History
Jacquesson was at the time of its foundation in 1798, one of the first champagne houses in Châlons-sur-Marne. By the time of the Paris world exhibition of 1867 Jacquesson & Fils was a major house whose sales exceeded one million bottles. Napoleon had a great impact on the house’s success, as Jacquesson was one of his favourite producers. Alongside several other occasions, the house’s champagnes were served at Napoleon’s wedding to the Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria. When Napoleon visited Jacquesson in 1810 he granted them a gold medal – the highest imperial accolade for an outstanding commercial enterprise – in recognition of “the beauty and richness of its cellars”. The medal is featured on the Jacquesson labels to this day.
The glorious days of Jacquesson came to a sudden end with the death of Adolphe Jacquesson in 1875. His descendants showed little interest in winemaking and the house drifted away from family hands. It was in 1974 that Jean Chiquet bought the property and its new life began. However, Jean’s sons Jean-Hervé and Laurent must take most of the credit for giving the company its prosperity and reputation of today. “We had a tough ten-year negotiation with Daddy about taking charge here…” Jean-Hervé Chiquet grins.
But during the ten year period in which they have run the company, impressive results and inspiring innovations have become almost commonplace. Jacquesson launched a trilogy of late-disgorged champagnes from the successive great vintages 1988, 1989 and 1990. The DT (Degorgement Tardif) range was quite ahead of its time when launched and today many houses are attempting to show the ageing capacity of champagne this way.
Jacquesson used to produce a top of the line wine called Grand Vin Signature and its rosé equivalent. With the 1996 vintage, the wine’s name was changed to simply ‘vintage’, with the single-vineyard wines taking the position of prestige wines.