Veuve Clicquot champagne epitomizes glamour and style, with tribute paid everywhere from Lord Byron to Casablanca. But who was this young widow - the 'Veuve' - Clicquot, whose champagne sparkled at the courts of France, Britain, and Russia, and how did she rise to celebrity and fortune? Newly widowed, she assumed the reins of the fledgling wine business she and her husband started, steering it through huge political and financial reversals to succeed as a single woman in a man's world. Visitors flocked to see this cultural icon and taste the vintages she imbued with magic.

Author Biography

Tilar J. Mazzeo, is a cultural historian and biographer and a passionate student of wine and food culture. She divides her time between the California wine country in Sonoma county and Maine, where she is an assistant professor of English at Colby College. Her extensive travels include tours of vineyards throughout Europe and the west coast of the United States, as well as cooking school in the Loire Valley. She is president of the International Society for Travel Writing and is the author of nearly two dozen books, articles, essays, and reviews pertaining to women, travel, and history.