OUR HERITAGE MAISON FONDÉE EN 1853
From Mareuil-sur-Ay and Épernay to Reims, and from there to the grand tables of London, New York and Hong Kong.
The story of the house in eight chapters
Prologue · Paris, 1853
BETWEEN MOËT AND JACQUESSON
In 1853 a Paris encyclopaedia set out the great names of Champagne. Between Moët & Chandon and Jacquesson stood a house called Boll et Cie.
“The houses engaged in this trade are for the most part very old; among them we would name in particular Veuve Clicquot, Duc de Montebello, Moët et Chandon, Chanoine frères, Boll et Cie, Geldermann et Deutz, Jacquesson et fils.”
Dictionnaire de la conversation et de la lecture, article “Champagne”, 1853 · translated
The man behind the name
JOS. F. BOLL
An Alsatian at the head of a champagne house.
The house carries the name of Antoine François Joseph Boll, born on 30 January 1837 in Colmar, the wine capital of Alsace. He was a boy of sixteen when the house first appeared in 1853, and he grew up to lead it.
In the trade on both sides of the Atlantic he signed simply as “Jos. F. Boll”, senior of the house of Boll & Co.
His brothers followed him into the adventure: Adolphe would one day open the New York office, while Émile made his life in Paris.
Chapter
Mareuil-sur-Ay & Épernay · 1853 – 1870
BORN ON THE GRAND CRU SLOPES
The first home of Boll et Cie lay in Mareuil-sur-Ay, a vineyard village on the Marne, among the most famous slopes of the Champagne.
MAREUIL-SUR-AY
Growers and merchants of the Marne
The great Paris trade directory of 1855 lists “Boll et Cie” among the wine growers and merchants of Mareuil, next to Billecart-Salmon and the Duc de Montebello.
A year later London reports the firm at Épernay as propriétaires vignerons, owners of their own vineyards, making champagne “from their own vineyards”.
From the archive
CRÈME DE BOUZY
Boll & Cie à Épernay
The early labels carried a proud promise. In the language of Champagne a crème was the finest selection of a harvest, the crème de la crème, and Bouzy is one of the noblest Grand Cru villages of the Montagne de Reims, renowned for its Pinot Noir.
Not a sweet liqueur, but a prestige blend of the finest juices from the best years.
RUE DU COMMERCE
Épernay · New York · St. Petersburg
By 1860 the house had its seat at no. 25 rue du Commerce in Épernay, the street of the great champagne houses, renamed Avenue de Champagne in 1925.
That year's directory records Boll et Cie with “maisons à New-York, et à St-Pétersbourg”: houses of its own in New York and St. Petersburg.
Chapter
Royal Surrey Gardens · London, July 1856
SIXPENCE A GLASS, UNDER ROYAL PATRONAGE
In the summer of 1856 London opened the largest concert hall it had ever seen. Its champagne came from Boll.
The Royal Surrey Gardens opened their Colossal Concert Hall “under the Patronage of her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen”, with 1,000 performers and fireworks every evening. The directors wanted something better than the doubtful “champagne” of London pleasure gardens.
They sent an agent to Épernay, and he came back with a contract with “the highly-reputed firm of Creman, Joinny, Boll, and Co.”.
The refreshments were run by Potel & Chabot of the Boulevard des Italiens, the most fashionable caterers in Paris. Boll's champagne was poured at buffets all over the gardens, at sixpence a glass or 5s 6d a bottle.
“The public seemed thoroughly to enjoy a treat to which they have been hitherto unaccustomed, and we understand that the consumption was most extraordinary.”
The Musical World, 19 July 1856
Chapter
Peck Slip · Broad Street · Broadway
THE WALL STREET YEARS
Boll looked west early.
BROAD STREET
A few steps from Wall Street
Paris directories record Boll et Cie with houses in New York and St. Petersburg, and by the 1870s Joseph Boll was importing his own champagne into New York.
