Surprisingly it was the English rather than the French who invented champagne in the 17th century. By that we refer to the process of sparkling wine deliberately through a reproducible process. The first documents referring to champagne date back to 1718 where it is confirmed that it had been made 20 years previously in 1698, thus effectively the 17th century.  Sir George Etheredge spoke of it already in 1676! The English realized that wine became sparkling only by way of a second fermentation and only when sugar was added. Christopher Merret, in 1662, writes an article for the Royal Society

called Some observations concerning the ordering of wines on the addition of sugar in order to achieve a sparkling wine.  Some of the French believe that one of two of their countrymen made champagne first – either Dom Perignon, a monk who lived in Hautvilliers between 1638 and 1715 or the monks of St Hildaire who lived in the south of France in 1531 and not the English!! It was definitely the English, if for no other reason than that the Brits were the ones that first made the strong glass bottles required- they used coal and not wood to fire their furnaces. On top of that, the strong corks needed for champagne appeared from Spain (image of harvested cork below) around the same time as the glass which backs this argument.  It wasn’t very long before the French followed suit as the transport of bottles across the channel must have been cumbersome, certainly much more so than in vats as was customary at that stage.

For the record, Ruinart was the first champagne house (1729) in France to make champagne. There were many problems at first and the many explosions from yeast overdoses must have been hilarious. The famous Veuve Barbe Cliquot discovered that if one put the bottle upside down and twisted it a little occasionally, the yeast and debris would sink to the bottom into the neck so that removal would be a piece of cake. She even had holes drilled in an oak table and simply put the bottles in them, corks facing downwards (image of the process below) and then shook it every now and again (the process is known as remuage) so that the only problem was how to get the sediment out. Typical female practicality saved the day again!  Francois, the man responsible for inventing the densimetre (sucre oenometre), the device that measures the amount of residual sugar left after the first fermentation in order that one can determine how much yeast and sugar needs to be added for the second fermentation in the bottle was a Frenchman.

As time went on champagne became synonymous with the French – so important was champagne that in 1890 when the Eiffel Tower was unveiled by Gustav Eiffel, 200,000 bottles of champagne traveled to Paris pulled by oxen and in the process the roads had to rebuilt, houses demolished and new roads built  To this day the locals go up the Eiffel tower with a bottle in hand to celebrate birthdays or whatever other satisfactory excuse for a celebration they can think of.  Maurice Pol-Roger, mayor of Epernay during the Second World War was the man responsible for sabotaging champagne production for Hitler by making really bad champagne and sending a whole consignment the wrong way whilst hiding the good stuff behind walls. A really good read is and Wine and War by Don & Petie Klapdstrup – an excellent read.

The high quality of champagne can be indirectly attributed to Robert Jean de Vogue who is the man responsible for raising the price of grapes so that the price is centrally fixed in the Champagne region. It may seem morally wrong, but this ‘nectar of the gods’ can only survive if high margins are the order of the day – it’s is vital that time and money be invested in the creation of this very high quality product.  The champagne trademark is jealously protected by the Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC) that does everything in its power to prevent the illegal use of the name. Rules and regulations concerning champagne are strict but clear and  champagne may only be called champagne if the grapes originate in the area between Marne and Aisne. In February 1911 manufacturers that had used grapes from Aube for their champagnes were heavily penalized and this gave rise to the infamous champagne riots.  In 1927 a second zone was added to the official Champagne region which allowed farmers from the Aube and Seine-et-Marne region to deliver grapes for champagne again.  Today there is vehement debate about this again. In June 1936 the Appelation d’Origine Controlée (AOC) for champagne was established because it was necessary to include the distinction on the label. Today this acronym has lost its purpose as champagne may only be called champagne if produced from grapes originating from an area that has been approved by the AOC.