Mercier (champagne)

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House Mercier in Épernay
The barrel "Le foudre" (back)

Mercier is a champagne brand founded in 1858 by Eugène Mercier and based in Épernay , France. Mercier is the top-selling champagne brand in France.

history

In 1858 Eugène Mercier (* 1838; † 1904) founded the initially small champagne house at the age of 20. In 1869 Mercier acquired the land in Épernay on Avenue de Champagne, the seat of all the famous champagne houses in Épernay, which is still the seat of the house today. There are also the spacious cellars, dug into the chalk cliffs since 1871, which are still used today for the maturation and storage of the champagne produced. The cellars are at a depth of approx. 30 m and include corridors with a length of 18 km.

In 1885, the Compagnie des Grands Vins de Champagne E. Mercier & Cie relocated part of their champagne production to Luxembourg . Mercier wanted to get a price advantage there, in the area of ​​the German Customs Union , since a different rate of duty applied to champagne in barrels than to bottles. A little later, the company received its own rail connection to Luxembourg's main train station , via which both the delivery of the wine barrels from France and the export of the filled champagne bottles took place.

Advertising poster for barrel transport

For the World Exhibition in Paris in 1889 , Mercier had what was then the largest wine barrel in the world, at 1,600 hectoliters, called "Le foudre" ( The Big Barrel ) and transported to Paris with 20 pairs of oxen. The barrel is now on display in the entrance hall of Mercier in Épernay.

Mercier owned the original rights to the Dom Pérignon brand , but sold them to Moët & Chandon in 1930 .

In 1970 the Mercier company merged with Moët & Chandon. In 1987 both were taken over by the newly founded luxury brand Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ T. Stevenson, ed. The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia (4th Edition) pg 181 Dorling Kindersley 2005 ISBN 0751337404
  2. ↑ http://www.champagnemercier.fr/
  3. ↑ www.onsstad.lu (pdf 1MB)
  4. ^ "Mercier" from Epernay: Real Champagne from Luxembourg ( Memento of January 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), contribution in the Luxemburger Wort of December 27, 2011

Web links

Homepage (English / French)