Champagne: from France, the famous king of sparkling wine.

When you hear about wine and sparkling drinks, the thought immediately goes to a special product worldwide, synonymous with luxury and celebration: the bottle of champagne. Sparkling wine made using the traditional method, it comes from France, and its historical name derives from the Champagne province, located in the French region of Grand Est, where the wine is produced. Discover with us at Spaghetti & Mandolino the history of champagne, who the inventor is, how it is made, what to pair it with, and how to enjoy it best in cooking recipes.

Champagne: the history of this famous bottle

Champagne is one of the few wines that can boast a recognized inventor. This is the Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Pérignon. While it is certain that this monk was the one who brought champagne to life, it is more complicated to understand how he did it. There are indeed different versions about how he came to create the world's most famous and appreciated sparkling wines.

So how did this tale of bubbles begin? The history of Champagne and sparkling wines starts in the Abbey of Hautvillers, one of the oldest Benedictine abbeys in the world. The Champagne region was in the past, and is still today, one of the selected high-altitude locations where fine grapes for winemaking are cultivated.

The wines produced in the Champagne region were for a long time the favorites of the kings of Paris. Think that until the 1500s, Champagne wines were still without bubbles and in competition with those from Burgundy, another area renowned for its wines.

By the end of the 1500s, climate changes brought significant novelties, and with them, without realizing it, champagne was born; a product of multiple fermentations with a slight effervescence.

Remarkably, the aristocracy snubbed it, attributing the bubbles to poor winemaking. Thus, it was a difficult few centuries for champagne until in 1668, Don Pierre Pérignon arrived, sent by the Catholic Church. He was tasked with solving the problem of the bubbles and producing still wines (non-sparkling) like those that champagne winemakers had successfully achieved in the past.

The Benedictine monk, as the new cellarmaster of the Abbey of Hautvillers, thus began to develop various methods to reduce the effervescence.

But just as Dom Pérignon was striving to eliminate the bubbles, the taste began to change and the "sparkling wine" became a trend. Even the members of the royal court of Versailles began to appreciate the bubbles in their wine. By the end of the 17th century, therefore, Dom Pérignon was ordered to reverse his efforts and develop methods to increase the effervescence in wine leading to the creation of Champagne as we know it today.

What is the best champagne on the market and how much does it cost?

It's difficult, if not almost impossible, to answer such a question. Tastes vary from person to person, and so what we can do is mention which are the most famous! In this sense, to shine, especially in terms of the most expensive champagnes, we can cite: Moët, Cristal, Dom Perignon, Krug, and Ruinart.

Cristal in particular is the flagship of the Louis Roederer house, created in 1876 to satisfy the exacting taste of Tsar Alexander II. Consider that it only comes to life in great vintages when the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes that compose it are perfectly ripe.

In the case of these great cellars, we are talking about champagne whose cost per bottle exceeds 200 euros and can reach thousands of euros in some cases.

However, this does not mean that excellent champagne bubbles cannot be found, also online, at more accessible prices, even under 50 euros.

Champagne: the Italian bubbles that are second to none

Someone might ask, rightly or wrongly, but does Italian champagne exist? The answer is no. Not only not with the name champagne, which, as already mentioned, is linked to its French region of origin and is a protected name. With Italian champagne, one refers clearly to sparkling wine obtained through the sparkling process of wine, in a way more or less similar to the famous effervescent from across the Alps.

This is the case with Prosecco and Franciacorta, now internationally recognized as excellent products, but above all Italian. While Asti sparkling wine gained fame as early as the 1950s, for Lombardy and Veneto, the identity between name and product recognizable by its terminology came later, but today it is part of the national heritage and global recognition. Among the sparkling wines enjoying considerable prestige in recent years is Durello, which originates between the hills of Vicenza and Verona, made from the Durella grape.

Champagne: pairings and uses in cooking

Despite being considered an exclusive and very expensive wine, champagne is frequently used in various recipes. Champagne is well suited for use in the kitchen when it is leftover from special occasions and cannot be stored; in such cases, it is very useful and smart to use it for some tasty recipes.

The most classic dish is undoubtedly risotto with champagne, which gives a special taste to a truly common dish. There are indeed many variations, but they all share the abundant use of champagne to create the cooking broth for the rice. In some cases, the dish is enriched with scampi. Another famous pairing is oysters and champagne, though it should be said that with fish, whether cooked or raw, champagne always shines.

We also have a wide variety of vintage Champagnes, which are produced only with grapes from a specific harvest and can be characterized by a good structure. This characteristic makes them suitable for pairing with main courses of meat, such as lamb, and even with wild game.

Champagne really feels at home with desserts. In this case, the most appropriate Champagne is certainly the Demi Sec, typical dessert wine. Desserts and pastries are ideal for enjoying this wine. For example, cookies like cantucci are perfect.

Francesco Scuderi