Historia
In 1825 Henri-Marc de Venoge set up in trade in Mareuil-sur-Ay, a business that in 1837 was to become the Champagne House that carries his name. 6,000 bottles were sold in March 1838 and 22,000 in April of the same year. By May 1838 sales were being made to clients in Brussels and Mannheim and 10,000 more bottles had been sent out.
The next stops on the de Venoge expansion programme were London, Pforzheim, Karlsruhe, Fribourg, Ulm, Munich, Antwerp and Copenhagen. Henri-Marc de Venoge was also the first to illustrate his labels, which was a completely new concept in Champagne.
Until then, labels had simply shown the name of the producer and the vintage. In 1837, Henri-Marc designed an oval label sporting two painted bottles and the de Venoge name. He retired in 1845 and died in 1860.
Joseph de Venoge, was the true driving force behind the firm established by his father. He launched the brand on the international scene with the help of his brother, Léon who settled in the United States.
Soon, champagne was being dispatched to New-York, New Orleans, Philadephia, Port-au-Prince and even Calcutta.
He took over as Chairman in 1845 and launched the first special cuvees which later became brands in their own right: Cordon Bleu in 1851, Vin des Princes in 1858 and Vin du Paradis etc. He died in 1866. A road in Epernay still carries his name.
Gaetan de Venoge joined the firm in 1864 as export manager, which has always been the stepping stone towards general management at de Venoge.
He was one of the founders of the Syndicat des Grandes Marques, created in 1872. The greatest Champagne Houses belong to it, united in defence of the appellation and the quality of the wines of Champagne.
Marquis Adrien de Mun who quickly joined his father-in-law, Gaetan who died in 1898 allowed his name to be associated with that of de Venoge, thereby introducing the brand into Paris’ high society.
At that time de Venoge was dispatching over one million bottles against a total of 30 million for the whole of Champagne.
The Marquis de Mun died in 1922 and left his mother-in-law and his widow in charge of the company.
The last direct heir of the de Venoge family left the helm of the firm in 1958 but we aim still to perpetuate the traditional quest for quality and innovation.