In November 1882 the trade press announced that Boll was now represented in America “by his brother, Mr. Adolphus Boll”, at an office on Broad Street a few steps from Wall Street.
Location Boll & Cie New York ↗
1878 · Four lawsuits in New York
A brand is only copied when it is worth copying.
Success brought imitators. In 1878 Jos. F. Boll brought four lawsuits in the US Circuit Court in New York against firms copying his marks and labels.
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
From Peck Slip to Broadway
In 1879 the agents were I. H. Smith's Sons of Peck Slip, who also represented the Carthusian monks of La Grande Chartreuse.
In January 1884 “Mr. Joseph F. Boll, the senior of the house of Boll & Co., of Reims” crossed the Atlantic himself.
From December 1886 the grocers to New York society, Park & Tilford, were sole agents for the United States, with four stores on Broadway, Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. By 1887 Boll was also quoted on the San Francisco market: one of the few champagne brands distributed in both New York and San Francisco in the 19th century.
Chapter
Saratoga · Delmonico's · Fulton Market
FIRST ON THE WINE LIST
Saratoga Springs was where America's Gilded Age spent its summers, and the Grand Union was its largest and grandest hotel.
GRAND UNION HOTEL
Saratoga Springs
The Grand Union's wine list of 1880 opens with “Boll & Co., Très Sec”, the first champagne named, above Mumm, Roederer and Veuve Clicquot. The menu of 26 August 1881 serves it again.
NEW WORLD
Delmonico's, New York City
The wines of Boll & Cie were much appreciated in the New World, as witnessed by a menu from Delmonico's, the most celebrated restaurant in America.
On 12 April 1883 the medical profession of New York gave a dinner there in honour of Oliver Wendell Holmes. The champagne that night: “Champagne Boll & Co. Special Sec”.
FULTON MARKET
Oysters at Dorlon's
Boll was poured at Dorlon's famous oyster saloon in Fulton Market, and advertised in the Club Directory of the United States, the address book of the gentlemen's clubs.
Chapter
Reims · The city of coronations
A GREAT HOUSE OF REIMS
By the mid-1870s Boll et Cie had moved to Reims, the capital of the great champagne houses.
REIMS
Among the exporting houses
The Didot-Bottin of 1875 lists Boll et Cie among the champagne houses of Reims.
A handbook of European commerce of 1876 names it among the firms “resident at Rheims, engaged in the exportation of champagne wines”, beside Pommery, Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart, Heidsieck, Mumm and Roederer.
SYNDICAT DU COMMERCE
des vins de Champagne
In September 1882 the houses of Reims spoke with one voice in the regional press, in a collective letter signed by the leading négociants.
Boll et Cie signed alongside them as a member of the trade's syndicate, the Syndicat du Commerce des Vins de Champagne, forerunner of today's Union des Maisons de Champagne.
18th century champagne houses ↗
Chapter
The City · Furnival's Inn · Piccadilly
“A BRAND TO BE REMEMBERED”
In Victorian London Boll became the champagne of the City's most famous dinners.
THE SHIP AND TURTLE
Leadenhall Street, the City of London
At the Ship and Turtle in Leadenhall Street, the temple of turtle soup, the 1883 menu was printed in the shape of a turtle. Its champagne: “Magnums. Boll and Co.'s Ex. Qte. 1874 Vintage.”
The tavern's owners, the Painter brothers, were also Boll's agents in London.
“It is a grand wine, and very reasonable in price, too.”
A society columnist on the Boll 1874 · Woods' Hotel, 1886
“Admirable champagne — Boll and Co., a brand to be remembered.”
The same columnist, a few weeks later · the Ship and Turtle
ONE COMPLAINT
Mess dinners and a famous gourmet
Regiments chose Boll for their mess dinners in 1897 and 1899.
The famous gourmet Newnham-Davis had only one complaint: the Boll had not been iced enough.
