Helen Fripp in The House of Champagne, published by Newton Compton, tells us the fascinating story behind the famous wine production and at the same time the story of a courageous and enterprising woman. We are at the end of the 18th century, a few years before the French Revolution. François Clicquot is a passionate winegrower from Reims and together with his wife Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin has great plans to expand his production but, unexpectedly, he dies very young. In an era when women were excluded from business, Barbe-Nicole dared to take over the management of the company, a role she fulfilled with passion and determination. Her creativity and pursuit of innovation led to several firsts: the first known vintage champagne, the invention of the riddling table, and the first known rosé champagne made by blending. Nicole manages to change the course of events, thanks not only to her business acumen but also to fate, which rewards her with an extraordinary vintage, that of 1811, which remained forever in the annals of harvests as the year of the “comet.” With such a sign of destiny showing her the way, she found herself making a decision capable of changing the course of events forever, inscribing her name, Madame Clicquot, Veuve Clicquot, in the history of centuries to come. Have you read it?