In 1857, Moët & Chandon compensated a customer who had been 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, June 17, 1857.
- Good condition of conservation.
- Unique piece.
Excerpts
(…) We note that you had the displeasure of finding two broken bottles and fifteen “recoluses” (leaking) bottles in the last delivery.
(…) The care we take in preparing the boxes properly gives us the certainty that the breakage was not due to a fault in the packaging.
(…) Such accidents often occur due to carelessness on the part of the carriers when handling the baskets, during loading or unloading. Sometimes, there are even men acting in bad faith who, without damaging the outside of the baskets, break the bottles with an iron rod in order to drink the wine that they collect in a vase.
(…) As you have noticed on our invoices, our wines travel under the responsibility of the buyers; for this reason, our company does not usually replace bottles that are broken during the trip, nor does it compensate for bottles that leak because they are left standing up in boxes that have been handled incorrectly. However, we do not want to strictly enforce this rule of our company and we have agreed to compensate for your loss upon delivery of your next order.
Moët & Chandon
In 1833, the Moët House changed its name to « Moët & Chandon » after the arrival of Jean-Rémy Moët's son-in-law, Pierre-Gabriel Chandon, in charge of the company. He will accelerate the development of the brand and the company, focusing 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 1,500 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.
