THE CHAMPAGNE CHICK

So many articles on Champagne, start with the supposed words uttered by Dom Pérignon when he apparently ‘invented’ Champagne … “Come quickly, I’m tasting the stars” … This is such a clichéd statement, that when I come across an article that starts off like this, I generally stop reading.

So, I’ve done some research and please correct me if I’m wrong, or if you know better, but this is what I’ve been able to find.

THE MAN & THE MYTH

Pérignon, born in 1638, is regularly credited with the invention of sparkling champagne, however sparkling champagne only became the dominant style in Champagne during the mid 19th century (prior to that the wines were predominantly still).  During his time at the Abbaye Saint-Pierre d’Hautvillers, where he served as cellarer, second fermentation of the wine in the bottle proved to be a huge problem for winemakers.  As the weather cooled, fermentation would stop before all the sugars had fermented into alcohol, as the weather warmed again, the sleeping yeasts would become active again causing all sorts of calamities in the cellar, which at the least would push the corks or closures out of the bottles, but would mostly cause the bottles to explode causing a chain reaction as nearby bottles would also break from the shock.  Dom Pérignon and others tried their utmost to avoid this re-fermentation and notwithstanding the fact that he made notable contributions to winemaking, he spent the best part of his life trying to eradicate the bubbles from the wine.

The quote that he is so famously credited with, also appears to be a complete myth, as the first mention of this quote appears to stem from a print advertisement in the late 19th century.

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HOW SWEET IS TOO SWEET

During most of the 19th century Champagne was really sweet … like really, really sweet … like up to 330 gr of sugar sweet.

People clearly at that time had very sweet palates plus the huge amount of added sugar helped winemakers to cover up flaws in the wine from less than perfect grapes, using the sugar dosage to tailor their production to what happened to be fashionable at the time or to cater to specific markets, particularly the Russians who preferred the sweetest of sweet with anywhere from 250-330 gr of added sugar with the Scandinavians coming in second with around 200gr of sugar.  Over time tastes developed towards less sweetness and the first ‘drier’ Champagnes were labelled demi-sec or half-dry and their success lead to the introduction of sec and brut Champagnes.

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THE WIDOW CLICQUOT

Mme Clicquot was a true trailblazer of her time, being credited with the invention of the riddling rack.  With the assistance of her cellar master, Antoine de Müller, Clicquot invented the riddling rack that made the crucial process of disgorgement both more efficient and economic.  It is said the first ever riddling rack was made from her kitchen table.

Riddling is the gradual tilting of the bottle neck-down, rotating it in stages with 1/8 or 1/4 of a turn at a time, to the right or left, with a chalk mark on the bottom of the bottle for reference. The objective is for the sediment to gather in the neck. Manual riddling takes about 4-6 weeks and involves on average 25 turns per bottle and as the angle of tilt increases, the forces of gravity draw the sediment into the neck.  A skilled riddler can turn anywhere between 40,000-50,000 bottles per day.

She was the first woman ever to take over a Champagne house after the death of her husband and during the Napoleonic Wars she worked hard at establishing her Champagne in royal courts throughout Europe, most notably that of Imperial Russia, thereby becoming the first Champagne house to ship Champagne through the blockade to Russia in 1811.

After Napoleon was defeated, the Champagne Region was occupied by Russian forces and Champagne was used as requisition and tribute during the occupation, and as her cellar was being emptied of Champagne, she reportedly said “Today they drink. Tomorrow they will pay” … prophetic words indeed because for the next century until the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Russian Empire was the 2nd largest consumer of Champagne in the world.

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THE STORY OF THE COUPE

For me personally the coupe is good for one thing, and one thing only … and that’s to build a Champagne Tower to impress guests at a fancy event.  I really do not enjoy drinking Champagne from it.  But apart from that, there is also some history and myths around this broad-bowled, saucer-shaped glass.

Popular belief is that the coupe was modelled on the left breast of Marie Antoinette, other legends state it was modelled on the breast of Madame de Pompadour, chief-mistress of King Louis XV, others even believe it was based on Helen of Troy’s anatomy.  There is, however, no concrete historic evidence to substantiate any of these claims.

