Becky Sue Epstein - Champagne: A Global History

In the month of June, right in the middle of the recent recession, the worlds longest champagne bar opened in London: 95.8 metres of confidence that travellers on the high-speed Eurostar train between London and Paris will continue to toast departures and arrivals in a celebratory manner with a glass of champagne. Champagne bars like New York Citys Flute and The Bubble Lounge are opening branches in San Francisco, London and Paris, while British department store Harvey Nichols recently launched a Belle poque champagne bar at its flagship Knightsbridge store in London.

Champagne houses regularly sponsor film events, adding celebrity endorsements such as actress Scarlett Johanssons for Mot et Chandon at the 2009 Tokyo Film Festival. In the past few years, Veuve Clicquot has collaborated with car designer Porsche and boat designer Riva on champagne cabinets and carrying cases. Piper-Heidsieck, with several top fashion designers, created sexy accoutrements like Christian Louboutins high-heeled glass slipper for sipping champagne, and Jean Paul Gaultiers red leather-bustier clad bottle. In 2008, Mot et Chandon commissioned designer Karl Lagerfeld to fashion a champagne glass for Dom Prignon based on super - model Claudia Schiffers breast an update of the shallow coupe glass supposedly designed in the shape of Marie Antoinettes breast. Often associated with actors and musicians, champagne makes news when a star endorses it or disses it, as in 2006 when rapper and style-maker Jay-Z initiated a boycott of Louis Roederers Cristal, which, until then, had been the champagne of choice for hip-hop artists and their fans.

Harvey Nichols recently opened Fifth Floor Champagne Bar in London.

Champagne continues to be the beverage that signals special occasions and celebrations, no matter what the climate or the economy is like in life as well as on screen. In films, James Bond famously quaffed only the finest of everything. Bollinger is known as 007s signature champagne, though he occasionally sipped vintage Dom Prignon. For a brief period Bond enjoyed Taittinger imitating his creator, Ian Fleming until a scene in 1963s From Russia With Love when poison was slipped into Tatiana Romanovas glass, at which point 007s relationship with that champagne also expired.

Originally drunk only by the wealthy nobility, champagne and other sparkling wines have now infiltrated much of the wine-drinking population and are automatically included in lifes milestones; seemingly, there cant be a wedding or anniversary celebration without them. Every sporting triumph requires jets of fizz to celebrate. New ships are christened with champagne before their maiden voyages, and it is joyously presented at the end of hot-air balloon rides. People around the globe cannot contemplate New Years Eve without plenty of bubbles.

Claudia Schiffer-inspired champagne glass, created by Karl Lagerfeld for Dom Prignon.

The first champagne-only bar in Paris, at Le Dokhans Hotel, carries over 50 champagnes.

Modern rulers have sustained the tradition of celebrating with sparkling wine if not always with champagne. US president Barack Obama had 100 bottles of Italian sparkling wine served at a dinner on his inaugural weekend in 2009, while an American sparkler was on the menu for the luncheon following his inauguration ceremony.

Sparkling wines are highly valued all over the world. Why are these wines called sparkling wines? Because, though champagne is a sparkling wine, it is only one of many sparklingwines made in wine regions throughout the world. Champagne is the name for quality sparkling wines produced in the region of Champagne, about 100 miles east of Paris. Champagne is unquestionably the most famous sparkling wine. From the 1700s on, Champagnes producers have essentially branded the category of sparkling wine as their own. Champagne is so highly regarded that we tend to refer to all sparkling wines as champagnes even when they do not come from Champagne.

In theory, any sparkling wine can be as good or better than any champagne though the Champagne producers have been at it for so long that many of their sparkling wines are not only much more famous than sparkling wines from other regions, but are also excellent wines. To enhance their own identities, some quality sparkling wines from other countries have proprietary names. For instance, the sparkling wine originating in Catalonia, Spain, is called cava; northern Italy has prosecco and asti (among others); while sekt is a popular sparkler in Germany and Austria. In all these regions the sparkling wines are made primarily with regionally native grapes. Though sparkling beverages can be made from many things, this book limits the discussion to wines made with traditional wine grapes (