The History of Champagne
Dom Pierre Pérignon was a 17th Century, Benedictine monk and is frequently credited with the invention of Champagne. Dom Perignon was the chief winemaker of the abbey and discovered that by blending the wine from several of the abbey's best vineyards, he could produce an exceptional wine. Intrigued by its naturally sparkling tendencies, he developed the méthode champenoise, allowing the wine to ferment in individual bottles.
In 1743, Claude Moet purchased the abbey and turned it into a winery of great renown. His most celebrated champagne was named after the monk who created it.
Making Champagne
In essence only three varieties of grapes are used to make Champagne. They are Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. There are small quantities of a few other grape varieties included, but for our purposes we shall concern ourselves with the three important ones.
Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier are both red grapes, however the pulp and therefore the juice is white, and a white wine can be made by gentle pressing of the grapes before the skins can impart any colour. The cellar master of the vineyard will decide how to blend the wines before the bubbles are created by the Méthode Champenoise.
Champagne versus Sparkling Wine
Many wines can be made using the Méthode Champenoise developed by Dom Perignon, however only producers in the Champagne region of Northern France can legally use the name Champagne. The Champenois, as the producers are known, are extremely protective of the name, and will take legal action against anyone who uses it incorrectly. Beacause of this, if you see a bottle with the word 'Champagne' on the label, it acts as a guarantee that this wine has been produced in this region and nowhere else. Unfortunately the term does not act as a guarantee of quality and many other vineyards are producing excellent sparkling wine without the expensive price of Champagne.
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