AND GOD CREATED CHAMPAGNE
“Champagne is the only wine that leaves a woman beautiful after she has drunk it”, said the Marquise de Pompadour, Louis XV’s favourite. It is said that she was so overjoyed by it, that the very first champagne glass was moulded from her breast. Legend perhaps; nonetheless: from the 18th century onwards, no celebration or banquet in the King’s court was without this sparkling wine that made everybody so cheerful and talkative. The Regent served it at their swinging libertine parties and aristocrats raised a glass to their lips before stepping up to the guillotine. But what is the secret of this drink that makes us feel so lighthearted while consoling facing all the world’s ills, as Wagner claimed? How can we explain that these bubbles, which were considered to be a manufacturing defect and also blew up the bottles in the cellar, produce this sweet euphoria and give the impression of being able to tickle the stars? I took the road that leads to these legendary lands east of Paris with the goal to better understand the nature and scope behind this facinating phenomenon.
The first leg of my journey: Reims and its chalk quarries is where the monks of the Middle Ages used to preserve their wines in”, a friend whispered, seemingly saying that all the magic of champagne was very much due to these underground galleries that have existed for centuries. All the famous companies have them, whether it be Krug or Ruinart, but Taittinger is where my steps lead me. The company, founded in 1932, was built on the very site of the Church of Saint Nicaise, destroyed by the revolutionaries. This explains the presence of this four-kilometre-long network of chalk galeries, which can be reached by going down a staircase, twenty metres underground. We must imagine these thirteenth century Benedictine monks with their black cowl and torch in hand walking these catacombs-like galeries with damp and crumbly walls, pierced with wooden doors on which we can still recognize the cross, the hammer and nails of the passion of Christ. Thrills. Two million bottles are stored there today, and yet there’s been no revelation when it comes time to tasting the nectar. An elegant, feminine wine, with the beautiful acidity characteristic of chardonnays. But no divine surprise. These chalk quarries may be a magnificent tomb but the true life of these wines takes place elsewhere.