But don’t despair, we do actually today have 2 coupe’s modelled on 2 gorgeous ladies … In 2008, Karl Lagerfeld created a breast-inspired bowl for Dom Pérignon in tribute to super-model Claudia Schiffer and it’s supposedly the exact size of one of her breasts.  Frankly, I find it rather ugly … it rests on a stand of 3 porcelain replicas of Dom Perignon bottles on a plate bearing both their signatures.  The set was sold alongside a bottle of 1995 Dom Pérignon Oenothèque, and it retailed for around $3,150.

… And in 2014 Mayfair Restaurant, 34, commissioned British artist, Jane McAdam Freud, to create a Champagne coupe modelled on Kate Moss’ left breast in celebration of her 40th birthday as well as her 25 years in the fashion industry.

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MARILYN MONROE AND THAT FAMOUS CHAMPAGNE BATH

We all know Marilyn Monroe adored Champagne and there is even reference of her biographer claiming that she once took a bath in Champagne, using 350 bottles to fill up her tub.

Now, I’m not so sure about this … firstly, if this was a marketing or publicity stunt (which it surely would have been … ‘cos nobody’s gonna buy themselves 350 bottles to bath in), there would have been photographs to document it and I have not been able to find even 1 photograph or reference online.

Secondly, an average bath tub holds between 150-200 litres, let’s be generous here and assume she had a gigantic tub and round it up to 250 litres.  Now let’s whip out the calculator, 350 bottles of Champagne equates to more than 260 litres (262,5lt to be precise), which means the bath is already overflowing and she’s not even in it.  So, I’m calling bullshit on this one …

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BEAUTIFUL BUBBLES

Those beautiful bubbles that so mesmerize us … it’s estimated that there are around 49 million of them in a standard bottle of champagne when stored at 20ºC.  This was apparently calculated by renowned scientist Bill Lembeck.  It is also said that every second 30 bubbles are emitted.  The train of tiny, perfect bubbles on the inside of the flute will rise and create a beautiful ring called a ‘collerette’ as they reach the surface.  It is often assumed that the smaller and more perfect the bubble and collerette, the better the quality of the Champagne, however, there is really no scientific link to substantiate this.

In truth, the shape and appearance of the bubble and collerette is determined more by the type and quality of glass you are drinking from.  Even the method you use to wash and clean your flutes will determine the size and speed of the bubbles forming in the flute.  A flute that has been pristinely cleaned with no imperfections in the glass will hardly produce any bubbles or collerette, and this is why glass manufacturers will etch little dimples into the flutes to produce the perfect train of bubbles.

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CHAMPAGNE AND SPORT

Many sporting events today have become synonymous with Champagne, with some notable Champagne Houses securing sponsorship deals with major events.

Champagne Lanson has been supplying Champagne to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships for over 40 years and it has been 16 years since they have become the exclusive Champagne partner to Wimbledon, serving on average 28,000 bottles each year during the course of the tournament.

Quite possibly the sport most associated with Champagne is Formula 1 … and the tradition of the podium champagne spray happened quite by accident about 50 years ago when Swiss driver, Jo Siffert inadvertently sprayed the crowd after the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hour race when the cork shot out of a bottle of Champagne that had warmed up in the sun.  The following year, American winner Dan Gurney recreated the moment and deliberately shook the bottle.

Champagne spraying has since become a tradition on the podium at motorsports, however, there are exceptions.  At Grand Prix’s in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain non-alcoholic rosewater is sprayed for cultural reasons and the standard drawn out cheer of ‘Champaaaaagne’ as the corks pop on the podium is replaced by the cheer ‘Celebraaaaation”.

When Champagne Mumm’s 15 year sponsorship of Formula 1 came to an end in 2015, it was replaced with Chandon, and as it is a sparkling wine and not Champagne, again the famous ‘Champagne’ cheer was substituted with the ‘Celebration’ cheer.

But 2 years later in 2017, Champagne was back on the podium at Formula 1, when Champagne Carbon was announced the official Champagne sponsor of F1.

More … Facts, Myths, Trivia in Part 2 to come soon.

Pop, Fizz, Clink
The Champagne Chick
xo