gift special notebooks champagne of exhilarationspeeches and songs, music and art. gift of...

illustrious

festive

celebratory

number 5

special wine for celebrationFrom the baptism of Clovis by Saint Rémi in Reims to the

inauguration of international exhibitions and victory in the

World Cup, Champagne has long been the wine of first choice

to celebrate the great events in the history of mankind.

quality that is much sought-afterSince they were first produced, these wines have been enjoyed

by royalty and the great men and women of the world, people

who have appreciated the character of the wines and their

unique qualities. Stars among wines, they have inspired

speeches and songs, music and art.

gift of exhilarationFor many centuries their effervescence, their golden colour, and

their elegance have led them to be associated with the most

sparkling of festivities and the best moments in life. They invite,

they inspire, they share… and they promise much more besides.

L’ABUS D’ALCOOL EST DANGEREUX POUR LA SANTÉ,

CONSOMMEZ AVEC MODÉRATION

Champagnenotebooks

Champagnenotebooks

millennium

www.champagne.fr

Carnet n°5-anglais (3) cor 13/10/04 19:03 Page 28

Edition: Vu d’ici.

Artistic Director : atelier Fabrizi.

Historian: Eric Glatre.

Picture researcher : Eric Glatre et Fovo.

Printed in Belgium, august by Graphing Grafossart.

ISSN n° - .

Publishing Director : André Enders.

For centuries Champagnes have beenassociated with a glamourous way of life.They give a touch of grandeur and panacheto our own celebrations.

Who would consider seeing in the new

Millennium without Champagne?

This notebook on the theme

of celebration tells of the art of making Champagne wines

and how these wines have alwaysbeen involved with the joys of life over the centuries.

Did you know that the first recordedevent to be celebrated with wines from Champagne was the baptism of a French king - , years ago?

Did you know that geography and history have combined to producethese special wines which have long beenappreciated by kings and princes?

Can you imagine celebrating a victory, a birthday, a marriage or a new venture without Champagne?

Champagne - a few pointers

Pictures Crédit : Front Cover: Champagne Piper Heidsieck, Duroy-Agence Vu, Jean-Pierre Procureur, Collection Viollet, P. Vauthey-Sygma,

Collection of the Courtauld Gallery, London. Pages , : Bridgeman-Giraudon. Pages , : Collection Viollet, Musée St Rémi. Pages , 7: Collection

Viollet, Champagne Mercier, Champagne Delbeck. Pages , : Champagne Mercier, Alain Le Bot-Gamma, Bassignac-Deville Gaillarde-Gamma,

Champagne Moët et Chandon, Stéphane Cardinale-Sygma, Champagne Bollinger. Pages , : Collection Viollet, Champagne Piper Heidsieck,

Lauros-Giraudon. Pages , : Harlingue-Viollet, Champagne Piper Heidsieck, Collection Cahiers du Cinéma-Dominique Rabourdin, Champagne

Pol Roger, MGM/Champagne Bollinger, Champagne G.H. Mumm et Cie, Collection of the Courtauld Gallery, London. Pages , : Champagne

Charles Heidsieck, Harlingue-Viollet, Collection Viollet, Champagne Moët et Chandon. Pages , : Collection Viollet, Jean-Pierre Procureur,

Champagne G.H. Mumm et Cie, Tim Graham-Sygma, Collection privée Eric Glatre, Bridgeman-Giraudon, Champagne Salon. Pages , :

Bridgeman-Giraudon, Duroy-Agence Vu, Robert Capa-Magnum Photos, Inc., Fabian-Sygma, P. Vauthey-Sygma.

Carnet n°5-anglais (3) cor 13/10/04 19:03

Marie Stuart Queen of France

Holy wine, from the beginning.In early times, it was the monks whotended thevines toproduce thesacred winedrunk duringmass.A fortuitouscombination ofevents ensuredChampagne’s

place inhistory. Saint

Rémi, bishop of Reims, livedin a villa surrounded by

vineyards, near where thetown of Epernay nowstands. He converted

Clovis, King of theFranks, to Christianity. At the king’s baptism

at Christmas in , he was anointed withChampagne wine,in the Champagneregion.Several centurieson, in , Jeanne,heiress of Champagne

and Navarre, married the heirto the French throne, laterPhilip the Fair. Thus the lordsof the Champagne region,became closely allied to thecrown of France.

