The history of Champagne began when the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

planted vineyards in this region of northeast France in the 5th century, or possibly earlier. Over centuries,

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

evolved from being a pale,

pinkish Pink colors are usually light or desaturated shades of reds, roses, and magentas which are created on computer and television screens using the RGB color model and in printing with the CMYK color model. As such, it is an arbitrary classificati ...

still wine to a

sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne regi ...

. When

Hugh Capet Hugh Capet (; french: Hugues Capet ; c. 939 – 14 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, ...

was crowned

King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...

in 987 at the cathedral of

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, he started a tradition that brought successive monarchs to the region—with the local wine being on prominent display at the coronation banquets. The early wine of the Champagne region was a pale, pinkish wine made from

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

.J. Robinson (ed). ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'', Third Edition. pp 150–153. Oxford University Press, 2006. . The Champenois were envious of the reputation of the wines made from their Burgundian neighbours to the south and sought to produce wines of equal acclaim. However the northerly climate of the region gave the Champenois a unique set of challenges in making

red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties. The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice from most purple grap ...

. At the far extremes of sustaining

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

, the grapes would struggle to ripen fully and often would have bracing levels of

acidity In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

and low sugar levels. The wines were lighter bodied and thinner than the Burgundies. Furthermore, the cold winter temperatures prematurely halted

fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...

in the cellars, leaving dormant

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

cells that would awaken in the warmth of spring and start fermenting again. One of the byproducts of fermentation is the release of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

gas, which, if the wine is bottled, is trapped inside the wine, causing intense pressure. The pressure inside the weak, early French

wine bottles A wine bottle is a bottle, generally a glass bottle, that is used for holding wine. Some wines are fermented in the bottle while others are bottled only after fermentation. Recently the bottle has become a standard unit of volume to describe sal ...

often caused the bottles to explode, creating havoc in the cellars. If the bottle survived, the wine was found to contain bubbles, something that the early Champenois were horrified to see, considering it a fault. As late as the 17th century, Champenois wine makers, most notably the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monk

Dom Pérignon Dom Pérignon (; ) is a brand of vintage Champagne. It is named after Dom Pérignon, a Benedictine monk who was an important quality pioneer for Champagne wine but who, contrary to popular myths, did not discover the Champagne method for making ...

(1638–1715), were still trying to rid their wines of the bubbles. While the Champenois and their French clients preferred their Champagne to be pale and still, the British were developing a taste for the unique bubbly wine. The sparkling version of Champagne continued to grow in popularity, especially among royalty and the wealthy. Following the death of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

in 1715, the court of

Philippe II, Duke of Orléans Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (Philippe Charles; 2 August 1674 – 2 December 1723), was a French prince, soldier, and statesman who served as Regent of the Kingdom of France from 1715 to 1723. He is referred to in French as ''le Régent''. ...

made the sparkling version of Champagne a favorite among the French nobility. More Champenois wine makers attempted to make their wines sparkle deliberately, but didn't know enough about how to control the process or how to make wine bottles strong enough to withstand the pressure. In the 19th century these obstacles were overcome, and the modern Champagne wine industry took form. Advances by the house of

Veuve Clicquot Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin () is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims. It is one of the largest Champagne houses. Madame Clicquot is credited with major breakthroughs, creating the first known vintage champagne in 1810, and i ...

in the development of the ''

méthode champenoise Sparkling wine production is the method of winemaking used to produce sparkling wine. The oldest known production of sparkling wine took place in 1531 with the ''ancestral method''. Pressure and terminology In popular parlance and also in the ...

'' made production of sparkling wine on a large scale profitable, and this period saw the founding of many of today's famous

Pommery Champagne Pommery is a Champagne house located in Reims. The house was founded as Pommery & Greno in 1858 by Alexandre Louis Pommery and Narcisse Greno with the primary business being wool trading. Under the guidance of Alexandre's widow, L ...

(1858) and

Bollinger Bollinger () is a French Champagne house, a producer of sparkling wines from the Champagne region. They produce several labels of Champagne under the Bollinger name, including the vintage ''Vieilles Vignes Françaises, Grande Année'' and ''R.D. ...

(1829). The fortunes of the Champenois and the popularity of Champagne grew until a series of setbacks in the early 20th century.

Phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belong to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs ...

appeared, vineyard growers rioted in 1910–11, the Russian and American markets were lost because of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

and

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

, and two World Wars made the vineyards of Champagne a battlefield. The modern era, however, has seen a resurgence of the popularity of Champagne, a wine associated with both luxury and celebration, with sales quadrupling since 1950. Today the region's produces over 200 million bottles of Champagne with worldwide demand prompting the French authorities to look into expanding the region's ''

Appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

'' (AOC) zone to facilitate more production.

Early history

The Romans were the first known inhabitants to plant vineyards in the Champagne region. The name Champagne comes from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''campania'' and referred to the similarities between the rolling hills of the province and the Italian countryside of

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

located south of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The area was divided into the ''Champagne pouilleuse''—the chalky, barren plains east of Reims—and ''Champagne viticole'', the forested hillside region known as the ''Montagne de Reims'' between Reims and the

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

river where the vines were planted. While vineyards were undoubtedly planted earlier, the first recorded vineyard belonged to

St. Remi Remigius (french: Remi or ; – January 13, 533), was the Bishop of Reims and "Apostle of the Franks". On 25 December 496, he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks. The baptism, leading to about 3000 additional converts, was an important event ...

in the 5th century. For most of the region's early history, the wines from Champagne were not known as "Champagne" or even ''vin de Champagne''. Rather they were known as ''vins de Reims'' and ''vins de la rivère'' in reference to the Marne river which provided a vital trade route via the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

with Paris. Champagne's location at the crossroads of two major trading routes, one east–west between Paris and the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

land and the other north–south between

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

and Switzerland, would bring the region and its wines much prosperity and notoriety but would also play a pivotal role in Champagne being the site of countless battles and occupations. Médaillon Hugues Capet

In 987, Hugh Capet was crowned King of France at the cathedral Reims. At the coronation banquet, the local wines of the regions were served. The city became known as the spiritual capital of France and for the next eight centuries, monarchs would follow the tradition of Capet and hold their coronations in Reims. The association of the region with royalty did much to further the reputation of the region's wine. By the 16th century, the village of Ay, located south of Reims, was widely acclaimed for the quality of its wine with King

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

proclaiming himself to be the ''"Roi d' Aÿ et de

Gonesse Gonesse () is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-d'Oise department, in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. The commune lies immediately north of Le Bourget Airport, and it is ...

"''—King of the lands where the country's greatest wines and

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

were produced. Such was the reputation of the wines of Ay that they were known as the ''vins de France'', their quality representing the whole of the country rather than just a region. Eventually the name of Ay became a shorthand reference to refer to all the wines of the Champagne region. (Much like

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

Beaune Beaune () is the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France, and the center of Burgundy wine production and business. The annua ...

is used today to refer to the wines of the

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...

and

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

regions, respectively.)H. Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' pp 210–219 Simon and Schuster 1989 During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the wines of the Champagne region were various shades of light red to pale pink as a bitter rivalry developed between the Champenois and their Burgundian neighbors to the south. The trade route that

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

merchants used to get to the Burgundy went right through Reims and the Champenois were eager to entice their business with a "cheaper" alternative. Unfortunately the climate of the region made it difficult to produce red wines with the richness and color of the Burgundian wines, even though the Champenois tried to "improve" their wines by blending in

elderberries ''Sambucus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly called elder or elderberry. The genus was formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but was reclassified as Adoxaceae due to ge ...

. Eventually their attention moved to produce white wines in an attempt to distinguish themselves from their Burgundian rivals. However, the white wine produced from white grapes were found to have a dull flavor and quickly spoiled. The most sought after wines were those "white wines" made from red wine grapes, such as

which had more flavor, aromatics and longevity. Throughout the 16th and early 17th century, Champenois winemakers tried to produce the best "white" wine they could from red wines grapes though the results were often not white at all but ranged from greyish color to a shade of pink known as ''

oeil de perdrix Oeil de Perdrix () is a rosé wine produced in Switzerland. The history of the wine style dates back to the Middle Ages in the Champagne (wine region), Champagne region of France and from there spread to the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland wher ...

