Moët and Chandon's handwritten letter (1857)

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In 1857, Moët & Chandon indemnifies a client harmed by transporters and thieves.

Handwritten letter from Moët & Chandon to J. Talon, Directeur des Services, Maritimes des Messageries Impériales à Marseille. Two pages. In French. 21.8 cm x 27.5 cm. Epernay, the 17th of June 1857. Good condition. Single piece.

extracts

(…) We noticed that you had the misfortune to find two broken bottles and fifteen « recouleuses » bottles (with leaks) in the last delivery.

(…) The care we take in preparing the boxes well makes us sure that the breakage was not due to a flaw in the packaging.

(…) Such accidents often happen due to lack of care on the part of the carriers when handling the baskets, at the time of loading or unloading. Sometimes there are even men of bad faith who, without damaging the baskets on the outside, break the bottles with an iron rod to drink the wine they collect in a vase.

(…) As you noticed on our invoices, our wines travel under the responsibility of the buyers; for this reason, our house does not usually replace bottles that break during the trip, nor does it compensate for bottles that leak because they are found standing in boxes that have been handled incorrectly. However, with you, we do not want to keep this rule of our House strictly and we agree to indemnify your loss in the delivery of your next order.

Moët & Chandon

In 1833, Casa Moët changes its name to « Moët & Chandon » after the arrival of Jean-Rémy Moët's son-in-law, Pierre-Gabriel Chandon, as head of the company. It is he who will accelerate the development of the brand and the company, betting on exports, first in Europe, and then worldwide.

World leader in the production of Champagne, Moët & Chandon currently owns the largest vineyard in Champagne, with over 1,600 hectares of vines. There are 1500 professionals (300 winemakers) working in 144 countries.

This letter is an interesting record of the company's commercial successes and logistical difficulties at the beginning of its international growth 160 years ago.