Jun 19 2010
The History Behind Champagne
Champagne is seen as a celebratory drink and often associated with luxury and wealth. The production of champagne is much stricter than normal sparkling wine but to be called champagne it must be made in a certain location. Champagne may technically only be called champagne if it’s produced in the Champagne area in northern France. The Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne are the body that decides both where and how the champagne is produced. The term champagne is legally protected and is recognised within the European Union as well as several other large wine producers around the world. Certain sparkling wines approved before 2006 in America use the term champagne on their label.
Like all wine related drinks, the different tastes have different names and vary from being sweet to dry. The sweetest champagne is Demi Sec and has the most amount of sugar added whereas Brut has the least. Although wine glasses are more common, the champagne flute is specifically designed for this prestigious drink. The champagne regulatory body The Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne requires only three types of grape can be used. The white grape produces a chardonnay and two different black grapes are used to produce pinot noir and pinot meunier.
There are several myths that surround both the production and the actual champagne glasses. It is commonly assumed the Dom Perignon first ‘invented’ champagne after accidently introducing the bubbles. There are several different stories as to how champagne came about. Its most widely agreed that the first sparkling wine was created by Benedictine Monks in the beginning of the 17th century. Dom Perignons’ association with the affluent drink isn’t unfounded. Perignon made massive improvements to the whole process of champagne making particularly the fermentation process. Another quaint myth associated with the consumption of champagne is the shape of the traditional champagne coupe which is a more bowel shaped champagne flute. The champagne coupe is said to be modelled on the breast of Marie Antoinette (among other French nobility). These rumours cannot be true as champagne and its consumption were already invented over one hundred years before she was born, but they add to the air of the drink being for the privileged and wealthy.
