On this day, French history tells us that a Benedictine monk by that name of Pierre Perignon who was the head cellarer of the Abbey of Hautviliers invented Champagne.
That a drink now so glamorous, associated with seduction and the good life, could have been created by an ascetic monk makes a pleasantly ironic tale that has been carefully cultivated by the Chanpagne house, Moet & Chandon , owners of the abbey of Hautvilliers since 1822. It's a romantic myth, be that as it may ( I love romantic tales, if truth be told) but the good Dom's real achievement, truly dramatic for the time was to make clear still white wine from black grapes. He understood the climate of Champagne, that blending wines from different vineyards did produce a better wine than ones from a single vineyard and so in 1682, he made his first sparkling wine and we are so grateful for that.
dear Mr. Lewis,
ReplyDeleteOn June 28th 2010 I visited Sterrenwijn (wine of stars), a champagne tasting for professionals in the Netherlands.
That morning Liz Palmer posted a tweet that June 28th 1682 is the birthaday of Champagne. Lucky coincidence that we had the champagne tasting (reviews on my blog http://vinissimablog.blogspot.com) on that same dame!
I re-tweeted the tweet of Liz Palmer, but wondered where she found the birthdate of Champagne. She mailed me your blog.
So now my question to you: where did you found this exact date? Even at Moët&Chandon and the importer of Dom Pérignon in the Netherlands, they had never heard of this date. I'm curious...
Thank you in advance!
Ingrid Larmoyeur | VINISSIMA
ingrid@vinissima.nl
www.twitter.com/vinissima