1 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: Pushkin too quick. No, it's perfect push kit stuff. 2 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 2: You got it, Robert Smith, I have in front of 3 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 2: me a bottle of Loove Clicko champagne. 4 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: Green glass, right orange label. 5 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 2: And I know you well enough to know that if 6 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 2: we are recording a podcast, yes, and there is a 7 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 2: bottle of champagne, you want nothing more than to pop 8 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 2: the cork on the mic. It's like I'm showing a 9 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 2: banana to a monkey and all you want to do 10 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 2: in your monkey brain is peel the banana. 11 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:00,040 Speaker 1: Open, open, Open. 12 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 2: I'm passing you the champagne. But I want to tell 13 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,880 Speaker 2: you three things about Love Clicko before you open it. Okay, 14 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,319 Speaker 2: I'll prepare thing number one. And I'm embarrassed to say 15 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 2: I didn't know this one until recently. Loove Clicko was 16 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 2: a person love means widow in French. Love Clicko was 17 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 2: the widow Clicko. She took over this basically failing winery 18 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 2: when her husband died in eighteen oh five. And Robert, 19 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 2: you're just taking off the cage from the top of 20 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 2: the bottle. I think there is a portrait of the 21 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 2: widow Cleyco on top of the little metal hat on 22 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 2: the court. 23 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, stern expression curly Air. 24 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 2: Thing number two. The Widow Clicko made a technological breakthrough 25 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 2: that helped turn Champagne into the global phenomenon that it became. 26 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 2: Thing number three. The story of the Widow Cleyco also 27 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 2: includes a widow loophole, the Industrial Revolution and Napoleon. I 28 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 2: love it. 29 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: I'm Jacob Goldstein and I'm Robert Smith. And this is 30 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: Business History, a show about the history of business. 31 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 2: Nice, I'm prost. 32 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: The fizz. The fizz is too much. 33 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 2: You know, It's funny you should say that because in 34 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 2: the time of the Widow Cleco, most of the wine 35 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 2: that came out of the Champagne region of France did 36 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:23,079 Speaker 2: not have bubbles. 37 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: Huh. 38 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 2: And there is a twist in our Champagne story, and 39 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 2: that is Champagne as we know it arguably was not 40 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 2: invented in Champagne. It was not invented in France. It 41 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 2: was invented in England. 42 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: Yes, did they serve it warm like the beer? 43 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 2: Don't know? Good question. Yeah, And actually, let me say 44 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 2: before we get into it, there was a key source, 45 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 2: a really excellent source for the show today was a 46 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 2: book called The Widow Cleco. The author's name is Tillar Matzeo. 47 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 2: It's really fun, well written, interesting And now as they 48 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 2: say a major motion picture, really yeah, okay, they always 49 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 2: say major motion picture. They never say a movie. 50 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,799 Speaker 1: Now a canatoscope, a minor motion picture, they don't say 51 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: that either. 52 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 2: So we're going to start the story about one hundred 53 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 2: years before the widow Clecko comes along seventeen hundred with 54 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 2: a monk, a Benedictine monk. 55 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: All great drinking stories start with a monk in the. 56 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 2: Region of northeast France known as a La Champagne. 57 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: The wine is La Champagna. 58 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 2: This monk's name was dom Dom Perignon. Yes, yes, he 59 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 2: was a guy. He was a guy, and his monastery 60 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 2: made wine, and for reasons no one understood at the time, 61 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 2: sometimes bubbles would appear in their wine when they opened it, 62 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 2: and delightfully, they didn't like it. 63 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: No, it's terrible pubs in Champagne. 64 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 2: You know what it reminds me of. It reminds me 65 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 2: of when, like salsa or hummus, has been in the 66 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 2: fridge too long and you taste it. It tastes just 67 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 2: a little fizzy. There's just a little something on your 68 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 2: tongue that tells you to donate this, and I think 69 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 2: it was like a little fizz like that. It wasn't 70 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 2: like bubbly like bubbly today, and so one of the 71 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 2: things dom wanted to do was get the bubbles out 72 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 2: of the wine. They actually called it leuvan de diable oh, 73 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,600 Speaker 2: Devil's wine, Devil's wine. We understand today actually why it happened, 74 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 2: and it's interesting. So you know, the way wine making 75 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 2: worked was they would take the essentially the grape juice 76 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,600 Speaker 2: and they'd put it in wooden casks after the harvest, 77 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 2: and the yeast that occurred naturally on the grape wild 78 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 2: yeast would consume the sugar from the grapes and it 79 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 2: would excrete alcohol delicious and carbon diaxide, which in the 80 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 2: regular wooden cask would just go off into the atmosphere 81 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:51,159 Speaker 2: and nobody even knew it was there, right, they didn't 82 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:53,600 Speaker 2: know what carbonaxide was. And so you'd wind up a 83 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 2: few months later with just wine, regular still wine, which 84 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 2: you would then put into either sealed casks or bottles, right, 85 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 2: you would seal it off. Now, the Champagne region is 86 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 2: in the north of France where it's cold, and interestingly, 87 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 2: at the time Don pering Yon lived around seventeen hundred, 88 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 2: Europe was in the Little Ice Age. Remember the Little 89 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 2: Ice Age of this period of I don't know, it 90 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 2: was one hundred years or something, a long period when 91 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 2: it was bad. And so because it's cold and extra 92 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,119 Speaker 2: cold at this time, it slowed it down. It slowed 93 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:31,719 Speaker 2: fermentation down right. So what would happen is at the 94 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 2: end of the normal open cask fermentation process, not all 95 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 2: of the sugars would have been metabolized by the east, 96 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 2: so they'd seal it off and now it's in a 97 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 2: sealed container. Fermentation keeps happening. The yeast is metabolizing the sugar, 98 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,719 Speaker 2: but there's nowhere for the carbon dioxide to go. So 99 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:51,160 Speaker 2: you open the cask that has been sealed, or you 100 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 2: open the bottle fizz bubble. 