Maille | Our Story

La Maison Maille since 1747

This is the true story of how Father and Son created L’Maison Maille.

We chart how Maille has grown from our origins in France, to be renowned around the world for our craft of premium mustard, vinegar, cornichon and oils.

Our vision remains true today as it did 270 years ago; use the highest quality ingredients and innovate to create amazing flavors that make your meals memorable…

1720

Antoine-Claude Maille (father), distiller and vinegar-maker, lives in Paris. He discovers the amazing properties of vinegar and invents the “Vinegar of the Four Thieves” to save the inhabitants of Marseille from the ravages of the plague. His advice was to swallow a teaspoonful in a glass of water and rub it into the temples and palms of the hand.

1742

Antoine-Claude Maille’s son, also called Antoine-Claude, is registered as master vinegar-maker and pays his “union dues”.

1747

The sudden celebrity enables Antoine-Claude Maille (son) to market his rich range of aromatic mustards. He opens his first boutique on the rue Saint-André des Arts in Paris and becomes official supplier to the court of Louis XV. La Maison Maille is established.

1752

Marquise de Pompadour, mistress to Louis XV and neighbor near rue St-André des Arts, becomes a loyal customer (apart from The Queen’s Vinegar…).

1760

Antoine-Claude Maille is named official supplier to the courts of Austria and Hungary and opens a main shop on the Versaille Road.

1769

King Louis XVl grants Antoine-Claude Maille the license as “ordinary distiller-vinegar-maker”—ordinary meaning every day, not just on special occasions. 

1771

Maille is granted charter as distiller-vinegar-maker to Empress Catherine II of Russia.

1804

After the death of Antoine-Claude Maille (son), his heirs inherited 20 flavors of mustards and 50 different vinegars. Maille had sold his business in 1800 to his associate André-Arnoult Acloque. Today, La Maison Maille continues to offer an exceptional range of condiments based on carefully selected ingredients.

1805

“Amongst M. Maille’s vinegars is one which gives back to women something which up until then they could only lose once,” Lawyer and gastronomic commentator, Grimod de la Reynière.

1819

Maille’s son Robert comes of age and replaces his capital sum payment with a contract of association with M. Alcoque’s son Andre-Gabriel.

1821

Maille and Alcoque appointed distillers to the King and sole suppliers to the house of King Louis XVIII.

1826

Maille becomes vinegar-maker to Charles X, supplier to the King of England in 1830, and in 1836, vinegar-maker to King Louis-Philippe. Maille enters into partnership with Robillard, and in the following year Alcoque sells his share back to Maille.

1845

The Maille boutique at Dijon opens in the heart of the Burgundy region, the home of Dijon mustard. Today, the Maille boutique in the center of Dijon welcomes food-lovers from around the world.

1866

Louis Pasteur discovers the bacterium responsible for fermentation. He finds that air should be kept from fermenting wine, but is necessary for the production of vinegar. In the presence of oxygen, yeasts and bacteria break down alcohol into acetic acid, the chemical name for vinegar. Until then it was not known that vinegar resulted from exposing wine to air and it was believed to be a chemical process. Today Maille makes its vinegars in Burgundy and stores its aged vinegars in oak vats for one year.

1931

Creation of the famous slogan so well-known in France: « Il n’y a que Maille qui m’aille ». A challenge to translate, it means: « Maille mustard is my mustard ».

1988

Creation of the first Maille whisky glass. Named “Flamenco” it sold almost 8 million glasses per year.

1989

The creation of the trademark Maille jar named “Fleur de Lys” (the lily emblem particularly associated with the French monarchy) is produced not just in stoneware but also in glass with a lid.

1996

On the 250th anniversary of the opening of the first boutique, the Maille boutique on the Place de la Madeleine was opened in Paris—the “quartier” of the most exclusive food purveyors. As well as a wide range of mustards, oils and vinegars, it also sells mustard freshly served from the pump.

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2007

Maille launches its boutique online in France to sell the exclusive products found in the boutiques in Paris and Dijon.

2011

New products are introduced: the smooth Dijon mustard with Chablis "1747", the Modena balsamic vinegar, aged for three years in oak casks and the irresistible truffle mustard served on tap.

2013

Maille opens a pop-up boutique in Old Spitalfields Market in London where food-lovers flocked for special tastings. Its success led to another pop-up in March 2013 to launch “Le Drunch” (a cross between lunch and dinner) in partnership with chef Hélène Darroze, who created a series of imaginative dishes based on Maille products.

2013

La Maison Maille establishes its first boutique outside France on London’s Piccadilly and launches its new boutique for France and the UK.

