Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Before picking up this book, what was your impression of the Veuve Clicquot brand? How has reading about Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin’s life changed or deepened your perspective on the champagne and the woman behind it?

2. The author, Tilar J. Mazzeo, also wrote The Secret of Chanel No. 5, another story about a woman behind a luxury brand. If you’ve encountered that story or similar biographies, how did this one compare? What do you find so compelling about discovering the hidden histories of these iconic female entrepreneurs?

3. How compelling did you find the book’s blend of personal biography with business and political history?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Barbe-Nicole urged her great-granddaughter to “act with audacity.” Think about a time in your own life when you took a calculated risk, either personally or professionally. How did that experience shape who you are today?

2. What role has mentorship played in your own life? Have you had a guide like Alexandre Fourneaux or been a mentor yourself, like Barbe-Nicole was to Édouard Werlé?

3. Think about the moment Barbe-Nicole saw the occupying Russian troops not as a threat, but as future customers. Can you recall a time when you managed to reframe a major challenge as an unexpected opportunity?

4. Barbe-Nicole sent her daughter away to school and arranged her marriage to a count, decisions that seemed to serve her business and social ambitions. What did you think of her choices as a mother?

5. What did you think about the way Barbe-Nicole’s father publicly embraced Jacobinism while privately remaining a royalist to protect his family? Did his strategy make you more or less sympathetic to his character or his family, particularly given the aims of the revolutionaries?

6. François Clicquot is described as a passionate dreamer who was also prone to deep melancholy. Have you ever worked with or known someone whose brilliant vision was coupled with similar internal struggles? How did they impact you?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The book explains that widowhood gave Barbe-Nicole legal and financial freedoms unavailable to other women of her time. What does her story reveal about the specific constraints placed on women in the 19th century? In what ways have the challenges for female entrepreneurs changed, and what barriers might still feel familiar?

2. What does the book reveal about the relationship between geopolitical conflict and commercial innovation?

3. The Afterword notes that while hundreds of women ran businesses in the 19th century, most of their stories have been lost. Why do you think Barbe-Nicole’s story endured to become a global myth while so many others vanished?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Mazzeo frames the biography as her personal search for the woman behind the legend, noting how few personal records survive. How did this authorial presence and the acknowledgment of historical gaps affect your reading experience and your trust in the narrative?

2. How does the meaning of the cellars shift from a place of secret tradition to a laboratory for radical innovation as the story unfolds?

3. What did the rivalry between Barbe-Nicole and her competitor Jean-Rémy Moët reveal about their different approaches to business and innovation?

4. In what ways did Barbe-Nicole strategically transform her identity as “the Widow” from a personal circumstance into a powerful international brand?

5. Barbe-Nicole’s success helped create a corporate managerial system that would later exclude women. What does this paradox suggest about the nature of individual achievement versus systemic change?

6. The guide positions Louise Pommery as Barbe-Nicole’s “cultural heir.” How do Pommery’s innovations with brut champagne and her own approach to business both mirror and diverge from Barbe-Nicole’s career?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Barbe-Nicole used symbols like the anchor and the comet star to brand her champagne long before modern labels were common. If you were tasked with creating a new symbol for the Veuve Clicquot brand today that captures her entire story of audacity and innovation, what would it be and why?

2. If Barbe-Nicole were an entrepreneur today, which industry do you think she would revolutionize?

3. Imagine you could ask Barbe-Nicole for advice on a modern business problem. What challenge would you present to her, and what do you think her guidance might be?