The history of Champagne began when the Romans planted vineyards in this region of northeast France in the 5th century, or possibly earlier. Over centuries, Champagne evolved from being a pale, pinkish still wine to a sparkling wine. When Hugh Capet was crowned King of France in at the cathedral of Reims , he started a tradition that brought successive monarchs to the regionβwith 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.
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. At the far extremes of sustaining viticulture , the grapes would struggle to ripen fully and often would have bracing levels of acidity and low sugar levels. The wines were lighter bodied and thinner than the Burgundies.
Furthermore, the cold winter temperatures prematurely halted fermentation in the cellars, leaving dormant yeast 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 gas, which, if the wine is bottled, is trapped inside the wine, causing intense pressure.
The pressure inside the weak, early French wine bottles 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. 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. More Champenois wine makers attempted to make their wines sparkle deliberately, but did not know enough about how to control the process or how to make wine bottles strong enough to withstand the pressure.
