The result was a stronger rosé champagne, with definite character. Her talent in creation gave us the first known blended rosé champagne: Veuve Clicquot Rosé!