London shippers' price list · August 1896
PRICED WITH THE VERY BEST
- Veuve Clicquot 188985s
- Pommery81s
- Boll & Co. Qualité Extra 188980s
- Moët & Chandon 188968s
Shillings a dozen
Chapter
Harrods to Hong Kong · 1896 – 1904
FROM KNIGHTSBRIDGE TO THE FAR EAST
In the 1890s Boll was a champagne for collectors, clubs and grand stores.
HARRODS LONDON
Boll & Cie at Harrods
Advertised in the London Times, and supplier to Harrods in London, offering our Boll & Cie 1884 and 1892 Vintages.
Harrod's Stores offered 1,000 cases of the 1884 and some 250 cases of the 1892 to “Shareholders, Customers, Clubs, Hotels, Restaurants, and the Public”. A year earlier, in July 1896, the London house Scott & Loft had been appointed sole agents for the United Kingdom and Ireland.
HONG KONG
Imported only by A. S. Watson & Co.
The vintages were prized long after. At Christie's in 1898 three dozen of the 1892 from a Piccadilly gentleman's cellar sold for 65 shillings a dozen.
The name travelled further still. In May 1900 the Hong Kong Daily Press carried a notice from A. S. Watson & Co., the colony's leading wine merchants: “An Excellent Wine. Boll's Champagne. Imported only by A. S. Watson & Co.”
Around 1904 a German connoisseur's compendium still listed “Boll et Cie., Reims, qualité extra, très-sec”.
1856 – 1900
WHERE THE NAME TRAVELLED
Chapter
Reims · 1918 – 1922
66, RUE DE COURLANCY
The last Reims address of Boll & Cie is still one of the great champagne addresses of the city.
RUE DE COURLANCY
The Courlancy quarter of Reims
The directories of 1918 and 1922 list “Boll & Co, rue Courlancy, 66”. The name came through the First World War and still stands in the Reims directories of the early 1920s.
In the late 1920s Champagne Lanson acquired cellars and land in the rue de Courlancy. Today the same address is a living part of Champagne history.
Note
66The former address of Boll & Cie, 66 rue de Courlancy, Reims, is today the cellar and headquarters of Champagne Lanson.
At a glance · 1853 – today
HIGHLIGHTS OF A GREAT HOUSE
A century of slumber
A NEW CHAPTER
Following the death of Antoine Boll in 1897, the once-celebrated house slumbered for more than a hundred years, known only to a small circle of experts. Around 20 years ago, new life was breathed into the storied Maison. Since then, its champagnes have been found above all in leading international fine dining, including starred restaurants around the globe. Recently, they have also become available beyond these tables.
BOLL & CIE REVIVED
Revived at the beginning of the 21st century, the house now sparkles more than ever.
The house once again pursues its quest to produce the most excellent champagnes and to bring these exceptional wines to connoisseurs worldwide, albeit in limited amounts.
Boll & Cie focuses on Blanc de Blancs, champagne made entirely from Chardonnay. Produced in small quantities, the champagnes are crafted from the house's own grapes, grown in its vineyards at Oger and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger on the Côte des Blancs, at Vindey in the Coteaux Sézannais, and in Montgueux. They are guided by cellar master Antoine G.
Its champagnes are found in leading fine dining around the world and at the great tables where the name first shone.
Sources
Historical quotations come from period sources: Dictionnaire de la conversation (1853), Didot-Bottin (1855–1922), Illustrated London News and The Musical World (1856), Journal du département de la Marne (1860), Bulletin des lois (1880), Bonfort's Wine and Spirit Circular (1882–1887), Pall Mall Budget (1883), St. Stephen's Review (1886), Harper's Bazaar (1886), The Wine & Spirit Gazette (1896–1897), Christie, Manson & Woods (1898), Hong Kong Daily Press (1900), the Archives départementales de la Marne, the New York Public Library menu collection and the house's own archive.