Steeped in historyBetween and the kings of France werecrowned in Reims, in the heartof the Champagne region. At the accompanying festivities,Champagne flowed freely. The wines were appreciated fortheir flavour and superiortaste, and were offered inhomage to any visitingmonarchs to the area.Both Francis and MaryStuart (later MaryQueen of Scots) received

casks of Champagne ontheir travels through

Reims, while Louiswas offered several

hundred pints for hiscoronation. From the

th century onwards,Champagne becameincreasingly well known andappreciated around the world.The choice of the rich andimportant,

it was accepted as the wine for celebrations.

An unusual wineChampagne is unique. The characteristics of theChampagne terroir, unique to the region, give thewine its special style. The region covers just34,165ha (less than 85,000 acres). The climateis rather tough on the vines and erratic sunshineallows only a limited harvest which always seemssomewhat miraculous. Yet it is these conditionswhich give the wine its wonderful crispness.There are strict regulations governing theproduction of Champagne wines. Just threegrape varieties may be grown, while the way thevines are grown, the method of winemaking, thelength of time the wines are aged andthe precise demarcation of thevineyards are strictly controlled.Champagnes all haveappellation contrôlée statuswhich gives the garanteethat they are trueChampagnesproduced in theChampagneregion.

Louis XIV, painted byRigaud

The baptismof Clovis

Saint Rémi, Bishop of Reims

Philip the Fair of Francea special wine

for celebration


Even the revolutionaries onBastille Day, July ,considered Champagne

the appropriate wine to celebratewith on the Champ de Mars.Then a few years later, thestatesmen and princes attendingthe Congress of Vienna at theend of the Napoleonic wars,spoke of the omnipresence ofChampagne. The attendees allhad a marvellous time: “theirspirits sparkled like the wines ofChampagne” and it helped forma bond between the participants.It has featured at the signing of many important treaties,including Maastricht. QueenPomare of Tahiti ordered severalcases of Champagne to mark the

dedication of a pagan temple onher island. Throughout thecenturies Champagne wineshave always featuredprominently on the wine lists atroyal marriages. At the ParisExhibition of 1900, it made a spectacular appearance -by

balloon. Today, more than ever,people always call forChampagne when celebratingsignificant events.

Emotional timesSince Clovis’ times, Champagnehas been linked withchristenings - the inevitablewine chosen to “wet the baby’shead”.

The Mercier balloon

The French court in 1840

A caricature of theCongress ofVienna, 1815

Bastille Day 1789


Champagne is thewine of choice forlaunching ships -it has blessed the

hulls of countless vessels,and it doesn’t matter if the shipwas the Great-Britain launchedin , the Titanic in , the QE in or someone’ssailing dinghy, called “MyDream”, launched just last week,it has to be Champagne. It wasthere, of course, for the maiden

flight of Concordeand the meeting ofthe French andEnglish sections of the ChannelTunnel.It wasdefinitely

served ice-cold onAnnapurna whenMaurice Herzog

cracked open a bottle in triumphat climbing the peak. In ,Pierre Mazaud also drankChampagne on the summit of

a mountain, this timeit was Everest. Andfollowing in thetradition of the earlyaviators, Jean-LouisChrétien called for aglass of Champagnewhen he landed afterhis trip to the Soviet

space station.

And for good-byesPhilip of Orléans was waitingin the Conciergerie to appearbefore the RevolutionaryTribunal in , and knowingwhat his fate would be, calmlydrank the “wine of kings”-he could think of no better wayto spend his last moments on earth.After Napoléon had defeated thearmy of the Tsar at Smolensk, the

local gentry consoledthemselves with

Champagne-“delicious

even thoughFrench”.

Great occasionsWhatever the occasion, we have adopted the habit of celebrating with Champagne.Take sports, for example.

Winningteams toast theirsuccess in Champagne and whocan forget the image of GrandPrix drivers on thewinners’rostrum after therace celebrating their prowesswith bottles of Champagne.

Tazio Nuvolari winner of theVanderbilt Cup on the TheodoreRoosevelt track, 1936

The debutantes’ball

President Sadi Carnot visitingthe cellars of Champagne

French andEnglish workmencelebrate thelink-up of theChannel Tunnel

The Prince andPrincess of Waleslaunch the airbusA320

Launching a ship

Napoléonmeeting M.Moët.


The nectar ofmonarchsKings, princes and nobles werethe first lovers of Champagne.They spread the fame of thequality of these wines and weretheir finest ambassadors. Thereis no lack of stories: whenCharles of Francemet the King ofBohemiain the thcentury, thediplomatic qualitiesof the wines ofChampagne were said to havecontributed to the success of the discussions.Again, Frederick of Prussiawas so fond of Champagne thathe asked members of hisAcademy to assess“scientifically” how Champagnediffered from other wines.

