Champagne
and its history

Let’s go back several centuries in time. To the time of the Gauls. Most of present-day Champagne was home to the Remi, a tribe which notably allied itself with Julius Caesar well before Gaul was invaded.

They were a wine-loving people accustomed to buying lots of it, especially from the Romans. A profitable trade for the latter who, following the invasion of the whole of the territory, forbid vine plantations among the Gauls to protect themselves against any competition. This ban would be lifted in the late 3rd century AD.

Recent discoveries have shown that there were domestic vines in Champagne as early as the 1st century.

In the Testament de saint Remi, written in the 6th century by Saint Remigius, Bishop of Reims, who christened Clovis, various vines are mentioned, including one in the suburb of Reims. The Church would play an instrumental role in the development of vines across Champagne. For, following in the footsteps of St Remigius, the archbishop of Reims and several abbeys in the region were prominent grapevine owners. The cultivation methods and wine-making know-how were forged in their estates.

The first domestic vines in the Champagne region can be traced back to the 1st century. It would not take long for the area under vine to develop and spread. It was fortunate in itsstrategic location along major trading routes. Firstly thanks to the growing popularity of Champagne agricultural shows, which were the beating heart of Europe’s economy in the Middle Ages. But also thanks to the northern location of the wine-growing area.

Beyond Champagne, the climate was too cold for vines to be grown. So Champagne became the supply region for the whole of northern Europe. The Hundred Years’ War ravaged the region, severely disrupting its viticulture. But from the late 15th century, vineyards resumed growth across Champagne.

Some monks were also major protagonists in the development of Champagne as we know it today. They include Dom Pierre Pérignon, a Benedictine monk at Hautvillers Abbey, and Frère Oudart, from Saint-Pierre-aux-Monts Abbey in Pierry. Back in their day, wine blending was a fairly random process. Dom Pierre Pérignon was one of the first to see that different wines and different crus could complement each other to exquisite effect. So he began to blend wines in a much more carefully considered manner. This resulted in wines that were more balanced, accomplished and of superior quality. In the latter half of the 17th century, Champagne invented a new, gentler pressing technique where the juice was separated into fractions: this was a game-changer, which henceforth enabled white wines to be made using black grapes.

Cork stoppers were introduced in Champagne in 1685. Through the 17th century, the glass industry steadily grew, making significant strides forward. This set the stage for a new Champagne bottle in 1770, made of much thicker glass which was therefore much more resistant. Bottles had hitherto only been used to serve wine, but could now be used to store it too.

The gas given off while in storage, which caused the wines to bubble (effervescence), tended to escape from the casks used previously, but could now be preserved in the bottles. The wine’s delicate fizz won over certain aristocratic circles keen to set themselves above the rest. High society’s subsequent penchant for drinking Champagne wine would help shape its image as a deluxe wine.

Thanks to a series of innovations over time, it became possible to control the process by which Champagne becomes sparkling (effervescence). For a long time, this depended on the bottling date. And results were therefore pretty inconsistent. Bottles were often known to explode, leading to considerable losses. Either that, or all the gas escaped and the wine stayed non-sparkling. At the end of the 18th century, Champagne makers began adding sugar to bottled wine to make up for any losses. Or, alternatively, using old wines with a tiny amount of sugar to mix them with wines which contained too much sugar. Then, at the turn of the 19th century, "riddling racks", called pupitres today, were invented to drive the sediment down into the bottle neck. This would then be removed by disgorgement.

A few years later, the metal plate on the Champagne cork (known as the plaque de muselet or capsule) was invented, along with the wire cage holding it in place.

It wasn't until 1860 that Pasteur discovered the yeast that converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The process had previously been a mystery!

Finally, in 1884, Armand Walfard, owner of a Champagne House, invented the cold disgorging method. This entails plunging the bottle into a refrigerating solution at around -27°C, which forms a frozen plug of sediment in the bottle neck. When the bottle is opened, internal pressure ejects the frozen plug with minimum wine and pressure loss. This method is still practised to this day.

Up to the end of the 19th century, the Champagne wine-growing area was vast, extending over more than 60,000 hectares. But in 1863, grape phylloxera reached Europe’s shores. This sap-sucking insect feeds on the roots of grapevines, drying them out and destroying them. Virtually the whole of the area under vine was decimated. To begin with, Champagne growers tackled the crisis by systematically pulling up affected vines, but they would soon have to rally together and break new ground to find a solution.

In 1898, Growers along with the main Houses, which also had vines of their own, realised that they would have to work together to protect their common heritage. So they founded the Champagne Viticultural Association (AVC). This set about replanting vineyards by grafting the Champagne vine shoot onto an American rootstock, which was resistant to the insect. This grafting technique preserved the former qualities of Champagne wines while resisting the chalky soils of the region and disease.

Towards the end of the 19th century, Champagne producers set about defining rules to prevent misuse and imitation of their heritage, for they were well aware of its value. In 1887, they obtained a ruling from the Angers Court of Appeal whereby the term Champagne shall refer exclusively to wine produced in and sourced from the Champagne region. In 1905 they lobbied the French Ministry of Agriculture for delimitation of the official Champagne vineyard area, with the name Champagne strictly reserved for wines "exclusively sourced from and produced in the Champagne vineyard area". In 1935, the concept of controlled designation of origin (AOC) was introduced and the Champagne designation recognised the following year, officially enshrining all of the rules that Champagne producers had laid down.

The Châlons Commission was set up in 1935. This brought together representatives of Houses and Growers alike, to jointly define the rules governing the production of Champagne wines in their common interests. The Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC) trade association was founded in 1941, following on from the Châlons Commission. This was invested with more powers to defend and protect the region’s wines.

The name "Champagne", which we immediately associate with partying, luxury, socialising and pleasure, has long been a source of envy for competitors. In 1960, a sparkling wine went on sale in Great Britain under the name "Spanish Champagne". The British High Court of Justice ruled against it, ushering in protection of the designation in countries under British law and setting a precedent for other countries. This ongoing fight against all manner of imitation attempts not only protects the Champagne designation but also consumers by guaranteeing them transparency in terms of the wines they buy and drink.

At the beginning of the 1980s, amid growing awareness of the importance of looking after their terroir, the Champagne producers began taking steps to improve their practices in a more environmentally-friendly mindset. Reducing the impact on soil, recycling waste, protecting the grapevines, these measures concern the whole of the Champagne production process right across the board.

In 2003, Champagne was the first wine-growing region in the world to assess its carbon footprint. An action plan was then launched, with five main strands: viticulture and oenology, transport, buildings, responsible purchasing of goods and services and cross-cutting action. Thanks to these efforts, the region’s carbon footprint has fallen by 15%.

In 2015, the 21 representatives of the States Parties to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention unanimously voted to add the "Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars" to the World Heritage List, in the "Organically evolved living cultural landscapes" category. What this thus recognises is the outstanding universal value of the Champagne wine-making cultural landscape – this unique terroir and, more broadly, all of the work accomplished by Champagne producers.