Heidsieck

Today, there are three different champagne houses in Reims that use the name Heidsieck in their company name. The complicated story began when the German-born Florenz-Ludwig Heidsieck (1749-1828) from Westphalia settled in Reims in 1777 and henceforth called himself Florens-Louis Heidsieck. He married the daughter of the textile entrepreneur Nicolas Perthois. He began producing his own wine as early as 1780 and founded the champagne house Heidsieck & Co. with his son in 1785. In 1785, he was received by Queen Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793). When the founder's son died young, Florens-Louis Heidsieck took in three of his nephews.

Heidsieck champagne for Russia

Henri-Louis Waldbaum (1765-1843) joined the company in 1795, followed by Charles-Henri Heidsieck (1760-1824) in 1805 and Christian Heidsieck, Charles-Henri's younger brother, in 1808. Production was primarily based on sales to all the European royal and princely courts of the time, as champagne was the favourite drink of the ruling class. Shortly before Napoleon (1769-1821) invaded Russia in 1812, Charles-Henri Heidsieck initiated a publicity stunt. He announced that he would be travelling from Reims to Moscow on a white horse. He actually arrived in Moscow a few weeks before the French army with several crates of champagne in his travelling luggage.