101 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 1: Surprise, it didn't blow up. 102 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 2: Sometimes it did, sometimes in fact it did, And so 103 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 2: dom is working on the bubbles problem. Fails at that, 104 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 2: but is in fact a genius wine maker. Apparently, and 105 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 2: later later people actually say Don Perignon invented champagne. They'll 106 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,279 Speaker 2: in fact that when he first tasted sparkling wine, he 107 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 2: called out to another monk, come quickly, I am drinking 108 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 2: the stars. This will be a lie when they say. 109 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,359 Speaker 2: It'll be some marketing guy who makes it up. But 110 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 2: it's a beautiful line. It's a beautiful lie. And in 111 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 2: fact the champagne company Moet and chandon't much later will 112 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 2: register Don Peignon's name as a trademark, make him famous. 113 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 2: And it's why Don Peignon is a fancy sparkling wine today, 114 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 2: even though he thought it was the devil's wine. In fact, 115 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:44,160 Speaker 2: the birth of Champagne as we know it does not 116 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 2: come from Don Peignon. It comes delightfully from England, from 117 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:53,600 Speaker 2: France's art tribal not known for its taste in ninety 118 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:57,800 Speaker 2: foods and beverages, Oh tough enough. So the British imported 119 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 2: wine in big wooden casks, and then they'd open the 120 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:03,919 Speaker 2: cask to drink the wine. But as you know, if 121 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 2: you've opened a bottle of wine and you didn't finish 122 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 2: it and you left it on the counter, never happened 123 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 2: to me. It goes bad. It goes bad. So the 124 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 2: British did a couple things to prevent their wine from 125 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 2: going bad after they opened the cask. One add sugars. Basically, 126 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 2: it could be kind of like a syrup fruity syrup. 127 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 2: It could be brandy, which speeds it up. It makes 128 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 2: it taste better. It makes it taste better. And then 129 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 2: they after they added the sugar, they would reseal it. 130 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 2: They would put it into a bottle and seal it 131 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 2: and business. Fact apparently the King of England had banned 132 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 2: the use of wood for the fires to make glass 133 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,040 Speaker 2: because they needed the wood for ships, and so they 134 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 2: used coal to make the bottles, and that made them stronger. 135 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 2: So they had stronger because in England, I guess because 136 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 2: it burns hotter. I guess because it prints horter. I 137 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 2: don't know, but that's what I think. So they had 138 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 2: wine with extra sugar, put it in strong bottles. Open 139 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 2: it and it's not a little fizzy like old hummus. 140 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 2: It's bubby like bubbly. And they tasted it and they 141 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 2: thought delicious. They thought the bubbles are fun. They thought 142 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 2: you can get in some nice for the odor, and 143 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 2: and rich people around Europe liked it. The regent who 144 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 2: is running France, when was it Louis the fifteenth was young, 145 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 2: the Duke of Orleans. This is early seventeen hundreds. He 146 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 2: gets a taste for champagne. He throws these like crazy 147 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 2: parties or gees. Basically where Champagne is key, the Russian 148 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 2: czar starts to love it. 149 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: Is there some reason why it's for rich people or 150 00:08:36,079 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: is this just the fad at the time. 151 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 2: I think it's expensive to make, right, because you have 152 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 2: to make the wine and then you kind of have 153 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:44,439 Speaker 2: to make it again, and it turns out to be 154 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:46,840 Speaker 2: quite complicated. To make it again. You have to sort 155 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:49,200 Speaker 2: of get it from the first bottle into the second bottle, 156 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 2: So it is labor intensive and it's a rich people 157 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 2: fad in Champagne. In the region in France, they see 158 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:59,120 Speaker 2: this happening and they start trying to make it, but 159 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 2: it's hard, as you alluded to before. For one thing, 160 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 2: the bottles do tend to blow up, and in France, 161 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 2: I guess their glass is not as good as the 162 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 2: glass in England, and so like half of the bottles 163 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 2: blow up. Who going to the cellars to work with 164 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 2: it apparently start wearing some kind of iron mask't I 165 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 2: couldn't find a picture of it, but it was described 166 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 2: as something like a modern catcher's mask, so that if 167 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 2: the bottle explodes, the charts are less likely to hit them. 168 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,600 Speaker 2: In the face. And there's this other problem that contributes 169 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 2: to the cost, which is, during that second fermentation, the schmutz, 170 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 2: basically the dead yeast I guess, accumulates in the bottle, 171 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 2: so it's cloudy and they try and get the schmutz out, 172 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 2: but that's expensive and slow. They'll pour it from one 173 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 2: bottle into another. And so by the end of the 174 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 2: seventeen hundreds, you know, now we're getting up to Barbney Colchleco, 175 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 2: the hero of today's show. By the time she comes along, 176 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,680 Speaker 2: almost all of the wine made in the Champagne region 177 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 2: is still normal, still. 178 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: Wine, because it's easier. 179 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 2: It's easier, it's what they know how to do. It's 180 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 2: typically red, and frankly, it's not as good as the 181 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:11,680 Speaker 2: wine in Bordeaux, and everybody kind of knows it, although 182 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 2: and she they're kind of in denial, and Barbney Cool 183 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 2: Clicko is going to be one of the key people 184 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:24,319 Speaker 2: who changes that, who turns Champagne into this global, enduring phenomenon. 185 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 2: We were talking about this story and it came up, like, 186 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 2: who is she? What was she like? 187 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: Yeah? Was she like a inventing genius? 