Moet et Chandon

Moët & Chandon – World-renowned champagne house

The Moët & Chandon champagne house was founded in 1743 by the wine merchant Claude Moët in Épernay and looks back on a history spanning over 280 years, which has made it the most famous champagne brand in the world. The house experienced its decisive rise to prominence under Jean-Rémy Moët, the founder’s grandson, who expanded the company from 1792 onwards into an international trading empire. His friendship with Napoleon Bonaparte opened the doors to the European royal courts, and before long figures such as the Marquise de Pompadour and Talleyrand were counted amongst its enthusiastic customers. In 1833 the house acquired its now world-famous name, Moët & Chandon, through a marriage alliance with the Chandon family. Today, the company is part of the luxury goods group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) and produces around 30 million bottles annually.

The house owns around 1,190 hectares of vineyards – the largest in the entire Champagne region. The vineyards span the five main wine-growing areas of Champagne, with 50 per cent of the land classified as Grand Cru and 25 per cent as Premier Cru. Beneath the impressive cellars on Avenue de Champagne lies a 28 kilometre-long labyrinth of chalk cellars, where the bottles mature under ideal conditions. The house’s flagship is the Brut Impérial, a non-vintage cuvée created as far back as 1869, which combines the power of Pinot Noir, the richness of Meunier and the elegance of Chardonnay to create one of the world’s best-selling champagnes. In addition, the house is home to Dom Pérignon, one of the world’s most legendary prestige cuvées – the first bottle of this single-varietal vintage Champagne was launched in 1936, and since 2021 Dom Pérignon has been operated as a standalone brand. With a brand value of US$1.4 billion, Moët & Chandon is not only the largest champagne house, but also the world’s most valuable wine brand and the very epitome of champagne for celebrations and special occasions – a house that has shaped the reputation of this sparkling drink for almost three centuries and remains the undisputed world leader to this day.