WineRegiionsOld WorldFranceChampagne
The vine has been cultivated in Champagne since the Roman occupation
of the first century AD, but the wines produced were originally still wines.
Nobody knows exactly when Champagne became sparkling, although it evidently,
appeared in England before legend would have us believe it was "invented"
at the Benedictine Abbey of Hautvillers by one of the monks - Dom Perignon.
In 1676, before Dom Perignon had made his name as a "rear wine maker,
the playwright Sir George Etherege wrote of "sparkling Champaign"
in his comedy The Man of Mode.
Why should sparkling Champagne be found at this time in England. rather
than France? Perhaps the answer lies in a combination of circumstances.
During Champagne's chilly winter wine makers would interpret the wine's
inactivity as proof that the fermentation had finished. However, the wine
probably still contained unfermented sugars and almost certainly had not
undergone malolactic fermentation. It was in this slumbering state that
casks of still wine were originally shipped to England. Bottles were not
used by the French for either shipping or aging the wine at this date, but
English innkeepers would bottle wine from cask and store it until it was
consumed at the table. During this temporary storage, the warmth of an inn
might reactivate the fermentation in the bottle. At this time, English glass
was stronger than French glass; it could withstand the internal pressure
generated by carbonic gas. In addition, the cork stopper was in common use
in England at the time ( unlike most of France). Being airtight, it prevented
the escape of carbonic gas.
Dom Perignon
If Dom Perignon did not invent sparkling Champagne, then what he specifically
achieve? We know, that he was the first to develop the concept of blending
wines from various grapes grown in different villages to effect a better-balanced
wine; he used a shallow-based press to produce clear, untainted juice from
black grapes; and he reintroduced the cork.