Indispensable in celebrations and synonymous with elegance, sparkling wine is one of the most prestigious wines in the world. Discover the origin of this tasty drink.
The definition of sparkling wine consists of red, rosé or white wine, with the presence of natural carbon dioxide in a noticeable amount.
It would have appeared by chance, when the wine was bottled before the end of the alcoholic fermentation, which continued to be carried out inside the bottle, producing carbon dioxide and generating a drink full of bubbles.
At first, carbon dioxide was unwanted, however, this form of beverage production ended up becoming a method, known as méthode rurale (rural method) or ancestral method , still used today in the production of sparkling wines, in regions with older wine traditions. from France.
The oldest historical record of sparkling wine is from the year 1531, in the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Hilaire, in Limoux (Languedoc), France.
It is there that Blanquette de Limoux is produced (by the traditional method), the first French sparkling wine, a title historically disputed with Champagne.
There are also records, prior to Champagne sparkling wine, of the trade of rustic and cloudy Italian sparkling wines, such as Refosco Spumante and Moscato Spumante, of little value and almost unknown.
the Champagne
It was once synonymous with sparkling wine all over the world, but currently it is a specific denomination reserved for sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France.
It is made from three grapes: chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier, from a limited area of northeastern France, the region called Champagne (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée – AOC).
Initially, wines from this region had a tendency to become effervescent, which devalued them. As long as they were sold in barrels, there were no major difficulties.
With the invention of the bottle by the English around 1680, the marketing of wines became more practical, but the problems for Champagne wine increased.
They fermented inside the bottles, causing them to burst. This unwanted behavior has earned them nicknames such as saute bouchon (cork jumper) or vin diable (devil wine).
With the arrival of the cold at the end of autumn, the fermentation stopped. Many producers considered it finished and bottled their wines.
Then, in early spring, the fermentation would start again, when the wines were already inside the bottles, trapping the gas (as in the rural method) and causing the unwanted effects.
Dom Pérignon
In 1668, the economic sector of the abbey of Hautvillers on the Marne was entrusted to Dom Pérignon. The function covered the control of vineyards, wines and the task of solving the problem of unwanted fermentation.
Contrary to what many think, he was not the “inventor” of sparkling wine. His great merit was having realized that what was considered a problem was actually a great differential.
Legend has it that, at that time, when opening one of the many bottles under his care, the monk resisted the pressure of the gas, drank the wine and exclaimed: “I am drinking stars!”.
He studied in depth the phenomenon of fermentation inside the bottle and understood what was happening and, with that, he defined important criteria for the elaboration of sparkling wine, such as the bases of the most resistant bottles and the appropriate seals.
Dom Pérignon also researched and selected the best grapes for the terroir of the region and introduced the assemblage of wines from different vintages, to obtain the best results.