Historians tell us that the French Court had a taste for Champagne: Marie-Antoinette and Madame de Pompadour wereboth lovers of these

wines and, of course, it was

inconceivablethat thecelebratedsuppers of theDuke of Orléans,Regent forthe infant

Louis , could pass off withoutmasses of Champagne. WhenLouis commissioned Jean-François de Troy to paint “a feast of oysters” for the Royaldining room, Champagne tookpride of place.Tsar Alexander of Russiaarranged the delivery of vastquantities of Champagneproduced to suit his own tastes,in special “crystal” bottles, for

his own personalconsumption. Many

years later,another Master ofall the Russias,Nikita Krustchev,was another well-informed lover of Champagne.

Edward , like a numberof other British monarchsadored a sparkle that was“so Frenchy”. Today,

great men of theworld each havetheir favourite

Champagne and their choices areas varied as theirpolitical beliefs.

A wine of geniusChampagne has been developed through thetalents of many people over the years. The art ofblending the grapes, and then the wines, fromdifferent villages, even from different vintages,was first discovered by monks, and was a well-established practice by the end of the 17thcentury. This art, based on tasting, is similar tothe techniques used by painters to mix theircolours to give the effects they are looking for.Blending calls on experience and memory andthe cellarmasters’ tastebuds. Each cellarmastercreates a unique blend - the specific style of eachproducer. Every Champagne is a unique creation,which explains the almost universal use of aHouse name on the label, declaring the style. Asa result, the most talented Champagne makershave become internationally famous.

Florens-Louis Heidsieckpresents a bottle ofChampagne to Marie-Antoinette

“A feast of oysters” byJean-François de TroyCharles VI

Edouard VII

Voltaire andFrederick IIof Prussia

“Golden with copper tones, subtleand delicate, with a most agreeabletaste on the palate -made for kings,princes and great lords”. quality that is much sought after

Madame dePompadour

Tsar Alexander I


An inspirationChampagne loosens tonguesand sharpens pens. In ,Voltaire wrote of “the sparklingfroth of these fresh wines is thesparkling image of us, theFrench”. Alfred de Mussetbegan his great love affair with

George Sand in Majorcadeclaring that

Champagne wouldmake him witty andindeed, a little mad.Another great writer,Alexandre Dumas,

claimed that he placed a glass of Champagne besidehis inkwell in order to give

his pen a sparkling inspiration.Great musicians were alsomoved by Champagne:Beethoven wrote a symphonyof praise to the wine, but

Wagner, bitterlydisappointed by thefailure of Tannhauserin Paris, wasreconciled withFrance only thanksto this wine “whichalone had renewed hiszest for life”.At the turn of the

century, painters werefrequently depicting

Champagne in their works.You can see it in the paintingsof Utrillo and ToulouseLautrec, and Manet paints the wine in his “Bal aux FoliesBergères”, and between the twolovers in “Chez FatherLathuile”.

A star for the starsThe bubbles ofChampagne arenaturally at thetables of film andtheatre stars.Marlene Dietrichwrote that she lovedChampagne because“it gives theimpression that it isSunday and that the

best days will soon be upon us”. In “Ninotchka” Greta Garboplays a Russian girl whodiscovers Champagne whenvisiting Paris and among manyother film stars, AudreyHepburn, Jeanne Moreau,Marilyn Monroe andJuliette Binoche all lovedChampagne, whileMistinguett and MauriceChevalier celebrated it insongs.

A wine for romanticheroesFrom Pushkin to Henry Miller,from Hemingway to Balzac,from Maupassant to Colette,Françoise Sagan, John le Carréand Ian Fleming -creator ofChampagne connoisseur JamesBond-innumerablenovelists havegiven the heroes and

heroines oftheir books

more thanthe odd glass ofChampagne. Truman

Capote, that mostprovocative of

American writers, claimedthat to laugh in the face ofdeath, nothing workedbetter than a glass ofChampagne. Author,statesman and man oftaste Sir WinstonChurchill, wrote thatChampagne should bea daily delight forthose who knew thetrue meaning of life.

James Bond, “Tomorrow never dies”

Sir Winston Churchill

Ava Gardner and Charlton Heston in“55 days in Peking”

Greta Garboin “Ninotchka”

Manet “Bal aux Folies Bergères”

Utrillo Marilyn Monroe

Alexandre Dumas


for her outdoor feasts. No fewerthan , bottles of Champagne

were drunk at a masked ballgiven at the Hôtel de Ville in . Casanova mentionedChampagne as one of theindispensable accoutrement for his evenings of seduction.