188 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 2: Was she a figure out? In part A because it's 189 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 2: a long time ago. It's the early eighteen hundreds. She 190 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 2: didn't write an autobiography like Henry Ford. She wasn't a 191 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 2: celebrity like Thomas Edison, and so what we know about 192 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 2: her comes largely from her business correspondent. She has these 193 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 2: people working for her around the continent, and there's these letters, 194 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 2: and it seems from those it's you know, if I 195 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 2: were going to make an inference from what I've read 196 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,080 Speaker 2: of those, which to be clear, largely comes from this book. 197 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 2: The widow Cleyco, I feel like she was not like 198 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 2: a champagne lover who happened to run a business. I 199 00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 2: feel like she was a killer entrepreneur and the thing 200 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 2: she sold happened to be champagne. So here here's her life, right. 201 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 2: She's born Barbnicole ponsardin a daughter of a rich wool merchant, 202 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 2: and in seventeen ninety eight, when she's twenty years old, 203 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 2: she enters into an arranged marriage with the son of 204 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 2: another rich wol merchant. 205 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:29,839 Speaker 1: So many offspring. I mean, it. 206 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:34,079 Speaker 2: Does remind me of the way the royal families of 207 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 2: Europe would all intermar as like alliances. I mean, this 208 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:39,600 Speaker 2: seems like that but m and A right, this is 209 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 2: like a merger in the eighteen hundreds, you do it 210 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 2: through marriage. This is you know, right after the French Revolution. 211 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,880 Speaker 2: And so they actually they have a Catholic wedding ceremony, 212 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 2: but they have to do it in secret because I 213 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 2: guess the Catholic Church is banned at this point. Like 214 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 2: the revolution was super intense. Yeah, it really got into 215 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 2: people's lives. It wasn't just a political change of power. 216 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:00,080 Speaker 2: They were going to have a new era and a 217 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,960 Speaker 2: new way of living. Yeah, the year zero, right, and 218 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 2: then they you know, have their civil wedding license as 219 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 2: citizen citizen Ponzardan and citizen Clicko. And one thing about 220 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 2: the Clicko family is, besides being mainly in the textile business, 221 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 2: they had a sideline as wine merchants, as sellers of wine. 222 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 2: And around the time Barbnicole Mary's Francois Clico Francois decides 223 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:28,120 Speaker 2: he's going to really focus on wine. 224 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 1: To this day, if you are rich and successful in 225 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: something like wool, you're like, you know what, I'm going 226 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 1: to buy a vineyard and I'm gonna make wine. 227 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:39,920 Speaker 2: And my playboy son can screw around in the wine business. 228 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 2: I don't know if Francois was a playboy, but he 229 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 2: tries to make wine his thing. He travels around Europe 230 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,839 Speaker 2: trying to, you know, make new sales, and he's not 231 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,079 Speaker 2: that successful, at least not initially. But it is a 232 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 2: really interesting time in the wine business, the wine industry 233 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 2: such as it is in France because of Napoleon. Actually, 234 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:03,439 Speaker 2: so Napoleon is running France by this point, you know, 235 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:07,120 Speaker 2: getting into the early eighteen hundreds, and one thing I've 236 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:09,599 Speaker 2: learned from our show, and you talked about this in 237 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:11,679 Speaker 2: the Jars show, right, like Napoleon was kind of this 238 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 2: industrialization figure. 239 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think you know, it's often said he 240 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: did this because he wanted to take over Europe and 241 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,959 Speaker 1: you need industry to support your army. But what you 242 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,560 Speaker 1: rarely see from a general is somebody who actually is like, oh, well, 243 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:29,720 Speaker 1: I'm going to solve the problems of business. I'm going 244 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:32,560 Speaker 1: to industrialize this country. In the case of the Cans 245 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:35,600 Speaker 1: Jars episode, he did it by offering a prize if 246 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 1: you could come up with a way to store food yars, 247 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: and so similarly. 248 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 2: With wine, he had this guy who I think he 249 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 2: had some like position ahead of the interior or something, 250 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,679 Speaker 2: but he was this guy was bringing a kind of 251 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 2: more scientific mindset to wine. And so Napoleon in the 252 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 2: early eighteen hundreds commissions a book that is called the 253 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 2: Art of Making, Controlling and Perfecting Wines. And the book 254 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 2: sets out to turn wine making from this sort of 255 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 2: quasi mystical thing. I remember there was a monk was 256 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:11,439 Speaker 2: like the famous wine guy, right and the Wine of 257 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:13,959 Speaker 2: the Devil, to turn it from that into this more 258 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:16,839 Speaker 2: scientific process like this much sugar, this much time. It 259 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 2: is a very enlightenment vibe. So around the time this 260 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 2: book comes out, Francois decides, Okay, you know, we're in 261 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 2: the wine distributing business, but wine making is becoming a science. 262 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 2: I'm going to learn the science and I'm going to 263 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 2: vertically integrate. Surely he would not have said vertically integrate. 264 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 2: He wouldn't even have said it in French. I'm sure 265 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 2: nobody said it. He's like, I don't want to pay 266 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 2: people for the crapes and the bottles. Ye, yeah, yeah. 267 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 2: So Francois decides to get into wine making and it 268 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 2: it's not great. It's not killing as a business, in 269 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:54,960 Speaker 2: part because the Nepal I'm gonna stop drinking wine now 270 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 2: in part, in part it's not his fault because the 271 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 2: Napoleonic Wars keep starting and stopping, you know, kind of 272 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 2: tough for business, especially if you're in an export business. 