Florens-Louis Heidsieck (1749–1828) was the founder of the Champagne house Heidsieck & Co from which later Piper-Heidsieck was spun off, and which was the start of the Heidsieck Champagne clan. Heidsieck was the son of a Lutheran minister from Westphalia, and had moved to Reims to work as a cloth merchant. In Reims, he went into winemaking and started producing his own wine in 1780.[1][2]
Florens-Louis Heidsieck founded his eponymously named Champagne house in 1785. He presented his champagne to Queen Marie Antoinette in 1788.
His nephew Christian Heidsieck joined the company in 1800. After his only son died, in 1814 Florens-Louis Heidsieck asked German great-nephews Frédéric-Auguste Delius, Charles-Henri Heidsieck, Henri-Louis Walbaum and Christian Heidsieck to work for the family business, followed by Henri-Guillaume Piper in 1815. Christian Heidsieck took over the control of Heidsieck & Co after Florens-Louis' death in 1828, while Piper handled sales.[2]
- ^ Sparkling Direct: Piper Heidsieck Champagne, accessed 2010-08-15
- ^ a b Piper-Heidsieck Champagne: Extravaganza since 1785, accessed 2010-08-15