Optimism & Audacity

The Maisons of Jet Linx Elevated Lifestyle partner Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) possess the power to transform any occasion by bringing people together in a moment.

Champagnes, wines and spirits become more than something to sip – they become invitations to celebrate, to share personal connections and to create lasting memories. When it comes to Veuve Clicquot’s La Grand Dame 2015 vintage, within each sip exists an unequaled quality, an exceptional style and the expression of elegance and integrity born from 250 years of innovation.

At Jet Linx, our commitment to knowing and understanding our clients stems from the belief that only unparalleled experiences will suffice. This explains why Moët Hennessy Private remains a sterling member of the Elevated Lifestyle program. Beyond tailoring a service, beyond exceeding expectations, the ambition to shock and delight drives Moët Hennessy Private forward. All Jet Linx clients have exclusive access to a dedicated advisor who holds the keys that open doors to private estates, allowing access to curated tastings and personalized collections of rare and exclusive products and experiences from the finest purveyors in the world.

La Grande Dame, an ode to the larger-than-life figure of Madame Clicquot Ponsardin, is also known as the “Grande Dame of Champagne.” To appreciate this sublime work of art and oenological genius, first you must know the story of the Grande Dame of Champagne.

It begins in 1805, when the Madame’s husband, Francois Clicquot, died of typhoid, leaving his widow (veuve in French) in complete control of the company’s champagne production at the tender age of 27. Under the Madame’s direction, the company made a massive rebound, in part from the fact that the Madame truly knew how to produce wine and helped her company to invent a novel technique known as riddling – where yeasty sediments are removed in a second fermentation, deepening the flavor and altering the process of carbonation.

Not only was Madame Clicquot known for her skill in wine production, she was a businesswoman far ahead of her time. An adept leader and writer, the Madame personally penned thousands of letters across the globe that encouraged clients, directed her employees and extolled the virtues of her champagne house. Because of the Madame’s demanding and tireless quest to create the finest champagne, she became a visionary, perfecting the art of aging and vineyard selection. The rest is history.

In celebration of the House’s 200th anniversary in 1972, a vintage was released in tribute to Madame Clicquot, an embodiment of her free-spiritedness and optimism which drive the brand today. In 2020, iconic Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama sent a cheerful message to the world with a unique and colorful creation to celebrate the House’s vintage La Grande Dame 2012.

For the release of La Grand Dame 2015, Veuve Clicquot again celebrates optimism through color with an unprecedented collaboration with Italian designer Paola Paronetto. Paronetto has crafted a collection of six gift boxes in a shower of hues from her palette, infused with emotion and commitment. The symphony of color chimes harmoniously, breaking the monochrome code of prestige wines.

Designer & Artist Paola Paronetto

Based in the Alpine village of Pordenone where she grew up, Paronetto has advanced a rare method for making ceramics with seemingly delicate shapes and proportions. After more than 30 years of personal research and experimentation with numerous ceramic techniques and materials, she decided to focus on paper clay in 2000. Her technique involves adding paper pulp to the ceramic mixture, which offers extra stability and makes it possible to add vertical folds that will remain after the clay has been fired. Paronetto has spent a decade developing this technique and each piece is handmade using her traditional potter’s wheel.

Paronetto’s works form a crossroads between utilitarian objects and sculpture, inspired by colors found in the natural world that she’s surrounded herself with. In addition to making design objects for major furniture shops in Italy and abroad, she also aims her more personal artistic work at the modern art market and her pieces have been regularly exhibited at international art and design fairs, such as Milan Design Week, and in art galleries, including Ille Arts in New York and the Contemporary Ceramic Centre in London, which dedicated a solo exhibition to her.

For this collaboration, Paronetto used the iconic Veuve Clicquot yellow as a starting point and then expanded the palette through six nature-inspired shades in 100% recyclable packaging. This collection also uses the same material underlying many of her paper works ‘Cartoccio,’ corrugated-cardboard ceramics that she used as the principle for the 2015 vintage gift box collection. The material in the gift boxes comes from hemp, wood fibers and cotton, all aligned with Veuve Clicquot’s EcoYellow commitments towards building a more sustainable future.

Beyond the gift box collection, Paronetto has imagined three giant bottles accompanied by a vertical of La Grande Dame Vintages – one Jeroboam of La Grande Dame 2008, three magnums of La Grande Dame 2012 and six bottles of La Grande Dame 2015. This limited- release-only set takes two months to create, entirely handmade by Paronetto on demand. The set of three artworks, all more than a meter tall, come with custom colors chosen by the client and then hand-mixed by the artist herself. This investment of time and quality parallel the shared values and delicate process that Cellar Masters encounter from harvest to aging.

In a final, personal flourish, each 2015 vintage comes with one of six reusable leather charms made from different colors and textures. This first-ever personalization program offers a deeper connection with clients using leather deadstock from high-end LVMH Maisons, all designed to adorn the vintage and inspired by the history of the brand.

“This collaboration allows me to pay tribute to Madame Clicquot by interpreting this new vintage through the prism of her optimism and audacity and a balance between joy and creativity. For this new edition of La Grande Dame, I tried a range of six nuanced colors and created a graphic play of light to showcase them at their best,” Paronetto explained.

La Grande Dame 2015: A Sparkling Tribute

Paying tribute to Madame Clicquot, who used to say, “Our black grapes give us the finest white wines,” this vintage shines with 90% Pinot Noir (10% Chardonnay), using eight historical Grand Crus. This higher-percentage blend started in 2008, a purposeful move to express the energy and elegance of the wine and the woman behind it all.

After a mild winter, a lightly-cold spring, and a bright and warm June with little rain and gentle flowering, 2015 proved to be a wonderful year for Champagne. The grapes harvested in the coolness of mid-September gave birth to a taught and precise vintage, fully expressing the terroir with freshness and minerality with light floral notes of jasmine and acacia, evolving into fruity notes of pear and clementine. On the mouth, a subtle, silky texture delights.

La Grande Dame 2015 inspires association with garden gastronomy: slightly sweet carrot, green apple, seasonal and fresh produce. Best enjoyed at 50°F in the Veuve Clicquot Prestige glass, paired with pea gnocchi in chervil broth with green apple feathers, or with land and sea condiments such as shaved eel, bottarga and strips of smoked ham. Best enjoyed any time of day or night with aging potential of more than 15 years.