The Widow Clicquot: Raises a toast to the Queen of Champagne

‘The Widow Clicquot’ by Tilar J. Mazzeo is such a well written historical biography of a formidable woman – Barbe Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot. She was meant to be an ordinary homemaker and mother and was supposed to fade into the background over time. If any mention of her was made, it was meant to be as a footnote in her husband’s (Francois Clicquot) life and business venture. He dreamed of making and selling wines under his family’s marquee –Clicquot - and she supported him wholeheartedly.

She was married off in what amounted to an arranged marriage-business deal, which meant two wealthy business families that held sway in the city of Reims (France) would join hands, to prosper together.

Her father Nicholas Ponsardin was shrewd enough to survive the French Revolution even though he favoured the monarchy and aspired to acquiring aristocratic titles himself. When he realized he could lose his family, his life and his wealth, he very wisely took part in the birth of the Republic. He then worked hard to charm Napoleon Bonaparte. When Napoleon’s reign ended at Waterloo, he foresaw this as being another political allegiance that could become inconvenient, and made sure he was not caught on the wrong side.

So, though she lived in tumultuous times and saw some of the most famous people of her generation up close and personal, she was never meant to be the subject of her own biography. Mazzeo acknowledges this and states that it made her research on Barbe-Nicole that much more taxing and interesting! She’s literally travelled in this woman’s footsteps to try and understand her as a human being and the remarkable businesswoman she turned out to be.

Barbe-Nicole sent her salesmen across war-ravaged Europe to generate business. They risked their lives to get business deals done. And they listened to gossip and sent back orders for some Clicquot wine. One of them was that the Russian queen was pregnant and might produce an heir to the throne, so the country would end up celebrating this news with champagne. She ended up producing her second daughter who also died as a baby. But the wine got drunk anyway, so things ended up well for Clicquot this time around.

The book highlights many such instances where Barbe-Nicole went with her sharp business instincts and got her wine across to countries, which had banned it because they were retaliating against Napoleon’s restrictive trade policies. Reading about them tells you a lot about this woman and how she was even willing to defy an emperor to create her own empire.

A smart wedding present: Gift a subscription

If you have ever wondered what gift to give someone who is getting married, and the many choices leave you feeling confused, (especially if you have no idea about the other person's tastes), then the wedding gifts registry concept is the latest rage abroad.

It's not that popular in India because many people have not heard of it. But it's simply about a bridal couple announcing to their friends and guests what they would like to have as gifts. They create a gift list based on the selections of a particular store. The guests then go and view the 'register' or the list online and opt to buy one of the gifts, that suits their budget from the store or website which is running this registry. So a pre-selected list makes it easier for the guests to get the right gifts.

In India, one site that is doing this sort of thing is shareurjoy. But if this feels too needy and greedy for your taste, then here is smart tip to get yourself a useful wedding present as well as a magazine subscription! Well, I love reading and pick up a lot of books and magazines. Most of these magazines have free gifts that they offer if you subscribe for them.

So, depending on the duration of your subscription, India Today gives away Reebok wallets to Adidas gym bags. Marie Claire gives away Hidesign handbags and H2O skincare products. People magazine gives away a uber stylish coffee mug. Outlook Traveller gives away either a rucksack, a traveller's waist pouch or 3-in-1 travel kit. Geo magazine gives you almost the same things, except instead of the travel kit you get a nice looking laptop bag. Time magazine gives away a sleek looking 2GB USB drive.

The best deals are from Magna Publications. If you subscribe to five of their magazines - they publish good ones like Society, Health and Nutrition, Stardust, Savvy, Society Interiors etc - then you can walk away with anything from a toaster, an iron to a washing machine or a flat screen TV!

These things add up to quite a lot of goodies, for which you would have ended up paying some serious money. So, ask your friends and relatives to gift you magazine subscriptions, and see how you'll manage to kill two birds with one stone. You will end up getting good reading material and all those free gifts that come with it.

All you have to do is check out all the magazines at a bookstore near you, and see what offers they have going. Pick up the magazines you would genuinely like to read and spread your wishlist among your friends and relatives.