About

Mumm is the commonly abbreviated name for GH Mumm champagne. Mumm’s regular style is light, fresh, and creamy. Driven by the motto "only the best" since the time of Georges Hermann Mumm, GH Mumm as the 4th largest champagne producer in the world.

Annual Production

Over 8 million bottles are produced ranking GH Mumm 4th in champagne production. Actual production numbers are proprietary.

Producer Style

Mumm’s regular style is light, fresh, and creamy.

Producer Type

GH Mumm has relatively large vineyard holdings (more than 500 acres) for their champagne, but with production of about 8 million bottles, their vineyards only supply about one fourth of their needs. They also purchase grapes from other growers. The French regulations designate Mumm as a Negociant Manipulant (a producer who buys grapes from growers).

Producer Website

www.ghmumm.com

People

Current Owner

Pernod Ricard

Cellar Master

Yann Munier

Director of the House

Francois-Xavier Morizot

 

History

The G.H. Mumm Champagne house was founded in 1827 by three Mumm brothers (Philipp, Jacobus and Gottlieb) along with Friedrich Giesler with the help of a representative from Reims. The original name was P.A. Mumm, Giesler and Company. Peter Arnold de Mumm, the father of the three Mumm brothers, was well established in Cologne Germany in the wine industry since 1761. In the early 1850s after Georges Hermann Mumm took over as head, the company became known as G.H. Mumm and Company. The red silk ribbon or Cordon Rouge was incorporated as a trademark in the mid 1870s and remains intact today. The ribbon represents the red sash presented to individuals receiving the high honor of the Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis and the Légion d'honneur. Georges Hermann Mumm was one of the pioneers in designing a system that would provide economic assistance to elderly or disabled workers. G.H. Mumm continued to grow to become one of the largest champagne producers. By 1913 the number of bottles sold had increased to over 3 million.

World War I resulted in confiscation of the house by the French government. The Mumm family was from Germany. Even though they had been in France for almost a century they never became French citizens. After the war Georges Robinet, a former collaborator for Mumm, took over management of the firm and directed reconstruction along with contributing to the establishment of the champagne appellation in 1927.

In 1939, the same year Germany invaded Poland and started World War II, René Lalou became president of the firm. He was a Parisian lawyer and part of the Mumm Board of Directors since the 1920s. He also proved to be an excellent businessman during his tenure that lasted until 1973. After the end of the war, Lalou was tasked with reorganizing and restoring the company. He expanded vineyard holdings and continually increased sales, rebuilding it once again to one of the largest houses. Before René Lalou retired in 1973 sales had doubled to 6 million bottles per year. In 1959 Mumm acquired Perrier-Jouet and in 1972 they acquired the Heidsieck and Company Monopole. Lalou's name was ultimately given to Mumm's prestige cuvée, R Lalou.

In 1969, the Seagram Group took over the company holdings, later selling off the Heidsieck Monopole in 1996. Seagram sold Mumm and Perrier-Jouet to a Texas investment company who sold both houses to Allied Domecq in 2001. Mumm Napa was sold to a different firm, Diageo, who in turn sold Mumm Napa to the Allied Domecq group in 2002, reuniting Mumm Napa and G.H. Mumm. In 2005/6, Pernod Ricard acquired Allied Domecq, which included G.H. Mumm, Perrier-Jouet and Mumm Cuvée Napa.