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Short
History
of
Champagne
BY
WM.
HOMMEL
Of
Hommel
Wine
Co.
Sandusky,
O.
As
Champagne
is
without
doubt
the
king
of
ail
beverages
de
hixe,
it
is
very
appropriate
to
give
in
the
ooltmms
of
"Beverages
de
Luxe"
a
short
but
authentic
history
of
its
origin
and
the
process
of
pro-
ducing
the
sparkling
wine.
It
originated
in
France
in
the
small
Department
de
La
Champagne,
hence
its
nauie,
which
has
long
since
become
a
generic
name
and
used
everywhere
that
human
brain
and
in-
genuity
has
penetrated.
The
first
wines
made
in
the
Depart-
ment
de
La
Champagne
of
France
were
still
wines,
and
their
first
production
and
introduction
of
the
vines
are
lost
in
the
niidst
of
antiquity,
as
the
wines
of
Southern
France
were
cele-
brated
even
before
the
Christian
Era,
many
centuries
before
wines
were
ever
made
in
the
province
of
Champagne.
The
date
of
the
first
growing
of
grapes
in
Champagne
was
about
282
A.
D.,
and
their
growth
and
production
of
wine
in-
creased
in
spite
of
hardship,
ignorance,
fire
and
warfare
to
great
proportions,
until
about
the
sixteenth
century.
The
in-
dustry
then
being
so
important,
a
more
careful
study
was
made
thereof,
and
the
producers
and
makers
began
to
notice
a
natural
tendency
of
the
wines
of
Champagne
to
effervesce;
in
fact,
it
was
difîicult
to
overcome
this
fact
and
avoid
losing
some
entire-
ly;
but
it
remained
for
Dom
Perignon,
a
Bénédictine
Monk,
Avhether
by
accident
or
diligent
study,
to
really
discover
the
process
of
producing
sparkling
wine.
This
was
in
1670
at
Haut-
villers.
He
also
contrived
the
idea
of
marrying
or
blending
wines
of
various
sections
and
qualities
in
order
to
make
a
first-
class
cuvée,
or
blend.
It
was
also
Perignon
who
originated
the
flûte,
at
that
time
the
proper
glass
to
drink
it
from,
in
order,
as
he
said,
"To
watch
the
dance
of
the
sparkling
atoiiis."
Now
we
have
the
more
ap-
propriate
low,
hollow-stemmed
Champagne
glass.
The
réputation
vas
soon
established,
and
the
demand
for
the
sparkling
class
of
vines
of
the
Champagne
increased
by
leaps
and
bounds
;
and
as
the
production
of
the
sparkling
wines
Avas
limited
entirely
to
the
province
of
Champagne,
and
the
de-
mand
spread
ail
over
Europe
and
the
civilized
world,
the
still
wines
became
practically
obsolète,
and
any
wines
coming
from