Heidsieck

Today there are three different champagne houses in Reims that use the name Heidsieck in their company name. The complicated history began when the German-born Florence-Ludwig Heidsieck (1749-1828) from Westphalia settled in Reims in 1777 and from then on called himself Florens-Louis Heidsieck. Shortly afterwards he married the daughter of the wealthy textile entrepreneur Nicolas Perthois. Already in 1780 he began to produce his own wine and founded his own champagne house with his son in 1785. In 1785 he was received by Queen Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793). When the son of the founder died at a young age, Florens-Louis Heidsieck took three of his nephews into the company. Henri-Louis Waldbaum was the first to join the company in 1795, followed by Charles-Henri Heidsieck in 1805 and Christian Heidsieck, Charles-Henri's younger brother, in 1808. The production was mainly based on the sales of all European princes and royal courts of that time, because champagne was the very popular drink of the ruling class. Shortly before Napoleon (1769-1821) invaded Russia in 1812, Charles-Henri Heidsieck initiated a sensational advertising stunt. He announced that he would travel on a grey horse from Reims to Moscow. In fact, a few weeks before the French army arrived in Moscow, he rode in with several cases of champagne in his marching baggage.