Craftsmanship...
La Maison Maille firmly believes that the right condiment can truly define a meal. Fundamental to the character and quality of La Maison Maille mustards are the unique recipes on which the products are based, developed by their expert team together with a culinary chef. In creating new products each year, the team explores the subtle combination of ingredients in order to achieve a complex taste profile, an appealing aroma, the desired texture, the right colour. These are then tested and validated against different criteria before being approved for production.
Craftsmanship...
There is no single method used at La Maison Maille, and the process is adapted to each product. For example the Dijon mustards are made using a special process where the mustard grains are cut, not crushed, resulting in its fine texture. Maille’s production operations are led by "Maitres Moutardiers" (Master Mustard-Makers) and "Maitres Vinaigriers" (Master Vinegar Makers), experts who may alter the process and adjust equipment according to the individual product and circumstances.
Craftsmanship...
The same scrupulous care given to mustards is also applied to La Maison Maille vinegars, where red wine vinegars age in a large storehouse. Here big oak barrels store the vinegars for a minimum of one year. The wood performs a similar role in vinegar-making as it does in the ageing of wines. Components, including phenols within the vinegar, interact with the wood to produce richer flavours, creating a rounded, balanced product.
Craftsmanship
La Maison Maille also brings its attentive approach to product presentation. From the 18th-century stoneware pot, the iconic black-and-gold coat of arms created by Jean-Herbout in 1931, the Fleur de Lys jar, readily recognized from its shoulder-shaped neck to the recently re-introduced sandstone jars, the presentation of products is indicative of the high quality La Maison Maille stands for.
Ingredients
La Maison Maille is heir to an enduring legacy left by Antoine-Claude Maille and his 84 sublime mustards and 120 vinegars. Today specialists at La Maison Maille continually explore, select and combine the finest ingredients, creating tastes and textures that result from centuries of expertise.
Ingredients...
Essential to the finesse and balance of La Maison Maille products are the basic raw ingredients and how they combine with other ingredients. In the heart of Burgundy, the mustard seed ‘brassica juncea’ is selected which offers a high level of pungency and quality of texture, ideal for condiments. The mustard seeds are cultivated to Maille's standards of excellence, with only the best grade selected from its suppliers.
Ingredients...
For food connoisseurs, Dijon is synonymous with the finest mustard you can buy. In 1937 Dijon was granted the right to an Appellation Controlee, subjecting it to regulations similar to high quality regional wines. Mustard must be made in the prescribed method for it to be called a Dijon mustard.
Ingredients...
Crucial to the character of La Maison Maille's vinegar range is the quality of the base wines used, with particular characteristics sought for individual vinegars. The base wines are tasted and selected by a panel of experts, recognising that a good quality base wine will result in a high quality vinegar. The quality of the vinegars added to the mustard seed during the process is of utmost importance and these vinegars are made on La Maison Maille premises.
Ingredients
In 1996 Maille introduced limited-edition mustards delivered on tap from porcelain pumps, each based on a signature ingredient such as Chablis. Especially sought after is the Black Truffle and Chablis Mustard served in sandstone jars, available only when in season. In the run-up to Christmas, the arrival in La Maison Maille boutiques of freshly pumped truffle mustard has excited queues of discerning food lovers, eager to buy a pot for their own table or as a special gift.
Ingredients...
La Maison Maille maintains its reputation for producing an extraordinary range of condiments, featuring unexpected ingredients, such as mango, red berries, tarragon and Cognac. Many of these depend not only on the ingredients themselves but also the way they are combined in secret recipes developed over many years.
Sustainability
La Maison Maille cherishes the resource which makes excellence possible. The land, the people, the know-how: everything that contributes to making the creative products La Maison Maille has been producing for over 265 years is safeguarded and passed on to future generations.
Sustainability...
La Maison Maille continually strives to minimize its environmental impact by sourcing its agricultural raw materials sustainably. Dijon is synonymous with the finest mustard you can buy and has its own system of regulations, which means Dijon mustard must be made to a prescribed method.
Sustainability...
The vinegars used in the mustards are made in-house at La Maison Maille. Where possible, a sustainable approach to waste material is adopted during production. For example, the husks of the mustard seeds, removed during the straining process, are re-used as animal feed or sold as ingredients for other industries.
Sustainability
La Maison Maille's mission is also to increase the positive social impact, which means enhancing people's livelihoods. Preserving tradition has a big role to play. La Maison Maille supports and has reinvigorated the local mustard seed growing industry in Burgundy. Re-introducing the sandstone jars for fresh mustards, which are crafted locally and are refillable in any La Maison Maille boutique, are a key part of the fresh mustard experience.