'' or partridge eye. It wasn't until a Benedictine monk named Dom Pierre Perignon from the Abbey of Hautvillers perfected his techniques would the Champenois be able to truly make white wine from red grapes.

Dom Pérignon

After being destroyed during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...

, the Benedictine Abbey at Hautvillers was rebuilt and replanted its vineyards. By 1661, the Abbey had of vineyards, but was also receiving

tithes A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...

in the form of grapes from nearby villages, including the highly regarded vineyards of Ay and

Avenay-Val-d'Or Avenay-Val-d'Or () is a commune in the Marne department, northeastern France. Located in the Vallée de la Marne, part of the Champagne region, its primary industry is viticulture. History A number of Roman remains have been discovered nearby, i ...

. The

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

commissioned the construction of a cellar and sought to hire a treasurer and cellar master to help develop the Abbey's growing winemaking operation. In 1668, Pierre Perignon was appointed to the position. Described by his predecessor, Dom Groussard, and

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

Godinot as a perfectionist, Perignon worked diligently to improve the viticultural practices of Abbey's vineyards and the quality of the wines. He was a strong advocate of using only Pinot noir grapes which he believed had the best flavor and potential quality. At the time, the vineyards of the region were planted with a variety of grapes including Pinot noir,

Chasselas Chasselas or Chasselas blanc is a wine grape variety grown mainly in Switzerland, France, Germany, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, New Zealand, Croatia and Chile. Chasselas is mostly vinified to be a full, dry and fruity white wine. It is als ...

Pinot blanc Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produces white ...

Pinot gris Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gra ...

, Pinot Meunier and perhaps

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

. Most important, in Dom Pérignon's mind, was that red grapes like Pinot noir were less likely to become "volatile" in the spring and produce bubbles as the white grapes sometimes did. The presence of bubbles in his wines was considered a fault and Dom Pérignon set out to develop precise techniques to limit the likelihood of this fault occurring. Dom Pérignon was a staunch advocate of aggressive

pruning Pruning is a horticultural, arboricultural, and silvicultural practice involving the selective removal of certain parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. The practice entails the ''targeted'' removal of diseased, damaged, dead, ...

, dictating that vines should grow no higher than and produce small yields.

Harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

ing was to be done early in the morning, when it was very cool, and every care was to be taken to keep the grapes intact. Grapes that were bruised or broken were rejected.

Mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...

s and

donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

s were favored over

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s to transport the grapes to the press houses since they were less likely to get excited and possibly damage the grapes. Dom Pérignon desired the grapes to be pressed as quickly and efficiently as possible to minimize the possibility of the grapeskins leaching into the juice. A distinction was made between the different levels of pressings. The first press, done completely by the weight of the grapes on top of each other, produced the highest quality wine, known as the ''vin de goutte''. The second and third pressings, done with weight being applied, produced wine of good but not exceptional quality. The fourth and fifth pressings, the ''vin de taille'' and ''vins de pressoir'', were of darker colors and would not be used at all. In addition to adding the pinkish/grey coloring, Dom Pérignon knew that the skins imparted different flavoring and coarser textures than he wanted in his high quality wines. His emphasis on limiting skin contact helped the Abbey of Hautvillers to produce truly white wine from red wine grapes.

English influences

As a wealthy and powerful nation with limited winemaking resources, England had a marked influence on the development of sparkling Champagne. Non-sparkling Champagne became popular in London society following the arrival of

epicurean Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism. Few writings by Epi ...

Charles de Saint-Évremond Charles de Marguetel de Saint-Denis, seigneur de Saint-Évremond (1 April 16139 September 1703) was a French soldier, hedonist, essayist and literary critic. After 1661, he lived in exile, mainly in England, as a consequence of his attack on Fre ...

in 1661. At parties and banquets, Saint-Évremond feverishly promoted the wines of the Champagne region. Soon some of the most powerful and fashionable men of London, such as

the Duke of Bedford John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, (30 September 17105 January 1771) was an 18th-century British statesman.G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peera ...

and

the Duke of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingham. ...

as well as the

Earl of Arlington Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...

were making regular orders of cases of Champagne. The wine was non-sparkling, or at least it was intended to be. Wine was often transported to England in wooden wine barrels and merchant houses would then bottle the wine for sale. During the 17th century, English glassmakers used

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

-fueled ovens and produced stronger, more durable glass bottles than wood-fired French glass. The English also rediscovered the use of

cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

stoppers, once used by the Romans but forgotten for centuries after the

fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Ancient Rome, Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rul ...