273 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 2: And Francois does make one great move that is going 274 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 2: to pay off throughout this story, and that is hiring 275 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 2: a traveling salesman named Louis Bum Boom bohimmy, I'm going 276 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 2: with Boom, who travels all over Europe. He has great 277 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 2: connections in like Prussia and Russia, and he is making 278 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 2: some sales. Rich people do still like to drink bubbly wine. 279 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 2: And then in eighteen oh five, Francois Clico dies. He 280 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:36,400 Speaker 2: dies because what because it's eight two oh five and 281 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 2: people die all the time. And he's young, Yeah, he's youngest. Yeah, 282 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,480 Speaker 2: they've gotten married a few years before. It's probably Typhoid 283 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 2: is the guest. Francois father is despondent, of course, and 284 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 2: decides he's going to sell off the wine business. But 285 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 2: barb Nicole suggests something else. She says, what if I 286 00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 2: take over the wine business? What if I run it? 287 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 2: And this is really interesting in a in a broader 288 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 2: historical way, it fits into this kind of complicated historical 289 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 2: dynamic of the role of women in business more broadly 290 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 2: around this time. If you go back a little early, 291 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 2: you go back to the seventeen hundreds, it was actually 292 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 2: relatively common for women to be in business. You know, 293 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 2: it's the pre industrial world. 294 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, and they were making textiles and clothing at home. 295 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 1: But that was work, right, that was work for Factories 296 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:31,400 Speaker 1: were not a thing yet. They hadn't come along, and 297 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: this separation of work and business wasn't such a thing 298 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 1: in the pre industrial world. You farmed with your family, 299 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 1: you as you say, you know, cottage industry they called 300 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:43,400 Speaker 1: it was literal cottages. 301 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 2: People in their homes did it. So now by the 302 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 2: eighteen hundreds, the world's starting to industrialize, modernize, and there 303 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 2: is this idea of home and work as separate spheres 304 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 2: that is emerging. And home is the sphere for women 305 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 2: and work is the sphere for men. And in fact, 306 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:08,719 Speaker 2: just before Francois dies, this is codified in France in 307 00:17:09,159 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 2: the Napoleonic Code. It's put into law, and in this 308 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:19,199 Speaker 2: law women are essentially excluded from the business world. They 309 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:23,600 Speaker 2: can't work without their special permission from their husband. They 310 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:26,359 Speaker 2: can't own property without special permission from their husband. 311 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: And in fact, this is why a lot of the 312 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,160 Speaker 1: shows we do feature almost exclusively men like to this day. 313 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 1: Through the Great Age of Business, women were at home 314 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: and men were running the business. 315 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 2: Yes, and in France in many ways it was illegal 316 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 2: for women to work. But but there was this exception, 317 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 2: almost a loophole for widows. Huh for widows. Widows, unlike 318 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 2: women who were married or who had never been married, 319 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:00,399 Speaker 2: could be out there in the business world. Under the 320 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 2: Napoleonic Code. They could own property, they could run businesses 321 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:09,520 Speaker 2: without the consent of a man. So bardon nicole Clicko, 322 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,360 Speaker 2: who is now love Clicko? Now the widow Clicko decides, 323 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,000 Speaker 2: that's what I'm gonna do. I'm a widow, I'm gonna 324 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 2: run the family business. 325 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:23,680 Speaker 1: I gotta pour a little bit more champagne while we 326 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:50,120 Speaker 1: take a break. We think we're back from the break 327 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 1: and we are going to start the business Adventures of 328 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 1: Clico the. 329 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 2: Widow clickom So. Because of the way the Clicko wine 330 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 2: business is structured, the widow Clicko has to get the 331 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 2: buy in of her father in law, and he does 332 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 2: agree on condition. He says, okay, you can do it, 333 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 2: but you have to basically serve an apprenticeship. You have 334 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:21,239 Speaker 2: to run the business for four years with someone who 335 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 2: knows the wine business well. And after that, if you 336 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:28,200 Speaker 2: want to go solo, you can. And she agrees. Barbnicole 337 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 2: Clicko agrees to this, and the partner is yet another 338 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:38,240 Speaker 2: textile merchant turned wine maker, a guy named Alexandre for No. 339 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:41,920 Speaker 1: Kind of an arranged corporate marriage at this point, yeah, yeah, 340 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:44,320 Speaker 1: that's purely platonic, just business. 341 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:49,600 Speaker 2: And so in eighteen oh six, Clicko and Fourneau enter 342 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:52,640 Speaker 2: into a four year partnership and they call their wine 343 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 2: business love Clicko for no, we don't clicko for no. 344 00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:00,160 Speaker 2: And pretty quickly they do get a bunch of big 345 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 2: orders from Prussia and Russia they got that good salesman 346 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:07,119 Speaker 2: up there. But France is at war with England again. 347 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 2: The British are blockading French ports again, and so so 348 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:19,239 Speaker 2: now Wulf clicko for no has wine, bubbly wine. They 349 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:22,080 Speaker 2: have the orders for the wine, but they have no 350 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,879 Speaker 2: way of getting the wine to the customers who are 351 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 2: ordering the. 352 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: Wye supply chain logistics. 353 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:32,479 Speaker 2: Yes, yes, they have a logistics problem. And so Clicko 354 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:36,920 Speaker 2: and fourn decide they're going to try and go around 355 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:40,879 Speaker 2: the British blockade, run the blockade. Well so people did 356 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 2: run the blockade, you know, they just would send hips out. 357 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 2: They're going to do something a little different. They're going 358 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:49,520 Speaker 2: to take the wine overland to Amsterdam, okay, and go 359 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,359 Speaker 2: from there. Because when they make this decision, it's just 360 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,919 Speaker 2: the French ports getting blockaded, and Forourno actually goes along 361 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:00,920 Speaker 2: with the wine overland to Amsterdam. But around this time, 362 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:07,399 Speaker 2: Napoleon has made his brother the king of Holland and 363 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 2: it's become a sort of, I guess, a vassal state. 364 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 2: And so just as the wine is about to get 365 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:17,200 Speaker 2: shipped out to the Baltic, the British show up and 366 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,359 Speaker 2: blockade Amsterdam. 367 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:21,240 Speaker 1: They're never going to get over the fact that they 368 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:24,160 Speaker 1: invented champagne and now it's taking off without them. 369 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,679 Speaker 2: For No writes back to Clicko Cea. Commerce is totally 370 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:32,439 Speaker 2: ruined and therefore all commerce on the continent. 