Louise Pommery

She purchased 120 limestone and chalk pits, so-called crayères, carved underneath 12 miles (19 km) of the city of Reims by Roman soldiers during their occupation of Gaul.

Louise commissioned sculptor Gustave Navlet to carve 4 metres (13 ft) long bas-relief of Bacchus celebrating wine into the walls, and busts by Leon Joseph Chavaillaud.

These unique cellars allowed her to store and age thousands of bottles in a temperature-controlled environment (a constant 10 °C).

In ode to her most loyal clients, the British, Madame Pommery built a Tudor Elizabethan domain in Reims.

A tribute was given by the French President, who issued a decree changing the name of Chigny, her country home, to Chigny-les-Roses, in ode to her love of roses.