. During the cold winters of the Champagne region, temperatures would drop so low that the

process was prematurely halted, leaving some

residual sugar The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness, whil ...

and dormant yeast. When the wine was shipped to and bottled in England, the fermentation process would restart when the weather warmed and the cork-stoppered wine would begin to build pressure from carbon dioxide gas. When the wine was opened, it would be bubbly.T. Stevenson, ed. ''The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia (4th Edition)'' pp 169–178 Dorling Kindersley 2005 The English were among the first who saw the tendency of Champagne to sparkle as a desirable trait, and tried to understand why it did bubble. In 1662, the English scientist

Christopher Merret Christopher Merret Fellow of the Royal Society, FRSFRCP(16 February 1614/1615 – 19 August 1695), also spelt Merrett, was an England, English physician and scientist. He was the first to document the deliberate addition of sugar for the produc ...

presented a paper detailing how the presence of sugar in a wine led to it eventually sparkling, and that nearly any wine could be made to sparkle by adding sugar to a wine before bottling it. This is one of the first known accounts of understanding the process of sparkling wine and suggests that British merchants were producing "sparkling Champagne" even before the French Champenois were deliberately making it. Concurrently, advances in glass manufacture in Britain, by

George Ravenscroft George Ravenscroft (1632 – 7 June 1683) was an English businessman in the import/export and glass making trades. He is primarily known for his work in developing clear lead crystal glass (also known as flint glass) in England. Personal life L ...

and others, allowed more robust wine bottle to be made which could contain the effervescence without exploding. The popularity of sparkling Champagne steadily grew. In 1663, the British poet Samuel Butler penned the first written English reference to "brisk" (i.e. frothy) Champagne in his poem ''

Hudibras ''Hudibras'' is a vigorous satirical poem, written in a mock-heroic style by Samuel Butler (1613–1680), and published in three parts in 1663, 1664 and 1678. The action is set in the last years of the Interregnum, around 1658–60, immediately b ...

''. The 1698

George Farquhar George Farquhar (1677The explanation for the dual birth year appears in Louis A. Strauss, ed., A Discourse Upon Comedy, The Recruiting Officer, and The Beaux’ Stratagem by George Farquhar' (Boston: D.C. Heath & Co., 1914), p. v. Strauss notes ...

play ''

Love and a Bottle ''Love and a Bottle'' is a 1698 comedy play by the Irish writer George Farquhar.Earnshaw p.136 Written shortly after Farquhar, an Irish Protestant originally from Derry, moved to London its central character is an Irishman Roebuck who has fled fr ...

'' featured one of the characters marveling at the steady stream of bubbles in a glass of a Champagne. As the popularity of sparkling Champagne grew in London, other European courts began to discover the bubbly curiosity-including the French who had previously despised the bubbles as a wine fault.

Growing popularity of sparkling Champagne

Santerre, after - Philippe of Orléans, Regent of France - Versailles, MV7920

Following the death of Louis XIV in 1715, his nephew

became the

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of France. The Duke of Orléans enjoyed the sparkling version of Champagne and featured it at his nightly ''petits soupers'' at the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal ...

. This sparked a craze in Paris as restaurants and fashionable society sought to emulate the Duke's tastes for the bubbling wine. Champenois winemakers began to switch their business from making still wines to sparkling in order to capitalize on this craze. Throughout the 18th century,

Champagne houses The listing below comprises some of the more prominent houses of Champagne. Most of the major houses are members of the organisation ''Union de Maisons de Champagne'' (UMC),Moët & Chandon Moët & Chandon (), also known simply as Moët, is a French fine winery and co-owner of the luxury goods company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE. Moët et Chandon is one of the world's largest champagne producers and a prominent champag ...

Louis Roederer Louis Roederer is a producer of champagne based in Reims, France. Founded in 1776, the business was inherited and renamed by Louis Roederer in 1833. It remains as one of the few independent and family-run ''maisons de champagne'' (champagne house ...

