Napoleon on Champagne

Is famously quoted as saying “In victory, you deserve Champagne, in defeat, you need it.”

Champagne maker Jean-Remy Moët and Napoleon first met at French military school. Their friendship was to have a lasting impact on the production of Champagne and also the Champagne region as Napoleon was a keen champagne drinker and actively supported his friend. He was known to visit him even after he became Emperor.

Handwritten notes show that Napoleon during his exile on St. Helena was allowed one bottle of champagne plus ten bottles of ‘claret’ a day.