France, the land of champagne
2020-04-09 04:43:50Champagne has to be the king of all wines, drunk across the globe to celebrate special occasions such as births and marriages, to launch ships and crown victorious sports champions.
A War of the Wines
The
history of Champagne is an interesting one. This prestigious drink
didn’t start out life as a special wine, but rather developed from a
“wine war” that raged for many years between the Burgundy and Champagne
regions.
Burgundy had long been known for its rich red wines,
but the Champenoise, whose land had different soil and climate
conditions, were unable to produce anything that came close to the
much-sought after Burgundy vintages. Instead, their wines tended to be
acidic and a pale, rather than a deep, red colour.
One
of the main reasons for this was the colder climate that slowed
fermentation. It resulted in the production of excessive amounts of
carbon dioxide in the fermenting bottles often causing them to explode –
not the desired result! The surviving bottles contained a fizzy wine
which was disdained by the French.
Dom Perignon – The First Great Champagne Producer
However,
here in England, the rich and nobility rather liked this new bubbly
wine and drank it in copious quantities. Dom Perignon, a Benedictine
monk, was a key figure in the history of Champagne. He was responsible
for developing the first champagne that was a commercial success – even
though he still tried to produce a non-carbonated wine. Whilst he did
not actually invent the region’s sparkling wine, he did develop a
process that made exploding bottles less of a problem.
Interestingly, it was
British bottle manufacturing technology that made it possible to produce
stronger bottles that were able to withstand the internal pressure
generated by the fermentation process.
Bollinger, Moet et al.
By
the nineteenth century, Champagne was a huge success across Europe and
some of the world’s most famous brands came into existence – Bollinger,
Krug, Pommery, Veuve Clicquot, GH Mumm and what is perhaps the most
well-known brand, Moet & Chandon.
So there we have it – a brief history of Champagne!