A Toast to Champagne

A TOAST TO CHAMPAGNE: Hitory ond Fum Faits LATE 1600'S/EARLY 170O'S Dom Perignon, the famed monk who is credited with "inventing" Champagne, actually spent more time trying to PREVENT bubbles in the still wines of Champagne. Dom Perignon's true contribution to the region was improved vineyard techniques and the art of blending, both of which are still important in Champagne today. Bubbles wera as accidentts Bubbles were an accident! Champagne made still wine, but the region's cooler temperatures would halt fermentation while there were still leftover yeast and sugar. When temperatures warmed up, secondary fermentation occurred in whatever vessel the wine was stored, producing more alcohol and bubbles. Eventually, wine drinkers developed a taste for the bubbles, and the practice was perfected. Madame Veuve Clicquot invented the pupitre, or "riddling rack," for rémuage, or riddling, the bottles after the secondary fermentation. The first pupitre was made when the Madame and her cellar master, Antoine de Müller, cut holes in her own kitchen table to tilt and twist the bottles upside down! The invention transformed the making of Champagne, making mass production of the product possible. Wiati Radilion "Remember gentlemen, it's not Riddling is the process in which Champagne bottles are gradually moved sur pointe - upside down - by gently twisting and shaking the bottles each day to move the sediment to the neck of the bottle. In this way, the yeasts can easily be removed. Riddling is still done manually with pupitres in high end Champagne houses, but mechanical devices known as gyro-palates riddle the majority of Champagne. just France we are it's Champagne!" - fighting for, Wiustou Clurchill, WWI EARLY 180O'S WWI - EARLY 1900'S Winston Churchill has 42,000 bottles of Pol Roget between 1908 and 1965. thouand "Dongs Once a bottle had been "riddled" the dead yeasts (more attractively called "lees") need to be removed. This process is called disgorgement. Once the lees are removed, dosage, typically a mixture of wine and simple syrup, is added. The amount of dosage determines the final level of sweetness of the Champagne. Sweetness Level Chart Vory Suret Doux Demi-Sec Sec Extra Sec Brut Extra Brut The Germans invade France. They seize 80% of the country's Champagne. The Reims Cathedral was destroyed, and by the end of the war half of the population of Champagne had been killed. Some dedicated Champagne makers continued to produce Champagne throughout the war. Voy Dy Rayutiy Wo Lovd Champagsu Clampages "In victory, you deserve Champagne, in defeat, you need it." Napolou Bouaporto Napoleon King Leopold II of Belgium George I of Greece John Lambton, 3rd Louis XIV Earl of Durham Margaret Cambridge, Marchioness of Cambridge Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Fun Fait Champagne only accounts for 1 bottle in 12 of total worldwide sparkling wine production. PROHIBITION & THE DEPRESSION - 1920'S & 30'S Though Prohibition was only in the United States, it affected the Champagne distribution market greatly. The Russian Revolution also affected Champagne exports around the same time-Russia was another huge market for Champagne. Flite, Tulip ond Coupo The champagne coupe, rumored to be modeled after the breast of either Marie Antoinette or Madame de Pompadour, was designed for sweeter champagnes with extra dosage. However, champagne loses its bubbles quickly in this style of glass. "Champagne is the only wine that leaves a woman beautiful after drinking it."- Madawmo Do Pompadour The champagne flute came about in the 19th century and is tall, narrow and with a long stem. The bubbles stay fresh longer due to the streamlined design. The tulip allows for more aromatics and swirling, such as would be done with non-carbonated wines. It's traditionally a white wine glass. MAY 7, 1945: German military commander Alfred Jodl surrendered to Eisenhower in Reims. The signing of the end of war declaration was marked with 6 cases of Pommery, a 1934 vintage. According to wine historians Don and Petie Kladstrup, a WWII historian said, "the last explosions of the war were the popping of Champagne corks." "My only regret is that I did not drink more Champagne."- Lond Maynard Kuyua, ow kis deathibed "Chompogne Champagne can only truly be called Champagne if it was produced in the Champagne region of France, is made from certain types of grapes, and is vinted in a specific manner. This has been in place since The Treaty of Madrid in 1891. WORLD WAR II - 1940'S PRESENT DAY There are about 9 grams of sugar in a standard bottle of Champagne. In 2010, Italy produced 380 million bottles of its sparkling wine, bollicine. France only produced about 370 million bottles of Champagne that year. 380 million 370 million "I drink champagne when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider The United Kingdom brought in the most Champagne of any country in the it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never world in 2010: 30,523,359 bottles. UK residents drank as much as the US, Germany and Belgium combined. touch it - unless I'm thirsty." Mest Exquine Madamo Lilly Boliger The world's most expensive Champagne is Piper Heidsieck Monopole 1907, at $35,000 per bottle. %24 Sources: http://thetravelinggrape.com/blog/2009/1o/21/a-little-history-on-veuve-clicquot-Champagne/ http://www.forbes.com/2003/01/13/cx_bs_O113how.html http://wineintro.com/glossary/d/dosage.html http://morticom.com/royaltytriviakings.htm http://www.worldsstrangest.com/mental-floss/bubble-trouble-the-not-so-sweet-history-of-champagne/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1079558/Do-know-Churchill-drank-42-00o-bottles-champagne-The-best-worlds-bizarre-statistics.html http://www.oenophileblog.com/html/flute_tulip_or_coupe_html http://www.notcot.com/archives/2009/05/veuve-clicquot-8.php http://theweek.com/article/index/209530/the-worlds-oldest-champagne-by-the-numbers kreuters.com/article/2010/12/23/oukoe-uk-wine-italy-bubbles-idUKTRE6BM21A20101223 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/7449140/UK-keeps-title-of-No-l-champagne-export-market.html http://wine.about.com/od/whitewines/a/champagnequotes.htm Kenneth Mouré, "Food Rationing and the Black Market in France (1940-1944)," French History, June 2010, Vol. 24 Issue 2. p 272-3 D. & P. Kladstrup Champagne pp 228-253 Harper Collins Publisher Source: R. Phillips A Short History of Wine pg 245 Harper Collins 2000, wine.com