1911 Beverages de luxe

BY WM. HOMMEL Of Hommel Wine Co. Sandusky, O.

Short History

of Champagne

As Champagne is without doubt the king of ail beverages de hixe, it is very appropriate to give in the ooltmms of "Beverages de Luxe" a short but authentic history of its origin and the process of pro- ducing the sparkling wine. It originated in France in the small Department

de La Champagne, hence its nauie, which has long since become a generic name and used everywhere that human brain and in- genuity has penetrated. The first wines made in the Depart- ment de La Champagne of France were still wines, and their first production and introduction of the vines are lost in the niidst of antiquity, as the wines of Southern France were cele- brated even before the Christian Era, many centuries before wines were ever made in the province of Champagne. The date of the first growing of grapes in Champagne was about 282 A. D., and their growth and production of wine in- creased in spite of hardship, ignorance, fire and warfare to great proportions, until about the sixteenth century. The in- dustry then being so important, a more careful study was made thereof, and the producers and makers began to notice a natural tendency of the wines of Champagne to effervesce; in fact, it was difîicult to overcome this fact and avoid losing some entire- ly; but it remained for Dom Perignon, a Bénédictine Monk, Avhether by accident or diligent study, to really discover the process of producing sparkling wine. This was in 1670 at Haut- villers. He also contrived the idea of marrying or blending wines of various sections and qualities in order to make a first- class cuvée, or blend. It was also Perignon who originated the flûte, at that time the proper glass to drink it from, in order, as he said, "To watch the dance of the sparkling atoiiis." Now we have the more ap- propriate low, hollow-stemmed Champagne glass. The réputation vas soon established, and the demand for the sparkling class of vines of the Champagne increased by leaps and bounds ; and as the production of the sparkling wines Avas limited entirely to the province of Champagne, and the de- mand spread ail over Europe and the civilized world, the still wines became practically obsolète, and any wines coming from