371 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:33,439 Speaker 1: It's the only thing they had. 372 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,560 Speaker 2: They put the wine into storage in Amsterdam, but it's 373 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:41,439 Speaker 2: not cold storage. There is no cold storage, and they 374 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 2: send a salesman there to try and liquidate the wine, 375 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,399 Speaker 2: if you will. But the wine basically goes bad. By 376 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,720 Speaker 2: the time he gets there, it's a loss. And meanwhile 377 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:56,199 Speaker 2: war is spreading and that demand that they had before 378 00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:01,719 Speaker 2: is collapsing. Their salesmen in Prussia, it writes to Clicko 379 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 2: about the situation Prussia. It give it a read. It's 380 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 2: here in the script what he writes. 381 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:09,560 Speaker 1: Prussia has lacked even money for the worst vintage this 382 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: past year, and after fifteen years of war, has given 383 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:15,919 Speaker 1: up on being able to procure our luxury drink. All 384 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,359 Speaker 1: is war, war and war, poet. 385 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:23,720 Speaker 2: It's a lot of war were bad for the champagne business. 386 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 1: I know victory is great for the champagne business, but 387 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: the act of war terrible. 388 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 2: They're trying to sell more wine domestically in France, but 389 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 2: by eighteen ten things are still quite grim, and that 390 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 2: their salesman, Louis Baum, writes another letter to give the 391 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 2: latest sales update, and you can sum. 392 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,200 Speaker 1: It up in three words from that letter, Robert business 393 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:50,840 Speaker 1: totally dead. So now the four year partnership Clicko fourn 394 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:55,280 Speaker 1: comes to its end, and unsurprisingly, Furno decides he wants out, 395 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:57,200 Speaker 1: but Barbney Cole. 396 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 2: Wants to stay in. She drops Fournau's name from the 397 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:07,440 Speaker 2: business and love Clicko Fourno becomes love Clicko Ponsar Dan. 398 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 2: She adds her maiden name, which is still the full 399 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 2: name today of the So that's eighteen ten, and the 400 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 2: next year, in eighteen eleven, there is a portent, a 401 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,360 Speaker 2: portant in the sky, a literal portent in the sky. 402 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,119 Speaker 2: A comet, a big beautiful. 403 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 1: Comet, famous comet. 404 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:30,359 Speaker 2: Yeah, pears, And apparently for Champagne it portended an incredible harvest. 405 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 2: Sure there's a connection, Maybe maybe not. Maybe it was 406 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 2: the sun spots, big beautiful grapes, sugary, just perfect, amazing harvest. Locally, 407 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 2: CO start burning a star, a shooting star, a comet 408 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:50,880 Speaker 2: logo into their quarks to mark the year. In fact, 409 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:54,159 Speaker 2: actually interestingly, at the time, wine bottles didn't typically have labels. 410 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:56,760 Speaker 2: They were branded with label, so there was like a 411 00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:00,639 Speaker 2: literal brand, right, they would burn into the cork an image. Locally, 412 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 2: CO usually used an anchor, which they still use was 413 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,160 Speaker 2: a sign of good luck. I guess I don't feel 414 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:10,000 Speaker 2: like good luck. So they have this comet vintage wine, 415 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:14,840 Speaker 2: and there is this interesting question, right, incredible harvest is 416 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:15,680 Speaker 2: that good news? 417 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: If you're running a winery, well, you may have an 418 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,200 Speaker 1: incredible harvest, but it means that everyone else did also. 419 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,000 Speaker 1: And as we know in the commodities business, if everyone 420 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 1: is having a bumper harvest of grapes, if everyone's making wine, 421 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 1: everyone's making a champagne, then the price is going to 422 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:36,280 Speaker 1: go down. It's actually going to be a supply overload, 423 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:37,119 Speaker 1: a glot. 424 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:38,320 Speaker 2: Of delicious wine. 425 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:40,880 Speaker 1: Oh so drike it it as fast as they can. 426 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: They can't sell it or the prices are falling. 427 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:47,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, And so the widow cley Co decides she's not 428 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:51,120 Speaker 2: going to sell at that moment. She's going to keep 429 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:57,280 Speaker 2: that delicious eighteen eleven Comet vintage in the cellar, which 430 00:24:57,359 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 2: means for the short term she has a cash crunch. 431 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:02,960 Speaker 2: She is wine rich and cash poor. And so she's 432 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:06,520 Speaker 2: telling her her salesman, you know, sell the older vintages, 433 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,119 Speaker 2: get whatever price you can for it, just so we 434 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 2: can get some money coming in. And as this is happening, 435 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:18,440 Speaker 2: Napoleon invades Russia. Come on, you know, I have to say. 436 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: I know we don't have a lot of information about her, 437 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,199 Speaker 1: but the widow Clicko, I think is coming off as 438 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: a little bit of a business genius. The marketing of 439 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,440 Speaker 1: the widow part the comet on the cork and knowing 440 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 1: enough to store the wine that this will be valuable 441 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:35,399 Speaker 1: in the future. I don't know. 442 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 2: I think this is pretty shrewd. It's gonna work out 443 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:42,080 Speaker 2: in the end. Spoiler alert sears to that. So Napoleon 444 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:44,480 Speaker 2: invades Russia, which, as we know, is going to be 445 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 2: bad for Napoleon, and in the short run, it is 446 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,160 Speaker 2: also going to be bad for Voclico because the Russians 447 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:55,040 Speaker 2: love her Champagne and the Czar now bans importation of 448 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 2: bottled wine from France, oh, which is basically banning the 449 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:03,160 Speaker 2: importation of Champagne. So sales are down and down and down. 450 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 2: Barbnicol Clicko fires all of her salesmen except Louis bum 451 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,960 Speaker 2: the super salesman, but even he isn't selling much, and 452 00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:15,600 Speaker 2: by the end of eighteen thirteen, sales are down eighty 453 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 2: percent from where they were when France Wakley Coo died 454 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:21,320 Speaker 2: in eighteen oh five. 455 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:23,439 Speaker 1: This is where it's helpful to come from a rich family. 456 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,240 Speaker 2: It's true, it is true, and things are about to 457 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:33,000 Speaker 2: get even worse because now the Russians are invading France. Oh, 458 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,000 Speaker 2: I forgot about this one. Forgets about the country. 