Piper-Heidsieck Piper-Heidsieck is a Champagne house founded by Florens-Louis Heidsieck on 16 July 1785 in Reims. Heidsieck joined with Piper in October 1839. In the late 1980s, Piper-Heidsieck became part of the Rémy Cointreau wine and spirits group. It ...

and

Taittinger Taittinger () is a French wine family who are famous producers of Champagne. The estate is currently headed by Vitalie Taittinger, who is the daughter of Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger (born 1953), a member of the consultative committee of the Banq ...

were some of the major houses that were founded during this period. Each house hired sales agents to bring samples of their wine to royal courts across Europe as they competed with each other for shares of the growing Champagne market.H. Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' pp 330–341 Simon and Schuster 1989 However, by the end of the 18th century non-sparkling pinkish wine production still accounted for over 90% of the Champagne region's production. The

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and following

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

temporarily derailed the popularity surge for Champagne. To save some of their noble clients from the guillotine, Champagnes merchants altered business records by replacing the titles of their clients with "Citizen". As many nobles fled to other countries, the merchants did their best to make sure cases of their favorite Champagne followed. During the Napoleonic wars, Europeans ports were subject to an endless stream of blockading and counter-blockading. Sales agents like

Louis Bohne Louis Bohne (died 1821), born in Mannheim, Germany, was the sales agent for Veuve Clicquot whose exploits during the French invasion of Russia (1812), French invasion of Russia and subsequent fall of Napoleon I of France, Napoleon substantially incr ...

of Veuve Clicquot devised creative schemes to smuggle their wines to their clients. The agents even tried to turn both victory and defeat into sales opportunities. During

Napoleon's invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

, Charles-Henri Heidsieck traveled by horseback ahead of the French Imperial Army on their way to Moscow. Armed with cases of Champagne, Heidsieck was prepared to do business with whoever was the victor. After the defeat of Napoleon, the Champagne region itself was occupied by Russian forces. During the occupation, Champagne was used as requisition and tribute. As her cellar was being emptied of her wine, the Widow Cliquot is reported to have said "Today they drink. Tomorrow they will pay". Her words would be prophetic because for the next century, until the Russian Revolution of 1917, the

Russian empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

would be the second largest consumer of Champagne in the world.D. and P. Kladstrup ''Champagne: How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times'' (New York: William Morrow, 2005), pp 83–84. .

Development of the modern Champagne industry

The roots of the modern Champagne industry were laid during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

which saw vast leaps in understanding the method of making sparkling wine and improvements in the technology needed to make production more financially feasible. The French scientist

Jean-Antoine Chaptal Jean-Antoine Chaptal, comte de Chanteloup (5 June 1756 – 30 July 1832) was a French chemist, physician, agronomist, industrialist, statesman, educator and philanthropist. His multifaceted career unfolded during one of the most brilliant periods ...

popularized the understanding that Champagne sparkled because it was sealed in a bottle before

was complete. He further noted that it was the sugar in the wine that facilitated this fermentation process resulting in bubbles. Along with the bubbles came intense pressure from the carbon dioxide gas that could result in the bottles exploding. The disturbance caused by one bottle's disintegration could cause a chain reaction, with it being routine for cellars to lose 20–90% of their bottles to instability.D. & P. Kladstrup ''Champagne'' pp 46–47 Harper Collins Publisher The British method of coal fired

glassmaking Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...

contributed to stronger wine bottles being available that could withstand the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas better. In the 1830s, a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

from Châlons-sur-Marne named

André François André François (9 November 1915 – 11 April 2005), born André Farkas, was a Hungarian-born French cartoonist. Life He was born in Temesvár, Austria-Hungary (now Timișoara, Romania), He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest ( ...

outlined formulas with precise measurements of how much sugar is needed to make a wine sparkle without producing more pressure than the wine bottle could withstand. Corking machines and improved corks made sealing the wine easier with less opportunity for the precious gas to seep out of the bottle. Champagne-Remuer

An important advance made in the early 19th century was developing a technique to remove the sediment caused by dead yeast after the secondary fermentation. Early Champagne producers chose not to remove the sediment, which left the wine cloudy and prone to off flavors if the sediment was shaken up or poured into the glass. At royal courts and banquets, servers would pour new serving of Champagne into a fresh glass to avoid the residue of sediment left over in the previous glass. To remove the sediments, some producers would

decant Decantation is a process for the separation of mixtures of immiscible liquids or of a liquid and a solid mixture such as a suspension. The layer closer to the top of the container—the less dense of the two liquids, or the liquid from which t ...

