CHAMPAGNE MYTHS DEBUNKED...

​Champagne! A wine so exquisite that it has thousands of stories written about it. Unfortunately for us, not all of them are true. A lot of the tales are fanciful but that is to be expected from this fantasy inspiring bubbly. One thing we cannot debunk is the deliciousness and elegance of Champagne, but there are one or two myths that we can shed light on.
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MYTH 1: 'Champagne' was invented in France
Champagne WASN'T 'invented' or 'discovered' in France!
It was invented in ENGLAND where merchants purchased flat wine from France and added molasses to referment it. They also developed the strong coal fired glass bottles, and corks to hold the product . What is called the Methode Champenoise was first written in down in England in 1662. No wonder; they are at this time, still the largest importer of Champagne globally.

MYTH 2: Dom Perignon invented/ discovered Champagne
Nope (see above)! What he did do is devise the blending of grape varieties and he DID invent the wire cage (muselet) that keeps the cork in firmly. Also, the famous exclamation "Come quickly, I am drinking the stars" or any other variation, wasn't uttered by him. This is from an ad campaign in the late 19th century; Dom P died in 1715.

MYTH 3: The Champagne saucer or coupe was fashioned from a mould of Marie Antoinette's breast
Wrong again. It was first manufactured in 1663 (in England AGAIN!). Marie A's reign was from 1774-1793.

The lies! The lies!

But, let me leave you with a little morsel of an interesting fact. The bubbles we love and admire in fizz would not be possible in a smooth perfectly clean glass. It is the microscopic specks of dirt and lint that allow bubbles to form. So dirt is the real hero of this story...

Cited source: The Book of General Ignorance by John LLoyd and John Mitchinson.

Adero in one of the many beautiful tunnels under Champagne