As LVMH celebrate a 10-year Global Partnership, Moët & Chandon returns as the Official Champagne of Formula 1.
Champagne has had a close association with Grand Prix motor racing since 1950, when Paul Chandon-Moet and his cousin, Count Frederic Chandon de Briailles, presented the winner, Juan Manuel Fangio, a bottle of Moët & Chandon following his French Grand Prix victory @circuitdereims in the heart of the Champagne region. But few realise that this wasn’t the first time Moët & Chandon tasted victory in motorsport!
Go back to 1936 when Tazio Nuvolari drank from a bottle of Champagne – apparently a Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial vintage 1926. The great Italian driver had won the Vanderbilt Cup on Long Island, near New York at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo / Scuderia Ferrari. The story is that this marketing initiative was the idea of a Mr. Labourdette, the American agent of Moët & Chandon… and so he claims his position in the history of Champagne in motorsport.
The connection to the Champagne region could not be more authentic.. it is rooted as deep as the vines that surround the circuit at Reims-Geuex. In 1926, southwest of the historic city of Reims, a fast triangular circuit connecting the villages of Thillois, Gueux and Muizon was created for motor racing and, as early as 1928, the Champagne houses of Mumm, Heidsieck Monopole, Moët & Chandon, Piper-Heidsieck, Canard-Duchene, Lanson and Pommery have all been involved in motorsport sponsorship… particularly during the Grand Prix de la Marne. 1932 saw the Reims-Gueux circuit as the location for the prestigious Grand Prix of the Automobile Club of France. The French racing blue Bugatti cars fought with the rosso red Alfa Romeo 8C for five hours, and coincidentially, Tazio Nuvolari, again crossed the finish line as the winner to again taste the Champagne in the winner’s circle. The following year, the Grand Prix of the ACF returned to the Linas-Montlhéry autodrome once described as the “most beautiful road circuit in France” and on 18 July 1937, Jean-Pierre Wimille was the last driver to make a French brand win in a Bugatti but war was already looming.
Post-war and ten years later Jean-Pierre Wimille again took victory winning the 35th ACF Grand Prix in an Alfa Romeo. Then, in 1950, the Formula 1 World Championship was created and Reims hosted the French Grand Prix and the Moët & Chandon relationship with Grand Prix began. The romance went beyond the track with 1953 Grand Prix winner and World Champion Mike Hawthorn falling in love with a local Reims beauty Jacqueline Delaunay – they had a son in 1954.
On the Reims circuit, three Champagne brands competed for the honour of being on the podium: Lanson, Moët & Chandon and Taittinger. From 1954, the Champagne house of Épernay became synonymous with Grand Prix motor racing with Moët & Chandon regularly hosting reception evenings and dinners after the Grand Prix at Château de Saran. Between 1967 and 1969, Count Chandon had select drivers stay at Château de Louvois. These were the heydays of motor racing in the Champagne region and the circuit fell into disrepair until a group of enthusiasts formed ‘The Friends of Circuit Gueux’ (Les Ami du Circuit de Gueux) to restore the buildings that still stand along the D27 within sight of the vineyards.. although much of the original track has changed the start/finish straight remains evocative, full of ghosts of drivers past and a lasting memorial of motor racing days gone by.
The spraying of Champagne from the winner’s podium, although often associated with Dan Gurney at Le Mans in ’67, can be claimed by Jo Siffert who inadvertently sprayed the crowd after he and Colin Davis had won the 24 Hours of Le Mans Performance Index in a Porsche 906 in ’66!.. and so a tradition began.
Photo credit: © COLLECTIONPARTICULIERE
PS: Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health. Consume in moderation.
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