the wine by pouring it a new bottle. However this process caused a considerable amount of carbon dioxide gas to escape and the resulting wine was noticeably less bubbly. With the aid of her cellar master, Madame Clicquot of the Champagne house Veuve Cliquot developed the process of

riddling The traditional method is the process used in the Champagne region of France to produce Champagne. It is also the method used in various French regions to produce sparkling wines (not called “Champagne”), in Spain to produce Cava, in Port ...

in the early 19th century to solve the problem of sediments without losing much gas. This technique, which involves collecting the sediment in the neck of the bottle and using the pressure of the wine to eject just the sediment, led to the popularity of adding sugar-sweet dosage to replace the wine lost during riddling. The Russians, in particular, were fans of very sweet Champagne and Veuve Cliquot was able to tailor the

sweetness level The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness, while ...

of their wines for their customers by the composition of their dosage. At first the house of Veuve Cliquot tried to keep this technique of riddling a secret but by the late 1820s the secret was out and Champagne houses were settling up production lines for riddling. In 1854, the French national railroad system linked Reims with the rest of the country, including its coastal ports. From that point on, Champagne was connected to its worldwide market and sales grew by leaps and bounds. During the 1850s production was averaging 20 million bottles a year.

From sweet to brut

Throughout most of the 19th century Champagne was made sweet. The taste was pleasing to most wine drinkers and the

added sugar Added sugars or free sugars are sugar carbohydrates (caloric sweeteners) added to food and beverages at some point before their consumption. These include added carbohydrates (monosaccharides and disaccharides), and more broadly, sugars natural ...

helped winemakers to cover up flaws in the wine or poor quality from less desirable grapes. Champagne houses would use the dosage to tailor the sweetness to whatever style was in fashion in a particular market. The Russians preferred the sweetest level with as much as 250–330 grams of sugar added.

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

was next at around 200 grams followed by France at 165 grams, Germany with slightly more, and the United States preferring between 110–165 grams. The English preferred the driest style at 22–66 grams of sugar. Gradually tastes developed to favor less sweetness and higher overall quality in the Champagne. The first slightly dry Champagne to emerged was labeled ''demi-sec'' or "half dry". The success of those wines prompted the introduction of ''sec'' or ''dry'' wines. Other producers made wines with even less sugar and began to call these wines ''extra dry''. In 1846, the Champagne house

Perrier-Jouët Perrier-Jouët () is a Champagne producer based in the Épernay region of Champagne. The house was founded in 1811 by Pierre-Nicolas Perrier and Rose Adélaide Jouët, and produces both vintage and non-vintage '' cuvee'', approximately 3,000,000 ...

introduced a wine that was made without any added sugar. This style was initially ill-received with critics calling this wine too severe, or brute-like. But over the next generation, this "brut" style with significantly less sugar than wines labeled ''extra dry'' became the fashion for Champagne and today is the modern style that the majority of Champagne is made in.K. MacNeil ''The Wine Bible'' pp 164–165 Workman Publishing 2001

From the late 19th century to modern day

By the end of the 19th century, Champagne was making its mark and embedding itself into popular culture. The early 20th century brought its share of challenges. Some of the seeds of these challenges were planted during the century before when Champagne's growing popularity encouraged Champagne houses to look outside the Champagne region for a cheaper supply of grapes. The French railway system made it easy for truckloads of grapes from the Loire Valley or

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

to be transported to Champagne at prices nearly half of what the houses were paying Champenois vine growers for their grapes. Newspapers published rumors of some houses buying

rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizo ...

from England to make wine from. With hardly any laws in place to protect the vine grower or the consumer, Champagne houses had most of the power in the region to profit off of these ''

faux Faux may refer to: People *Faux (surname) Places Places in Belgium * Faux, a village in the Belgian commune of Court-Saint-Étienne Places in France * Faux, Ardennes, French commune of the Ardennes department * Faux, Dordogne, French commune of t ...

