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The first pages of the legendary winemaking history of Maison MUMM were written long before 1827, its official founding date; the Mumm family, whose lineage includes barons and knights, dates back to the 12th century. As early as 1761, the family had launched a business as wine producers and merchants based in Cologne, Germany, under the name “PAMumm”, in honor of its owner Peter Arnold Mumm. The company owned large vineyards in the Rhine Valley, where it created its own wines.
In the early years of the 19th century, Peter Arnold Mumm's three sons, Gottlieb, Jacobus, and Philipp, recognized the sales potential of the excellent sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region of France. Since Germany and France had good relations at the time, the Mumm brothers made the bold decision to establish a new branch of the family business in the Champagne region, creating a subsidiary in Reims with the help of a local representative, G. Heuser.
From the outset, quality was the watchword of the members of this new entity formed in 1827, and it remained so for all its successors. This approach would be encapsulated in the motto written by Georges Hermann Mumm: "Only the best".
Maison Mumm's own vineyards cover approximately 218 acres. The vineyards, in which Pinot Noir is highly dominant (78%), mainly in the Montagne de Reims, spread across the Grand Cru vineyards of Cramant and Avize dedicated to Chardonnay in the Côte des Blancs and in the Vallée de la Marne, where Pinot Meunier prevails.
The official classification of Champagne vineyards, the Échelle des Crus of 1911, still in use, evaluates vineyards based on criteria such as soil quality, sun exposure, and grape varieties planted. Out of a total of 319 communes, this classification identifies seventeen villages as Grands Crus (the best terroirs in the Champagne region) and 42 other villages as Premiers Crus.
With its total vineyard area rated at an impressive 98% on the Champagne quality scale, Maison Mumm's vineyards encompass 160 hectares classified as Grands Crus and are situated in eight historic villages whose grapes express all the authenticity of the best terroirs in the Champagne region: Aÿ, Bouzy, Ambonnay, Verzy, Verzenay, Mailly, Avize and Cramant.
Early in its history, Maison Mumm recognized the importance of establishing a system to guarantee the highest quality, overseeing every stage of production, from grape cultivation practices in all its vineyards to the crucial pressing process.
The House demonstrated its capacity for innovation, as well as its strong commitment to the terroir – which has never wavered throughout the centuries – by installing its mills directly in the vineyards, an innovation that symbolizes its commitment to quality that endures to this day. Thus, in 1840, when the company acquired the first plots located in Verzenay, a wine press was built and installed at the same time, which is still in use today.
Maison Mumm also introduced a sourcing policy that was unprecedented at the time: buying grapes directly from producers in the best vineyards, instead of unfermented juice. This approach allowed the company to verify the quality of the grapes and press the juice itself. In this way, genuine partnerships were established with the producers, from whom the House demanded "only the best".
