G.H.Mumm – The Red Ribbon

In 1876, a single idea changed the course of G.H.Mumm’s future.

To assert the quality of its champagne, G.H.MUMM’s agent Joseph Jourdan came up with the idea of decorating the bottles with the famous red ribbon of the Legion of Honour.

For some esteemed customers, a few bottles were decorated with a ribbon of genuine red silk, sealed with an oval label marked “Cordon Rouge”. It was an overnight success.

The red ribbon became a rallying call for connoisseurs who, in the 1900s, began ordering “a bottle of Cordon Rouge” instead of “a bottle of Champagne”.

The choice of colour was no accident. Red not only refers to the Legion of Honour, it is also endearingly associated with luxury, prestige and value.

In 1900, the Cordon Rouge cuvée, by now a global standard, adopted the slogan—The most expensive, therefore the best—in the United Kingdom, and became the subject of a musical composition in the United States.

A symbol of the firm’s excellence and savoir-faire throughout the world, the red ribbon became an icon, repeatedly referred to, first in paintings and posters, then in films, plays and comic strips.

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