Champagne De Venoge poster – Falcucci – 1939
It’s often said that it’s the simplest ideas that are the best. This vintage champagne poster is one perfect example. The poster was created by the Italian artist Robert Falcucci in 1939 for the De Venoge Champagne house. In the poster image, Falcucci has cleverly transformed a humble De Venoge champagne cork into an aristocratic gentleman of high society. The cork is depicted wearing a top hat with the muselet, or wire cage that fits over the cork, converted into a monacle. The base of the cork itself provides all the information needed. It reads De Venoge & Co. Champagne. Epernay. The text at the foot of the poster states Champagne De Venoge. Depuis 1837. The vintage Champagne poster is an elegant and effective design solution to market one of the leading Champagne houses.
A brief history of Champagne De Venoge
The origin of the De Venoge family names dates back to the 15th Century, in Switzerland where the river Venoge flows into Lake Geneva. The story De Venoge begins in 1825 when Henri-Marc de Venoge moved from the canton of Vaud, to settle in the Champagne region in France. In 1837, he founded ‘de Venoge & Cie’ in Mareuil-sur-Ay, Eperney. Just a year later De Venoge made history by becoming the first Champagne house to launch a Blanc de Noirs (white Champagne made from black grapes). De Venoge was also the first to introduce a colour, illustrated bottle label to their products.
In March 1838 the house sold 6,000 bottles of its unique Champagne. Just a month later this rose to 22,000 bottles. An article on the Best Champagne website explains that “by May 1838, sales were being made to clients in Brussels and Mannheim, and 10,000 more bottles had been sent out. The next stops on its expansion were London, Pforzheim, Karlsruhe, Fribourg, Ulm, Munich, Antwerp, and Copenhagen.
Henri-Marc retired in 1845 and his son Joseph, a leading figure of Epernay’s aristocracy, took over and further developed the brand on the international scene with the help of his brother Léon who settled in the United States. Soon, de Venoge champagne was being dispatched to New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, but also Port-au-Prince, and even Calcutta. In 1858 he launched Cordon Bleu (Blue Ribbon) champagne, the emblem of the house, in remembrance of the Venoge river in the Vaude where the family originated.
In 1866, Gaëtan de Venoge, son of Joseph, succeeded his father. He continued developing sales abroad, especially in the United States, and in 1876 de Venoge was awarded the Grand Prize of Excellence at the Universal Exhibition of Philadelphia. In 1882, de Venoge was among the founding members of the Syndicat des Grandes Marques de Champagne.
In 1892, Gaëtan’s son-in-law, the Marquis Adrien de Mun took over the head of the house together with his wife Yvonne de Venoge and developed the brand in Paris’ high society and among the European aristocracy. At that time, de Venoge was dispatching over 1 million bottles against 30 million for the whole of Champagne. The Marquis de Mun died in 1922 and left his mother-in-law and his widow in charge of the company. The last direct heir of the de Venoge family left the helm of the firm in 1958.
Champagne in popular culture
Sparkling wine was first developed in the Limoux region of southern France in 1535. However, it was not until the late 17th century that the wine we now know as Champagne was first produced in the eponymous French region. Champagne wines are made using a technique known as methode champenoise, a method that was perfected by the Benedictine monk Dom Perignon. Today, Champagne is synonymous with luxury and celebration, and its production is strictly regulated by French law. As a result, true Champagne can only be produced in the Champagne region of France. Even so, the methode champenoise has been adopted by winemakers all over the world, meaning that bubbly wines are now enjoyed everywhere from Australia to Argentina.
Champagne became popular with royalty and the privileged classes in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The leading manufacturers made efforts to associate their Champagnes with nobility and royalty through advertising and packaging, which inevitably led to its popularity among the emerging middle class. Successful marketing during the early 19th century helped to firmly establish Champagne’s reputation among the middle class and affluent elite of the time. The wine came to symbolize the “good life” to which all people could aspire. It also brought charges of decadence and indulgence.
George Leybourne was a British singer and music hall entertainer who was extremely popular in the late 1800s. He began making celebrity endorsements for the Champagne maker Moet who commissioned him to write and perform songs extolling the virtues of Champagne. Today he is best known for his song “Champagne Charlie,” which became a huge hit in both Britain and the United States. Leybourne used his success to promote the sparkling wine which with his help became an important social status symbol and was firmly associated with luxury and wealth. It remains so to this day.
Vintage Beers, Wines & Spirits Alcohol Posters
Since the end of the nineteenth century, thousands of alcohol-related posters have been published. We are constantly adding new ones to our website, but we’ve selected ten of our personal favorites from our Food & Drink poster collection for you to look at. Despite the numbering, these appear in no particular order. You know the old adage, you can’t choose between your babies, you love them all equally. Well, that’s how we feel about these vintage alcohol prints.
- Monastine Liqueur de l’Abbaye de St Gratien – Eugene Oge – 1892
- Absinthe Robette – Privat-Livemont – 1896
- Maurin Quina – Leonetto Cappiello
- Anis Infernal – Leonetto Cappiello – 1905
- Porto Ramos-Pinto poster – Rene Vincent – 1920
- Martini Torino – Marcello Dudovich 1930
- Berger 45 Type Marseillais poster – Roland Ansieau – 1935
- My Goodness My Guinness Lion Poster – Gilroy – 1937
- De Venoge Champagne poster – Robert Falcucci – 1939
- Kinagin, le Vermouth au Quina et au Gin – EP – 1941
Posters perfect for your home bar, office, kitchen…
We offer a fascinating collection of reproduction beers, wines & spirits vintage posters all guaranteed to make you merry without you touching a drop. If you’re looking for a poster to brighten up your drinks evenings then this poster will make your home bar complete. All our posters are available in a shot glass (small A5) sizes to pitcher (large A1) sizes, which means there’s one available to fit your space. The colors are vibrant and really stand out and they’re printed on a 300gsm (pretty thick) high-quality silk paper and they’re cheaper than a round of drinks at the bar! They make the perfect statement and will be sure to impress all your friends! Place your drinks poster order today. Cheers!