459 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,720 Speaker 1: We talk about Napoleon failing to take Russia, but we 460 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:41,199 Speaker 1: forget that the. 461 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,879 Speaker 2: Russians came back at him. I mean the winter of 462 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:49,480 Speaker 2: eighteen fourteen, the Russian army gets to Champagne. In fact, 463 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,760 Speaker 2: it's the Russians and the Prussians. It is all of 464 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 2: the Russians coming into Champagne. And you know, they all 465 00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 2: hate Napoleon love Clico is low on cash. They still 466 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:05,680 Speaker 2: have this Comet champagne from eighteen eleven. And you hear 467 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:09,400 Speaker 2: that the Russians are coming. Russians, You're like, they're gonna 468 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,240 Speaker 2: drink all my champagne. So she says the widows as 469 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:16,240 Speaker 2: to her employees, wall up the cellars, build a wall 470 00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 2: in the cellar so that they can't get to our 471 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:23,040 Speaker 2: eighteen eleven Champagne. The Russians and the Prussians show up, 472 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 2: and you know what, they're not that bad as far 473 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:31,440 Speaker 2: as an invading army goes. They don't loot so much. 474 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 2: They actually buy. They buy champagne from the widow, although 475 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 2: she holds back that Comet vintage. And then the French 476 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 2: counterattack or I guess counter counterattacked at this point, and 477 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,960 Speaker 2: there is a story. It's probably not true. The widow 478 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 2: Clicko gave bottles of champagne to French soldiers on horseback 479 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,680 Speaker 2: who are coming through town, and they use their sabers 480 00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:55,200 Speaker 2: to slice the cork off of the bottle and drink 481 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:56,800 Speaker 2: it that way. And this is the moment when this 482 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,640 Speaker 2: technique called sabrage was invented. Probably not true, which. 483 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:02,800 Speaker 1: Is done to this day at super fancy places. 484 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:03,119 Speaker 2: You know. 485 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:05,679 Speaker 1: I grew up in Park City, Utah, and there are 486 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: some fancy resorts. Every time the sun goes down, they 487 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:11,400 Speaker 1: pull out a sword and open up a bottle of champagne. 488 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,560 Speaker 2: Might I feel like that's a thing you might know 489 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 2: how to do. Do you know how to do it? 490 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:17,000 Speaker 1: I do not know how to do it. 491 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,640 Speaker 2: So the Russians come back through town, now counter counter 492 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 2: counterattech they take Paris and in April of eighteen fourteen, 493 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:31,120 Speaker 2: Napoleon abdicates the throne. Abel was he there? 494 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:31,960 Speaker 1: He's a elba? 495 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,120 Speaker 2: And the Russians are back in Champagne drinking to celebrate 496 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:38,720 Speaker 2: their victory, remembering how much they love Champagne. And around 497 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 2: this time, the widow Cleco writes this letter celebrating the piece, 498 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:45,320 Speaker 2: and I want you to read a decent chunk of it, 499 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:49,600 Speaker 2: because it is the most entrepreneur celebrates peace letter I 500 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 2: have ever read. 501 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,600 Speaker 1: At last, she says, the time has come when, after 502 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: the sufferings our town has known, we may breathe freely 503 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,600 Speaker 1: and hope for a general and permanent peace and consequently 504 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:04,080 Speaker 1: for commercial activity which is stagnated for too long. Thank God, 505 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: I have been spared. My properties and sellers are intact hint, hint, 506 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: and I'm ready to resume business with all the activity 507 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 1: recent changes will allow. Cheers to her. 508 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 2: Love Clico is back, baby, after the break. 509 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 1: We have returned. 510 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:48,480 Speaker 2: Barbnicol Clicko knows that the Russians have been in town 511 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:52,440 Speaker 2: bounding her champagne. Obviously, they clearly love her champagne. She 512 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 2: also knows that there is all this pent up demand 513 00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 2: in Russia for her champagne. Russians always love an elite product. 514 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:03,840 Speaker 2: I gotta say, but Love Clico is not the only 515 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:09,720 Speaker 2: champagne in Champagne. Her arch rival, Jean Remy Moette, no 516 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:13,720 Speaker 2: of Moet and Chandon Fame, is also eager to get 517 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 2: back to selling to the Russians. That guy, and the 518 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,320 Speaker 2: widow cley Co wants to beat him. There She wants 519 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:24,600 Speaker 2: to be the first Champagne in town, and so as 520 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 2: soon as Napoleon abdicates, even before the piece is finalized, 521 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 2: before the British have lifted the embargo, barbon Nicol, Clicko 522 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 2: starts scheming with her star salesman Louis Boum, to get 523 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:39,480 Speaker 2: her Champagne on a ship to the Baltic They want 524 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,000 Speaker 2: to sell that eighteen to eleven one, the Comet vintage 525 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:43,600 Speaker 2: that they've been holding. 526 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:47,160 Speaker 1: Back to the Russians, who, to be clear, are celebrating. 527 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:49,600 Speaker 1: This is the perfect audience for Champagne. 528 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:53,240 Speaker 2: So Bum finds a Dutch ship that's about to leave 529 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 2: from France and they load up ten five hundred and 530 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 2: fifty bottles of Champagne, send it by wagon to the ship, 531 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:07,040 Speaker 2: and amazingly, the British embargo is lifted just before the 532 00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:12,520 Speaker 2: ship sails. But France at this point required this special 533 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:17,000 Speaker 2: export license if you wanted to ship Champagne out, and 534 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,320 Speaker 2: the widow Clico did not have this export license, and 535 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,560 Speaker 2: she's in a hurry. She wants to beat Moet, so 536 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,880 Speaker 2: rather than waiting for the paperwork to come through, she 537 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,800 Speaker 2: decides to send the wine out without a license. She 538 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:34,120 Speaker 2: is basically gonna smuggle ten thousand bottles of wine out 539 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 2: of France. 540 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:36,840 Speaker 1: Screw it, We're gonna do it live. 541 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:40,160 Speaker 2: We're doing it live, and if we get caught, you know, 542 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:42,880 Speaker 2: this huge chunk of our assets could be seized by 543 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:47,120 Speaker 2: the French government. So Louis bum gets onto the ship 544 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 2: with the wine says he sleeps next to the ship. 545 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:52,680 Speaker 2: Is that true, I don't know sure. Apparently the widow 546 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,920 Speaker 2: sent him with a copy of Don Quixote, so they're 547 00:31:55,960 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 2: definitely having fun with this at some level. And Louis 548 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,280 Speaker 2: and the wine make it out of France without getting stopped. 