For my first wine book report, I read “The Widow Cliquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It,” by Tilar J. Mazzeo. Actually, I should probably make a small confession before I continue any further in this report. I didn’t actually read the book; I listened to it on CD in my car. I will argue that I feel this is a perfectly acceptable way to read a book. After all, it is certainly more productive then listening to Eminem’s latest hit, but I do feel that I should throw that out there, because in my experience reading and listening to a book, give rise to slightly different interpretations of the same work. This was exceptionally prevalent at the end where the author switches from discussing Champagne, to discussing the last years of Barbe-Nicole’s life. For a moment, I thought that the used book store I purchased it from had made a mistake, and given me the CD to another book.
Despite some of the flaws with the ending of the book, this is, on the whole, a good read. Mazzeo does an excellent job of taking what could have easily been a boring book of history, science and economics in France during the 19th century and turning it into the thrilling tale of a daring businesswoman fighting to make a name for herself in a time where women were supposed to be seen and not heard. Throughout the book she takes us through the Napoleonic Wars, the struggle with maintaining champagne long enough for it to be sold and shipped to another country, and the rise and fall of the French economy in the 1800s. These events are all told through the life of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin and her adventures in the champagne industry. While I found this book interesting and informative on the whole, there were a few points throughout where I felt Mazzeo had to stretch the truth a bit too far to fill in the missing gaps.
One thing I did like about this book was that it gave a real sense of life around the times of the Napoleonic wars and the effects it had on both the people and the economy of France. This is not a part of history I am exceptionally familiar with, so it was nice to learn about it from such a unique and intriguing perspective. I never realized that in order to survive during this time, families would have to conceal their true political beliefs and often advertise something very different on the surface. This was particularly intriguing to me in the discussions of Barbe-Nicole’s wedding, which had to be done secretly as it went against the political beliefs of the time period.
One of the other things I appreciated about this book was the dedication it gave to explaining some of the techniques behind creating champagne and trying to keep it from going bad while trying to sell and transport it. I especially appreciated the images created of Barbe-Nicole’s attempts to improve her product. One such example is when she is trying to create a method to get rid of the extra sediment in the bottom of the champagne bottles and has her dining room table riddled with holes so all the bottles could be stored upside down in order to improve the quality of her champagne. She must have been wholly dedicated to her product to do such damage to such an expensive piece of furniture.
The most interesting part of the book is the widow’s daring deliveries of the champagne during the wars. It had never occurred to me that a port could be blocked, literally overnight, causing the screeching halt of all exports, including Barbe-Nicole’s champagne. I also never considered what it must have been like to have to store the champagne indefinitely, never knowing if the product would be able to survive its storage conditions, or how long the blockade might last. I found it incredible that Barbe-Nicole was willing to risk everything to make her mark on the international wine industry. How terrifying and thrilling it must have been for her to arrange for her wine to be smuggled abroad, knowing that if her mission failed it would be the end of her business, but also knowing if she succeeded she would make her mark forever on the international wine market. It was striking to me that her boldness turned champagne from a charming local commodity to an international sensation.
One of the other things I really liked about this book was the emphasis of women and their connection to champagne. While there is certainly nothing wrong with a man drinking champagne, it is definitely a drink I associate much more strongly with my mother and my girlfriends than I do with my father and fiancé. It seems only appropriate then, that a drink so strongly associated with women has some of its strongest roots in the Widow Cliquot.
While I liked this book on the whole, I found myself frustrated throughout the book, as the author occasionally tried to create more of a picture than there were facts to base it on. She spends a great deal of time trying to paint a picture of Barbe-Nicole’s relationship with her husband, of which there was little actual record. While I attempted to follow the book, I kept asking myself, how did Mazzeo know that? The answer is, she couldn’t have. So while the book is correct in essentials, it is not wholly based on facts, which unfortunately causes it to lose some of its authenticity.
Another issue I had with the book was its lack of an ending. Actually, strike that, I took issue with the fact that the book appears to end in the middle, and then consists of a long series of boring and heavily stretched facts. Mazzeo attempts to end the book at the end of Barbe-Nicole’s life, but unfortunately there is little information available on her beyond her turning over her business. Sadly, Barbe-Nicole lived in a time where the diaries and personal effects of women were rarely preserved. Thus, the attempt to end it at the end of her life is quite ineffective, as much of the information is guesswork. While there is some factual information left about her daughter and son in law, it seems that this takes away from the telling of her life, rather than adds to it.
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