Pommery Brut--Vintage 1990 This house dates its origins from 1836, when Narcisse Greno took over the house of Dubois-Gosset. Louis Alexander Pommery became an associate in 1856, investing so heavily in the firm that, when he died two years later, his widow Jeanne Alexandrine Louis Pommery took over the house. Greno retired in 1860 on health grounds. Until her husband died, Madame Pommery had confined her attentions to her family and had no business experience whatsoever, but, like the Widow Clicquot almost half a century earlier, she stepped into her husband's shoes and did an even better job. Madame Pommery's most notable accomplishment was, of course, the creation of a truly great grande marque, but she is also remembered for various achievements, such as her cellars, the extraordinary buildings above, and her pioneering of the brut style. T.S.