'' Champagnes. To compound the misery for Champenois vine growers, the last few

vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

s of the 19th century were difficult with frost and rains severely reducing the crop yields. The

phylloxera epidemic The Great French Wine Blight was a severe blight of the mid-19th century that destroyed many of the vineyards in France and laid waste to the wine industry. It was caused by an aphid that originated in North America and was carried across the Atl ...

that ravaged vineyards across France was finally making its way to Champagne. The harvests between 1902 and 1909 were further troubled by mold and mildew. The 1910 vintages was particularly troublesome with hailstorms and flooding. Nearly 96% of the crop was lost.D. & P. Kladstrup ''Champagne'' pp 129–151 Harper Collins Publisher In 1917 Russia, the October Revolution saw massive prohibition of Champagne as an imported beverage. Based on Karl Marx's communist manifesto, a class system of beverages was instituted into Russian life. Gone were the days of Champagne and imported luxury beverages, in was the drink of the proletariat, Vodka. A drink for the Russian populace, by the Russian populace without foreign interference. "Да здравствует наша русская земля" or "Long live our Russian Land" in English, could be heard from beer hall to beer hall as victorious party members celebrated the fall of the Tsars. These sanctions were eventually eased during the 1970s with the de-stalinization efforts of Nikita Khrushchev's successor government. Along with the introduction of the New Economic Policy the Soviet government decreed in 1924 domestic production of sparkling and dessert wines for the masses. First bottle of Soviet Champagne ( Советское Шампанское) was produced in 1937 using technology very similar to method Charmat of Asti. Not bound by the international trade mark laws and AOP rules the USSR produced in 1970s 249 million bottles of Soviet Champagne per year. Ultimately, the French Champagne saw its mass introduction back into the Russian beverage scene with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1991.

Collusion Collusion is a deceitful agreement or secret cooperation between two or more parties to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading or defrauding others of their legal right. Collusion is not always considered illegal. It can be used to att ...

was practiced among various Champagne houses in order to drive down the prices of grapes to as a low as they would go, with the ever-present threat that if the houses could not get their grapes for cheap enough they would continue to source grapes from outside the region. Champenois vineyard owners found themselves in a situation where they were being paid less for fewer grapes. Poverty was widespread. In January 1911, frustrations reached their boiling point as riots erupted in the towns of

Damery Damery may refer to: Places * Damery, Gloucestershire, England * Damery, Marne, France * Damery, Somme, France People with the surname * Walther Damery (1610 – after 1672), Flemish Baroque painter Other uses * Damery (grape), another name f ...

and Hautvilliers. Champenois vine growers intercepted trucks with grapes from the Loire Valley and pushed them into the Marne river. They then descended upon the warehouses of producers known to produce ''faux'' Champagne, tossing more wine and barrels into the Marne. The

French Government The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

tried to answer the vine growers' concerns by passing legislation defining where Champagne wine was to come from. This early legislation dictated that the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

and a few villages from the

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Aube Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

—is located, promoted further discontent as the Aubois protested the decision. The Aube, located south of the Marne, was closer to the Burgundy region in terms of soil and location. The growers of the Marne viewed the region as "foreign" and not capable of producing true Champagne but the Aubois viewed themselves as Champenois and clung to their historical roots. The government eventually reversed themselves and included the Aube-much to the dismay of vine growers in the Marne who vigorously protested the decision. More riots erupted and the region was on the brink of civil war. As the government fumbled for an answer that would appease both parties, World War I erupted and those issues had to be set aside as the entire country braced itself for war.

World War I and II

The strategic location of Champagne near the Western Front led to Champagne wines crossing the lines into

no man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

. While several Champagne houses and vineyards were abandoned, many Champenois remained and took shelter in the underground ''crayères'' or limestone caverns where Champagne is often aged, to escape the bombardment from German artillery. The famous

Reims Cathedral , image = Reims Kathedrale.jpg , imagealt = Facade, looking northeast , caption = Façade of the cathedral, looking northeast , pushpin map = France , pushpin map alt = Location within France , ...

