The History of Champagne: Frivolous effervescence

However, most winemakers remained skeptical about what they considered a frivolous feature. Nicolas Bidet (1709-1782), an officer in the King's household and sommelier to Queen Marie-Antoinette, was convinced that sparkling wine was ruining the reputation of the region's quality still wines. His sarcasm is perceptible in the following excerpt: "The vivacity, the exuberance of Champagne wines, known in Paris only as vin pétillant, this foam, this creamy froth dear to the hearts of ladies... is responsible." There are several degrees ofeffervescence, from Champagne tisane, which hardly sparkles at all, to pétillant and demi-mousseux, reminiscent of crémant or Prosecco frizzante from Italy. The most effervescent is the saute-bouchon, which is still only half as powerful as today's champagnes.

Whether or not you agree with Bidet's disdain, the fact remains that the producers were not of the same opinion about the origin of the bubbles. The white grapes from the chalky soils ofthe Côte des Blancs, south of Épernay, now exclusively planted with Chardonnay, seemed more prone to it, as did the wines, which were greener and more acerbic. Some thought it had to do with cellar temperature; others pointed to the cycles of the moon; in any case, there was one practical reason that discouraged winemakers: the fragility of the bottle.

"At the beginning of the 18th century, the most frequent accidents and the main anomalies of sparkling wine were already known: grande Casse in one cuvée; and, in the same year, petite casse in a neighboring cuvée", writes Armand Maizière in L'Origine et le développement du commerce des vins de Champagne (1848),"(..) always recorkers, wines without foam; bottles broken with a high-pitched cry, those still full, explosive fractures, in recorker bottles; corks defective by the nature of the cork, others by too small a diameter; wines sick with cloudiness, fat, bitterness, acidity". Clearly, it was safer to stick to still wines, hoping that the bubbly craze would die out on its own.