Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, born 16 December 1777 in
Reims, was the daughter of a wealthy father, Ponce Jean Nicolas Philippe Ponsardin (from 1813, Baron Ponsardin), a textile manufacturer and politician. Her mother was Jeanne Josephe Marie-Clémentine Letertre-Huart. Her childhood was influenced by her father, who was involved in both
business and
politics. Like Nicholas Ponsardin, Philippe Clicquot ran a successful textile business. In addition, he was an owner of
vineyards in the Champagne country and had established a wine business. In an attempt to consolidate the power of their two businesses, Mr. Ponsardin and Mr. Clicquot arranged a wedding between their children, but it was attributed to typhoid. Both Barbe-Nicole and Philippe were devastated by François' death, and Philippe Clicquot announced his intention of liquidating the company. using funds supplied by her father-in-law. Prior to this invention of riddling, the second fermentation of wine to create champagne resulted in a very sweet wine with large bubbles and sediment from the remains of the
yeast used in the fermentation in the bottle (which creates the bubbles in the wine) resulting in a cloudy wine. She still used the original English technique of adding sugar, but after this second fermentation was complete the bottles were held upside down. The bottles were regularly turned so that the dead yeast would all gather near the cork (riddling). Once the settling was complete, the wine near the cork was removed, followed by an addition of wine to refill the bottle. In 1818, she invented the first known blended rosé champagne by blending still red and white wines, a process still used by the majority of champagne producers. Owing to her achievements as a businesswoman and her invention of three new techniques for making champagne, she became known as the "Grande Dame of Champagne". ==Death and legacy==