Accidentally came out in France
We all know the taste of the bubble drink…champagne! And nowhere it taste better than in place where its origins are…France. Already from medieval times Champagne was known by French kings. The funny thing is that monks were making them, because the churches owned the vineyards, producing wine for use in the sacrament of Eucharist. French kings were traditionally anointed in Reims and champagne wine was served as part of coronation festivities.If we take a look back in 1114, William of Champeaux bishop of Châlons-en-Champagne, gave rise to the modern Champagne wine region, issued the Grande charte champenoise which defined the agricultural and viticultural possessions of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre-aux-Monts. The French kings appreciated a lot the bubble drink, which had a particular, still , light taste, and after that offered it as a homage to other European monarchs. Already in the 17th Century champagne became something huge, mostly used for celebrations in Europe. But the biggest consumers of the sparkling wine were the English.
It’s still not clear if they were the first, because people still belive that the e first commercial sparkling wine was produced in the Limoux area of Languedoc in 1531, the Champagne house of Gosset was founded as a still wine producer in 1584 and is the oldest Champagne house still working nowadays. However, the sparkling champagne as we know today, was born in France, in 1700. Merrett presented the Royal Society with a paper in which he detailed what is now called méthode champenoise in 1662. The 19th Century faced the boom of Champagne!
They say that champagne in France came out accidentally, as bottles exploded or the cork jolted away, it was called The Devil’s Wine, le vin du diable, and until the 19th century, the wine was bottled before the only fermentation had finished. But than finally Christopher Merret documented the process. Nowadays champagne is Brut, back in 18th Century, it was noticeably sweeter than the modern Champagne is today.