549 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 2: They make it up to the Baltic and they land 550 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 2: at Konigsburg today is known as Kaliningrad, which is this 551 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:13,920 Speaker 2: weird Russian exclave in the Baltics. I feel like it's 552 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:15,400 Speaker 2: a place you might have gone on vacation. 553 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:17,320 Speaker 1: I have been close to it. It is a part 554 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:20,400 Speaker 1: of Russia that is not connected to Russia and is 555 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:23,320 Speaker 1: on the Baltic Sea, and it's right next to Lithuania. 556 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,600 Speaker 2: So weird, so weird. So that's where they land. We 557 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:31,000 Speaker 2: know what happened when they land because Louis wrote barb 558 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:33,520 Speaker 2: Nicola letter telling her sort of the story of what 559 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,280 Speaker 2: happens when they get there, and so he tells her 560 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,560 Speaker 2: the first thing he did was he checked to see 561 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:40,520 Speaker 2: if the wine had handled the trip. Okay right again, 562 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,120 Speaker 2: there's not refrigeration, it might have gone bad. So he 563 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:45,800 Speaker 2: opens a bottle of wine to taste it, and he 564 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:49,120 Speaker 2: writes to her that the wine was as yellow as 565 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:51,760 Speaker 2: gold and as sweet as nectar. 566 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 1: HM, true to this day. That's great. 567 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:59,560 Speaker 2: And then he got off the ship and immediately it 568 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:05,400 Speaker 2: was clear they had beaten Moet. Here read the line 569 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:05,600 Speaker 2: that he. 570 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:08,160 Speaker 1: Went to our ship is the first in many years 571 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:10,640 Speaker 1: to travel to the north filled with the wine of 572 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:11,360 Speaker 1: the Champagne. 573 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:15,880 Speaker 2: He's unloading the ship with this delicious champagne that they 574 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:18,240 Speaker 2: haven't had there in years. And even before he gets 575 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:21,959 Speaker 2: off the dock, the local wine merchants are basically fighting 576 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,400 Speaker 2: each other to buy from him. Demand is through the roof. 577 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:26,000 Speaker 2: He's a great salesman. What does he do. 578 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:28,760 Speaker 1: He raises the price. There's no price tag on it, 579 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:33,080 Speaker 1: any price tags. It's anything, he says. And the number 580 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:34,400 Speaker 1: he says is high. 581 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,240 Speaker 2: It's high. He sells enough of the wine right there 582 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:39,040 Speaker 2: to cover the cost of the trip, to give him 583 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 2: a little margin, but most of the wine he holds 584 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:44,240 Speaker 2: back to send to their agent in Russia. 585 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:46,680 Speaker 1: Give him a little taste, charge him more. 586 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:50,720 Speaker 2: The wine gets to Russia, and the Russians go wild 587 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,840 Speaker 2: for the Comet vintage love Clco. The King of Prussia 588 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:58,720 Speaker 2: is drinking it, the Tsar is drinking it, and apparently, 589 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:02,480 Speaker 2: as Louis writes back to barboney Cole, everybody is getting 590 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:04,520 Speaker 2: wasted on Clico. 591 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: In his letter, he says, of all the fine wines 592 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:11,040 Speaker 1: that have teased northern heads, none compared to Madame Kleiko's 593 00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:15,680 Speaker 1: eighteen eleven couve delicious to taste. It is an assassin, 594 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:19,640 Speaker 1: and anyone who wants to make its acquaintance will become 595 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 1: well attached to his chair, because after paying his respects 596 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 1: to a bottle, he will go looking for crumbs under 597 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:28,880 Speaker 1: the tables. 598 00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:32,160 Speaker 2: Everybody is drinking themselves under the table. 599 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:34,320 Speaker 1: I'm very close. I'm very close. 600 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,400 Speaker 2: And I didn't find record of what he was charging, 601 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:42,279 Speaker 2: but clearly it was a lot, because at some point 602 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:47,800 Speaker 2: Barbnicole writes to him, and she is clearly very interested 603 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:49,360 Speaker 2: in the prices he is charging for. 604 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:52,960 Speaker 1: This one, and she writes back, great, God, what a 605 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:56,440 Speaker 1: price how novel. I'm over the top with joy and satisfaction. 606 00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:00,400 Speaker 1: What overwhelming happiness this change will pay out. The heavens 607 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:03,400 Speaker 1: have showered me with blessings after all the terrible moments 608 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:07,200 Speaker 1: I've passed. Uh, it's it straight. She did it. 609 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:10,200 Speaker 2: She did it. She beat Moet and her other competitors 610 00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:13,160 Speaker 2: to Russia and Prussia, and and really she has made 611 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:15,319 Speaker 2: a name for her brand there, her own name, Love 612 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:19,440 Speaker 2: Clyco is a brand that is going to live for centuries. 613 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:23,520 Speaker 2: And she has one more big move to make. It's 614 00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:28,800 Speaker 2: not sales, it's not marketing. It is actually a technological innovation, 615 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,200 Speaker 2: and it is in the wine world. I think the 616 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 2: thing she is most famous for to this day. It's 617 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:38,359 Speaker 2: a way to make champagne that's more efficient, that leads 618 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:42,359 Speaker 2: to better wine. And it goes back to a fundamental 619 00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:46,320 Speaker 2: challenge in making champagne. Remember that thing that happens You 620 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:49,440 Speaker 2: do the second fermentation in the bottle, and the yeast 621 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:50,920 Speaker 2: dies and it's schmutzy. 622 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:51,720 Speaker 1: It's nasty. 623 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:55,440 Speaker 2: Yeah. And so the way they dealt with that at 624 00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:58,680 Speaker 2: the time was they would actually take that bottle, open 625 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,960 Speaker 2: it and pour it into a new bottle slowly, so 626 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:04,000 Speaker 2: that the schmitz would stay in the old bottle and 627 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:07,000 Speaker 2: then they'd put a cork in. It takes forever, takes forever. 628 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:12,640 Speaker 2: You spill some wine, it gets less. They called it 629 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:16,760 Speaker 2: trans vasage, which I believe is French for super labor 630 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:19,000 Speaker 2: intensive and inefficient. And you lose a bunch of wine. Yes, 631 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:23,879 Speaker 2: And so everybody's trying to make this process work better, 632 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:27,839 Speaker 2: including Barbney Cool click Coot. So she works with her 633 00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:30,600 Speaker 2: cellar master to try and figure out what to do, 634 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:35,400 Speaker 2: and they have this idea. They bring her dining table 635 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:39,360 Speaker 2: down into the cellar and they drill holes in it 636 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:41,880 Speaker 2: at a little bit of an angle, and then they 637 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:45,439 Speaker 2: put the champagne bottles in upside down. 638 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:47,120 Speaker 1: The neck fits into the table. 