Champagne is an English Drink – really

There has always been animosity between the French and the English going back for centuries. No one truly knows why, it could have something to do with the fact that much of France was once owned by England all the way down to Burgundy or that we have been at war with each other for much of the last 500 years.

One thing to really upset the French is to inform them that Champagne is actually an English drink that the French now make and claim exclusivity on the name.

There is a popular misconception that Champagne was invented by Dom Perignon back in the late 17^th century after being instructed by his abbot to get rid of the bubbles that kept forming in the bottles and making them explode.

It was in 1662 that an English scientist Christopher Merret described the process whereby sugar left in the bottles created second fermentation and therefore bubbles. This was normally as a result of the cold winters in Epernay where much of the original champagne wine was made stopping the fermentation process early.

This paper when it was presented to the merchants of London was some 20 years before Dom Perignon’s attempts to remove the bubbles from the wine that at the time was being called Devil’s wine

Because London at that time was the center of the world for commerce all of the best wines were being shipped to London for consumption or onwards trade around the world.

The adding of sugar to the wines to create bubbles was soon a roaring success but it did not overcome the problem of the exploding bottles.

As is often the case it was a second invention, again English, that overcame this problem and allowed the world to enjoy a drink that is associated with every special event and with success.

In the late 17^th century the English were experimenting with glass making and discovered that using coal in the firing process generated much higher temperatures and therefore much stronger glass. Coupled with the rediscovery of the use of corks as stoppers, something the Romans had known 1700 years earlier the English were able to allow the fermentation process to continue in the bottle with out the risk of having them explode.

The English now had access to the best of everything – great quality wines from the Champagne region of France, sparkling bubbles and the means to keep them.

It was not long before avarice set in and the flow of wine from France to London reduced and the importation of stronger glass into France commenced.

So there you have it – despite all of their claims that Champagne is the best wine in the world, and that it is French it took English know how to give it to the world.

Something else that you probably don’t know about Champagne, and the French are keeping REALLY quiet about this is that the best Champagne style wines now come from England and not France. Take a look at a map of Europe and you will see that the chalky Downs of Southern England are right opposite those of Epernay. With the rise of global temperatures the optimum conditions for growing perfect champagne grapes now exist along a narrow line in England...... and the French wine making houses have brought up all the land in the area.

So raise your glass and toast “the English Drink”