Interesting Facts about Champagne

With the Holidays fast approaching and the baseball playoffs in full gear, champagne is brought to the forefront thru parties, dinners, and victory celebrations. There are some very interesting facts about this unusual drink.

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by creating secondary fermentation in the bottle or by bulk tank process to produce carbonation-hence the bubbles. True wines termed Champagne must come from the Champagne region of France although other producers are allowed to use the term, under limited circumstances ,for any sparkling wine.

The primary grapes used in Champagne production are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Champagne is known for celebrations because it was first brought to prominence during the anointment of French Kings. Producers during the 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th century made a considerable effort to associate the product with royalty and nobility, high luxury, festivities, and rites of passage.

Contrary to popular belief, Dom Perignon (which is now a brand of high priced champagne) did not invent champagne. It is believed to have been invented at least 100 years before Dom by Benedictine Monks. However Dom Perignon did develop many advances in the production of Champagne, including the wire collar that holds the cork in place to hold up to the intense pressure inside the bottle.

After the yeast and sugars are added to the bottle for secondary fermentation, the bottles are laid cork down at an angle and then turned slightly every day. This process is called riddling (remuage in French) and is done either by hand or by machine. The angle increases with time until the bottle is straight up and down. This forces the lees or dead yeast to the top of the bottle for removal.

In early days, Champagne was called "The Devil's Wine" because so many of the bottles exploded due to the pressure of the carbonation. The people did not understand what caused the explosions.

Full bottles of Champagne recovered from shipwrecks from the early 1800's are often found to be perfectly drinkable and can command high prices at auctions.

The amount of sugar added at the secondary fermentation will determine how sweet the Champagne is with Brut being the most common. Champagne was much sweeter in the last centuries than it is today.

The use of Champagne for sports celebrations was first done by Moet for Formula 1 Grand Prix racing winners.

Most champagne is bottled in 750 ml or 1.5L bottles called magnums. The other less used sizes are named after Biblical figure such as Jeroboam (3L), Rehoboam, and Methuselah (6L).

Please pick up a bottle of G&M distributed Champagne for your next party or celebration. We sell brands for every taste and budget including Andre and Barefoot, to more expensive brands from the Heritage portfolio. Here's a toast to all your hard work.

By: General Sales Manager, Brent Bernett