639 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:50,040 Speaker 2: The neck fits into the table. They call it soup punt, 640 00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:53,520 Speaker 2: which means on point, like a ballerina, up on poinches. 641 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:55,919 Speaker 2: That's what the bottle is. The bottle is on point, 642 00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:59,239 Speaker 2: very French. And so workers every day they come in 643 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:00,759 Speaker 2: the bottles upside down and they just give it a 644 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:04,320 Speaker 2: little twist, a little twist which I guess dislodges the 645 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:07,239 Speaker 2: schmutz from the side and makes it settle in the 646 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:10,400 Speaker 2: neck right next to the cork. And then after some 647 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:12,560 Speaker 2: amount of time I guess, like weeks or maybe months, 648 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:15,560 Speaker 2: you can do this thing where you dislodge the cork 649 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,480 Speaker 2: real quick, the schmutz shoots out, you put a little 650 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:20,000 Speaker 2: more wine into top it off, and then you put 651 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:20,640 Speaker 2: in a new cork. 652 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:21,879 Speaker 1: Huh huh. 653 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:25,160 Speaker 2: Doesn't sound that efficient to me, frankly, like it still 654 00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:27,920 Speaker 2: sounds quite labor intensive. But I was thinking about this. 655 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:30,440 Speaker 2: You know, we tell stories about the big breakthroughs, these 656 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:35,200 Speaker 2: wild aha moments, but in fact most technological improvements are 657 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:39,279 Speaker 2: like this. They are these new ideas that are an 658 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:42,800 Speaker 2: incremental gain that let you have wine that is more bubbly, 659 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:45,759 Speaker 2: with less loss and less labor, even though it still 660 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:48,239 Speaker 2: seems like a lot of work, and over centuries in 661 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:51,719 Speaker 2: lots of different fields, these kind of incremental improvements lead 662 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:54,719 Speaker 2: to tremendous gains. And so that is what's happening here. 663 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,640 Speaker 2: And actually for many years, Love cly Coke keeps this 664 00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:02,680 Speaker 2: breakthrough a trade secret. Moet is like, we gotta figure 665 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:02,920 Speaker 2: it out. 666 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:03,840 Speaker 1: Are doing it. 667 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:07,040 Speaker 2: Eventually everybody figures it out and starts making wine. This way, 668 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 2: they go from tables to these like kind of easels. 669 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:11,640 Speaker 2: I think they call them desk but but it's the 670 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:14,000 Speaker 2: base idea of this. Put it upside down and give 671 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:18,040 Speaker 2: it a little twist. For decades after this breakthrough, the 672 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:22,919 Speaker 2: Widow Clicko keeps running her business. The wine business keeps growing, 673 00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:26,799 Speaker 2: although there were some bad moves, notably the moment when 674 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:29,520 Speaker 2: she got tired of paying banks to borrow money. You know, 675 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:33,719 Speaker 2: it's a very capital intensive business. You're always borrowing money. 676 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:36,719 Speaker 2: So she decided, you sell the wine until months later 677 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:40,120 Speaker 2: or years eve. Yeah, And so she decides she's going 678 00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:43,359 Speaker 2: to start her own bank. More vertical integration doesn't work, 679 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:45,399 Speaker 2: she gets out, it's fine. It doesn't take her down. 680 00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:49,680 Speaker 2: The champagne business keeps growing, and by the time she 681 00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:54,840 Speaker 2: retired in eighteen forty one, locally co was selling hundreds 682 00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:57,480 Speaker 2: of thousands of bottles of champagne all around the world. 683 00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:02,040 Speaker 2: In London, when people ordered a bottle of champagne at 684 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:04,680 Speaker 2: a bar, sometimes they just say, give me a bottle 685 00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:08,279 Speaker 2: of the Widow. And she lived for decades after that. 686 00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:11,040 Speaker 2: She lives to be quite old, well into her eighties. 687 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:12,640 Speaker 2: And you know, she's had a lot of time with 688 00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:15,000 Speaker 2: her family. They were one of the richest families in France. 689 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:18,640 Speaker 2: Did she remarry, She did not. She remained the widow Clicko, 690 00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:21,640 Speaker 2: and at some level, I think even though she officially 691 00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:23,680 Speaker 2: retired and other people were running the business, at some 692 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:29,719 Speaker 2: level she never stopped working. There was this guy who 693 00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:35,400 Speaker 2: visited her late in her life and who said she 694 00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:41,839 Speaker 2: was someone whose soul was in business, scanning over each 695 00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:45,000 Speaker 2: day to her last the ledger of the commercial house 696 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:47,120 Speaker 2: to which she had given her name. 697 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:49,719 Speaker 1: All right, past the widow with that one, I'm going 698 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:53,520 Speaker 1: to have a little bit more. Cheers to her best 699 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:54,279 Speaker 1: day of work ever. 700 00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:58,919 Speaker 2: Thanks very much to our listener Annette Wellcamp, who wrote 701 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:02,000 Speaker 2: to us and pointed out very fairly that we had 702 00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:04,839 Speaker 2: not yet had any women as central characters on the show, 703 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:07,839 Speaker 2: and who very helpfully suggested that we do a show 704 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:09,360 Speaker 2: about the widow Clicko. 705 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:11,479 Speaker 1: So amazing story, amazing story. 706 00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:12,000 Speaker 2: Thank you so much. 707 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:14,840 Speaker 1: And so if you're a listener and you think we 708 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:18,880 Speaker 1: have ignored big areas of business history, let us know 709 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:19,840 Speaker 1: we'd love to hear from you. 710 00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:23,160 Speaker 2: You can write to us at Businesshistory at Pushkin dot fm, 711 00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:25,880 Speaker 2: or you can find me on Twitter at Jacob Goldstein. 712 00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:26,880 Speaker 2: You can find me on LinkedIn. 713 00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:29,680 Speaker 1: I'm at Radiosmith wherever you want to find me. 714 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:33,040 Speaker 2: Today's show was produced by Gabriel Hunter Chang. It was 715 00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:37,560 Speaker 2: run and edited by Ryan Dilly and engineered by Sarah Buguer. 716 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:41,320 Speaker 2: Our show is on YouTube. Our video editor is Matt Nielsen. 717 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:43,640 Speaker 1: You can watch how much of the bottle I drank in. 718 00:40:43,719 --> 00:40:45,120 Speaker 2: Non trivial amount. 719 00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:51,320 Speaker 1: I'm Jacob Goldstein, I'm Robert Smith. Thanks for listening, so 720 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:51,839 Speaker 1: I'm Dati