InternationalreputationThe wines of Champagnetravelled very early on. Doggedand adventurous Champenoisset out to make them known on every continent. The first to become enamoured of thesewines were the English.Champagne became a “must” at

the royal court and for dandieslike Beau Brummel and

Sheridan. When TsarAlexander organised adinner lasting four days inSeptember during amilitaryparade on

A banquet atthe House ofNanni byRezzonico

George BryanBrummell

The joy of lifeIt was at the endof the thcentury that theChampenoisreally started tomaster thesparkle. Thewine was nolonger the soleprerogative of

the clergy and could assume itsrightful place asguest of honour atsecular festivities.Its seductivelightness enchantedand delighted the

dilettantes of theth century.

Philip of Orléans’wife tells of the passion of the ladies of her timefor “the wine of thepopping corks”.

It was drunk at theintimate suppers at the

Palais-Royal. The records thatremain show considerable ordersfrom Madame de Pompadour

Champagne Charlie

A magic sparkleThere is no Champagne without themagic presence of its delicate andelegant bubbles. Over the years,the Champenois have learnt how

to master this sparkling whichoriginally surprised but

delighted them. This sparkle is special, becauseit springs naturally from the slow work of theyeast fermenting in the cool cellars ofChampagne. The persistence of the bubbles inthe glass is another delightful mystery. Forseveral minutes the bubbles form and re-form,dance, swirl and rise to the surface as if drawnto the sky, the symbol of the grace and wit ofthese very special wines. Their delicateexuberance is a truly delightful invitation tofestivities.

Casanova

Philip of Orléans

Alfons Mucha, White Star

the gift of exhilaration


theCamp deVertus in the heart

ofChampagne, guests wereserved a menu created by thegreat French chef Carême andthe wines of Champagne werethe main accompaniment.Only a few years later, glasses of Champagne were raised in New York and on the coast of California as the NewWorld discovered the delights of these wines.By the end of the thcentury, the wines ofChampagne had gained

a reputationthroughout the worldof being the idealwines for joyousgatherings to whichone wanted to givepanache and a touchof class.

PopularityThe ever-increasingspeed of transport,particularly thespread of railways,allowed

Champagne to be at festivitieseverywhere, but it was in Paristhat it became indispensable. It was served in the cafés on theGrands Boulevards -at the CaféAnglais, at the Tour d’Argent,at the Jockey Club and at the Olympia Tavern. It wasordered by everyone and wascalled simply “Champ”.

Afterthe

Franco-

Prussian War, it became ademocratic drink. Feydeau andOffenbach mentioned it inworks like “Take care of Amélie”

Frenchcookery expert Carême

while inJohann Strauss’DieFledermaus,they sing “HisMajestyChampagne isKing, let us lineup under his

rule”. Glasses are also raised inVerdi’s La Traviata. When thewhole of Europe wasliving in the goldenyears of the s,those at the height offashion were preparedto try anything as longas it includedChampagne. Theyordered it in all themost fashionableplaces - in Paris,Deauville, Biarritz andMonte-Carlo. Ofcourse it was served atall the great societyevents -Boni deCastellane hadChampagne at hisparties in his pinkmarble palace and itwas served at the ballsof Princess Murat orClermont-Tonnerre,

whosefamous Persian

parties madetheir mark withtheir contemporaries. Alongwith madcap decorations andhundreds of guests insumptuous fancy dress, therewere elephants, horses -andfountains spouting Champagne!Generosity

Parties in the Charleston area

At the races

The OlympiaTavern

“Masked Ball atthe Theatre”by Alois Schonn

A poster for a Paris production of Die Fledermaus


When General Eisenhower setup his headquarters in Reims inFebruary it was clear thatthe Liberation of France wouldbe celebrated with Champagne-and what a party that was!Since the beginning of the thcentury, Champagne hasbecome the wine that unite

people andguaranteeconviviality. In recent years,

ithas

been almostunthinkable to have acelebration withoutChampagne.Whatever theoccasion, be it animperial event, likethat organised by the

late Shah of Iran in the ruins of Persepolis to celebrate

the , th anniversary of thecreation of the Persian Empire,or more popularist such as the

celebrations of the

bicentennial of the FrenchRevolution or the opening

of the World Cup.

Champagne ispresent at filmfestivals, culturalexhibitions, sportingoccasions,commemorations

and anniversaries.Naturallyenough, Champagne has alsobecome the favourite wine atnew year’s eve.

Bicentennial celebrationsof the French Revolution

“The ScandinavianPerfomers’ lunchin Skagan” by Peter Severin

A Champagne picnic at Ascot

Americantroops duringthe Liberationof France


gift special notebooks champagne of exhilarationspeeches and songs, music and art. gift of...

Documents