was virtually destroyed by the Germans along with many other buildings in the region. Vineyards became a wasteland of pits and bomb craters as several battles and offensives were waged on the land. Still some Champenois forged on in producing Champagne during the difficult vintages of World War I (1914–1917). By the time the war ended the Champagne region had lost over half its population with the Aisne region alone losing nearly two thirds. Champagne production and warehouses were completely destroyed, as were many vineyards.D. & P. Kladstrup ''Champagne'' pp 179–203, 213 Harper Collins Publisher The devastation of the war did bring a silver lining. In 1919, the French government passed a series of laws that would lay the groundwork for the ''

'' (AOC) system that would strictly define winemaking laws and regional boundaries. Measures were taken to eliminate fraud and illegal additives such as rhubarb and

apple juice Apple juice is a fruit juice made by the maceration and pressing of an apple. The resulting expelled juice may be further treated by enzymatic and centrifugal clarification to remove the starch and pectin, which holds fine particulate in suspe ...

. Only grapes grown from the delineated Champagne region, which would eventually include the Aube, could be legally called "Champagne". The decimation of the region's vineyards provided the opportunity for vine growers to replant with phylloxera resistant

rootstock A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a ...

and in more ideal locations for quality grape production.D. & P. Kladstrup ''Champagne'' pp 223–224 Harper Collins Publisher But amidst this silver lining, more dark clouds would emerge as the full effects of the Russian Revolution hit home and the lucrative Russian market was closed to Champagne imports. The 1920 declaration of prohibition in the United States closed off yet another market and the global economic downturn of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

lead to a further decrease in sales. World War II would bring more troops marching through the vineyards of Champagne. While the devastation brought to the region was not as severe as the previous war, World War II was still a troubling time for the region. It was in Reims, on May 7, 1945 that the German military commander

Alfred Jodl Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl (; 10 May 1890 – 16 October 1946) was a German ''Generaloberst'' who served as the chief of the Operations Staff of the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' – the German Armed Forces High Command – throughout World ...

offered an

unconditional surrender An unconditional surrender is a surrender in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party. It is often demanded with the threat of complete destruction, extermination or annihilation. In modern times, unconditional surrenders most ofte ...

to the

Supreme Allied Commander Supreme Allied Commander is the title held by the most senior commander within certain multinational military alliances. It originated as a term used by the Allies during World War I, and is currently used only within NATO for Supreme Allied Comm ...

, General

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

. The following morning, the signing was celebrated with 6 cases of the 1934 vintage of Pommery. Wine historians Don and Petie Kladstrup noted that a World War II historian would later comment that ''"the last explosions of the war were the popping of Champagne corks"''.D. & P. Kladstrup ''Champagne'' pp 228–253 Harper Collins Publisher

To the modern day

Following World War II, the sales and popularity of Champagne surged once more. Since 1950, sales have grown steadily, quadrupling in total to over 200 million bottles. The increase in worldwide demand has prompted the French authorities to look into expanding the region's AOC zone to facilitate more production. In 2008, this expansion was approved and 40 more villages were added to Champagne production (while delisting 2 village) to increase the AOC by about 30%. There still exist the business dynamic between vine growers and Champagne houses with majority of the region's 19,000 growers selling their grapes to the nearly 300 Champagne houses in production. Over time Champagne has become not only a reflection of the ''

terroir (, ; from ''terre'', "land") is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, these conte ...

'' of the Champagne region but also a

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

in itself, with the Champenois vigorously defending that brand and the uses of the term "Champagne". The popularity and success of Champagne has inspired many imitators around the world (such as Cava in Spain,

Sekt Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne regi ...

in Germany and several American sparklers) but also within France itself with sparkling '' Cremants''. The name "Champagne" is a

protected designation of origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...

in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and all wines produced and sold in the EU must conform to those standards and not label a wine as "Champagne" unless it comes from the Champagne AOC (in the United States there is a legal loophole for

semi-generic ''Semi-generic'' is a legal term used in by the United States Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to refer to a specific type of wine designation. The majority of these were originally based on the names of well-known European wine-producing r ...

terms). In 1985, use of the term ''

'' was also outlawed with producers of "champagne style" sparkling wine opting to uses phrases like ''méthode traditionnelle'' to signify that their wine is made using the same production methods as Champagne. Like many industries, due to COVID-19 and the various implications, the Champagne industry has taken a hit in regards to sales

References

{{Alcoholic beverages Champagne (wine) Sparkling wines