Champagne is a bubbly drink that pops its cork to celebrate celebrations. It’s named after the region of northeast France from which it was made. Champagne is not allowed to use the name Champagne. Champagne can only be called Champagne if it’s made from sparkling wine grown in Champagne. The methode champenoise is the only Champagne-based Champagne-maker that can use it to ensure the trademark bubbles. This method of ensuring that wine sparkles ?… was invented by who?
France’s people thought they had found the solution in 1821 when Dom Groussard, a Benedictine monk, shared a fantastic story…
Dom Perignon put the bubbles into the Bubbly?
He spoke of Dom Perignon who was a monk who lived at the Abbey in Hautvillers over 100 years before. He claimed that Dom Perignon had had a happy accident after he opened a bottle containing wine that had not been fully fermented. The wine continued to ferment in its bottle. When the monk opened it, the cork burst out, and the wine fizzed. Dom Perignon, curious, poured himself a glass. He was delighted by the aroma and the tiny bubbles that he could feel in his mouth. Dom Perignon developed a method to ensure that his wine is always fizzy.
It’s a delightful legend that the French believed for many years. A monk should, after all, be a reliable source. As it turned out, he was not a reliable source. He liked to exaggerate. He was correct in part: Dom Perignon existed and he worked as the Abbey of Hautvillers’ cellar-master for most of his adult life. He was responsible for the acquisition of more vineyards and the improvement of non-sparkling wines at the Abbey. His work was documented and there was no mention that he ever made sparkling wine either by accident or intentionally.
Champagne: How do the bubbles get in?
Wine with bubbles was a bad idea in Dom Perignon’s day. However, it did occasionally occur and was known as “devil’s Wine” or “pop top wine” (vin de diable or saute bouchon). When wine was bottled after the fermentation process was completed, bubbles would form. The bottle would explode if it was under pressure. The debris that flew would impact other bottles, causing a chain reaction of breaking and popping bottles. The explosion could result in significant wine loss, as well as the injuries inflicted upon any monks who were working in the cellar during the event. While Dom Perignon was a great help to the Abbey’s wine production, it is not true that he tried to make sparkling wine. He tried to avoid sparkling wine.
Dom Groussard may have invented this story, along with other embellished stories, to give the abbey a greater historical significance. He claimed that Dom Perignon was also the first to use cork, and that he could tell which grapes were from by simply tasting them (both equally untrue). France was enthralled by his story and embraced him as the inventor of Champagne.
Dom Perignon Champagne
It was a great story and French business associations used the opportunity to promote Champagne and the drink. This legend helped to establish the drink’s reputation, which was long associated with royalty. It would soon be available to everyone, even though it was known that it was invented by a monk. Moet and Chandon, in 1921, created Dom Perignon Champagne after the monk who invented the bubbly drink.
This is the first sparkling wine from France that was made for fun.
Dom Perignon’s celebrity status as the inventor of Champagne-making caused another abbey from Carcassonne (southern France), to raise their hand and claim, “No, they were not first.” Carcassonne Benedictine monks are known for making sparkling wine since 1531. Blanquette de Limoux is their version and it is bottled after it has finished fermenting. The Carcassonne abbey has a claim to being the first to make sparkling wine on purpose. However, they didn’t invent modern Champagne-making techniques. Carcassonne’s claim led to another legend that Dom Perignon visited their abbey and saw the wine-making process. It is believed they stole their recipe.
Champagne from England
In the 1990s, news from England broke that the French Champagne industry was in serious trouble. The discovery of papers proved that the English used the modern method for Champagne-making long before Dom Perignon entered the abbey. It appears that England imported large amounts of Champagne wine in the 17th century. It was bought by the barrel and then bottled by the Brits. They enjoyed it when they had the chance to get a bubbly barrel. The Brits devised a way to make sure their wine sparkled and fizzed.
Christopher Merret, an English scientist, wrote in 1662 that “our wine-coopers add vast amounts of sugar and molasses wine to make it drink brisk & sparkling.” This was due to their abundance of sugar from the Caribbean colonies. They also had stronger and thicker glasses that could withstand secondary in-bottle fermentation pressure.
Double fermentation, also known as the methode champenoise, was first used in England in the 17th century. It wasn’t until the nineteenth century that Champagne began to use it. Despite this, the term method champenoise is no longer used to describe sparkling wines made in Champagne.
Sparkling wine has been made naturally and occasionally since the beginning of wine-making, but it seems that Champagne-making was developed in England, across the Channel. (Oh my!)
