Champagne wines

Once the wine of kings, and now the perfect complement to any celebration, Champagne enjoys the prestige of being a by-word for French elegance and charm around the world. It owes its illustrious reputation as much to its history as its physical characteristics, and for many people it’s only wine from Champagne which is the true Champagne but it’s not quite so simple…

The Champagne region, located less than 200 km to the north east of Paris, has three specific zones of production or “appellations d’origine contrôlée” (A.O.C.) – Champagne, the Coteaux Champenois and Rosé des Riceys; the last two A.O.C. only produce around 100,000 bottles. This area, the most northerly of the French wine-growing regions, lies mainly in the départements of the Marne and the Aube, and to a lesser extent in the Aisne, Seine and Haute-Marne. In total it covers an area of 34,000 hectares, of which 31,000 are planted with vines.

Champagne has been produced at least since the time of the Roman invasions. It was white, then red, and finally grey, that is, off-white, and made from the pressing of black grapes. It already had the annoying habit of “bubbling” in its container, or rather, it foamed when stored in wine casks. The English were probably the first to systematically bottle these volatile wines which, until around 1700, had been delivered in barrels. This means that the carbon dioxide to dissolve into the liquid and sparkling wine was born.