By Adriana Krstic
Champagne, “the wine of kings,” symbolizes success, celebration, and prestige. It’s used to mark important moments, from births and weddings to award ceremonies and New Year’s Eve.
Champagne’s regal reputation began in France, in the region of Reims, where French kings were crowned for centuries. After coronations, the local sparkling wine — champagne — was served to celebrate, helping cement its image as a drink fit for royalty.
Making Champagne is labor-intensive and costly, making it a luxury product. Champagne can be called champagne only if it comes from the region of Champagne and its production adheres to strict methods and aging requirements. It must undergo second fermentation in a bottle as well as extensive lees aging (yeast converts sugar into alcohol and imparts flavors of brioche and bread into the wine. The spent yeast cells are called lees).
Contrary to popular myth, Dom Pérignon did not invent sparkling wine; rather, he worked to improve the quality of the region’s wines, which were often plagued by problems like incomplete fermentation and bottle breakage. Originally, wines from Champagne were still and red. Dom Pérignon may actually have been trying to prevent the wine from re-fermenting in the bottle.
Madame Clicquot (Veuve Clicquot), the visionary entrepreneur widow, introduced the riddling process to clarify sparkling wine. Others like Moët, Bollinger, and Taittinger, helped transform Champagne from a regional beverage to a symbol of top libation worldwide.
So where was the sparkling wine invented?
Languedoc, a wine producing region in Southern France, specifically Limoux, is widely considered the birthplace of sparkling wine, and it remains an important historic producer of traditional sparkling wines to this day. The earliest documented mention of sparkling wine dates to 1531, predating Dom Perignon (1638-1715) by about 150 years.
The story goes that Benedictine monks at the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire accidentally discovered the natural process of secondary fermentation in the bottle, which creates carbon dioxide bubbles. The monks were producing a white wine using the local Mauzac grape. They stored the wine in glass flasks sealed with cork, a novel method for the time.
Because of the cooler temperatures in the monastery’s cellars, the initial fermentation would sometimes stop in the winter and resume in the spring. This secondary fermentation inside the sealed bottles caused carbon dioxide to be trapped creating bubbles, which were initially considered a flaw.
The traditional local grape used till today is Mauzac (called Blanquette), which gives the name to the sparkling wine “Blanquette de Limoux.” Limoux region produces three distinct styles of sparkling wine under AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) designations:
• Blanquette de Limoux: primarily Mauzac grape (with Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc grapes permitted up to 10 percent). Crisp green apple, pear, hay, and floral notes. Mauzac lends a slightly oxidative character with a hint of baked apple or cider-like aromas. Its old-world charm and style will appeal to lovers of heritage wines with character. Pair with a plate of fried calamari, tempura, or goat cheese tart.
•Crémant de Limoux: made in the traditional method (like Champagne), using primarily Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc with smaller portions of Pinot Noir and Mauzac. It is elegant, refined, and modern with an excellent price-to-quality ratio and extended lees aging of minimum 12 months. Notes of citrus, white flowers, orchard stone fruit, and brioche. Always a crowd pleaser, especially for champagne drinkers on a beer budget. Pair with poultry in herb cream sauce or sushi and sashimi platter. A bowl of french fries with a glass of this crémant would be considered a delicious aperitivo!
•Blanquette Méthode Ancestrale: a rustic, slightly sweet wine with lower alcohol and natural bubbles, it tastes of fresh apples, honeycomb, and sweet herbs. It is slightly cloudy in color. Bottled in the Ancestral method (before fermentation is complete), it is lower in alcohol (around 6–7 percent ABV). It is often enjoyed as a dessert wine or aperitif and is a favorite among Brooklyn Millennials, as it pairs perfectly with an apple pie, blue cheese salad, or a rich foie gras toast.
While many nations now produce sparkling wines (i.e. Cava-Spain, Franciacorta-Italy, Cap Classique- South Africa, and Sekt-Germany/Austria), France remains its spiritual home. In recent decades, climate change has posed new challenges and opportunities for French sparkling wine producers. Warmer growing seasons have improved ripeness in Champagne, but also forced a re-evaluation of vineyard practices and varietal choices.
Champagne eventually became more famous because of its clever marketing, large-scale production, and proximity to Paris and export routes. However, Blanquette de Limoux holds the distinction of being the oldest recorded sparkling wine in the world.
Santé to a sparkling and delicious summer!
Adriana Krstic is CMS certified sommelier and AweSommwine consultant.
