167 / 290
WINES OF FRANCE
CHAMPAGNE
This is considered without doubt the"King of Wines
and comes from a small delimited area to the north-east
of Paris, about 90-100 miles from that city.
The district lies around the centres of Reims, Epemay
and Ay, which towns are the commercial centres of the
Champagne area.
The district itself is roughly divided into the
(1) River Marne Area—those vineyards which lie on
either side of the River Mame, a tributary of the River
Seine.
(2) The Montagne de Reims Area^—The area that lies
to tbe north of the river, being the hillsides between the
river and the town of Reims. The vineyards actually are
on the slopes of the hillsides and not on the flat plateau
on the top of these hillsides.
Both red and white wines have been produced in this
area from the 3rd Century A.D., but it was not until
about 1700 that the first sparkling wine was made.
Many famous people are associated with Champagne,
but none more so than a Benedictine monk by the name of
Dom Perignon (1639-1715), who was appointed as Head
Cellarer to the Abbey at Hautvillers. He did a great deal
to improve the quality of Champagne, and is erroneously
thought to have discovered how to put the bubbles in
this famous wine.
In the year 1911 the area became delimited, and now this
means that only wines that actually are produced there
from grapes grown in that district are entitled to use
of the name of"Champagne
The grapes that produce this wonderful wine are of the
large family of Pinot's varieties, mostly the Pinot Noir,
167