Champagne Part 3: History - When Champagne Became Bubbly (the Contributions of Dom Pérignon)

To say that the evolution of the wines made in Champagne into the bubbly beverage it is today can be attributed to three people is very reductionist, but here goes.
There are many accounts of how Champagne became bubbly, but one of the books published in 1882 by Henry Vizetelly called CHAMPAGNE: with Notes on the Other Sparkling Wines of France is a good place to begin. It is freely available via the Project Gutenberg online and is filled with 350 beautiful illustrations. This ebook will take you on a journey back in time in Champagne.
Early in the history of Champagne, the vintners noticed that their wines had a tendency to froth and sparkle. Initially, this 'kind of wine which is always in a fury, and which boils without ceasing in its vessel’¹ was not very highly regarded, in fact, effervescence was considered to be a flaw. Sparkling wine could not be served at mass, the wines must be still.
In fact, all wines begin their life by sparkling because during the course of fermentation, yeasts convert the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Our current knowledge of how yeasts conduct fermentation, allows us to reason that because the harvest of the grapes in Champagne occurred in late autumn, the yeasts were only able to conduct a partial fermentation before going dormant. When the weather became warmer in spring, the yeast resumed fermentation causing the wine to effervesce resulting in the observed fury and boiling of wine in spring. This was the state of Champagne in the early 17th century.
The story of sparkling champagne begins with the history of the Benedictines of Hautvillers in the 17th century. Tradition said that about the middle of the seventh century St. Nivard, Bishop of Reims, and his godson, St. Berchier, saw a snow-white dove and regarded the dove as a miracle and an omen to erect an abbey where the bird had landed.

During the course of history, Hautvillers was sacked by the Normans when they ravaged Champagne, and was twice destroyed by fire—once in 1098, and again in 1440—each time it rose phoenix-like from its ashes.
The Benedictines of Hautvillers were equally renown for their wines and vineyards. Being the true enologist of the time, they were on equal footing with the monks of Bèze to whom we owe Chambertin (the favorite wine of Napoleon I) and to the Cistercians of Citeaux for the perfection that is Clos Vougeot.
Fast forward to 1636. By that time, the Benedictines of Hautvillers were cultivating 100 arpents (an old French unit of land area equivalent to 3,420 square meters, about 1 acre) themselves.

In 1668, a young Benetictine monk, Dom Pierre Pérignon was appointed to be the business manager for the Abbey of Hautvillers. In this role, he was responsible for the tithes paid either in wine or grapes by the neighboring cultivators to the lord abbot.
It was also Dom Pérignon’s duty to superintend the abbey vineyards and supervise the making of the wine. Upon receiving the tithes of wines, Pérignon noticed that one kind of soil imparted fragrance and another, generosity, while other wines were lacking in both qualities. Pérignon decided that the best result would be to 'marry' or blend the wines from the various vineyards, a practice that continues in Champagne today. This is only one of the many 'firsts' that Dom Pérignon introduced. Among his many accomplishments are the following:⁴

• Succeeded in obtaining for the first time in the Champagne a perfectly white wine from black grapes
• Used only the best grapes and discarded those that were broken
• Pruned vines hard in the early spring to prevent overproduction
• Harvested in the cool of the morning
• Pressed grapes gently
• Kept the juice from each pressing separate
• Stored wine in bottles to limit oxidation
• Began the practice of using corks to stopper the bottled wine

Although Dom Pérignon did not create sparkling Champagne, his contributions were numerous and most importantly laid the groundwork for the creation of sparkling Champagne. He is therefore credited as being the 'Father of Champagne'.
I find it to be so interesting that many of the practices that Dom Pérignon developed are still being followed today.
Reference:
1. Henry Vizetelly, CHAMPAGNE: with Notes on the Other Sparkling Wines of France, 1882, pg. 35.
2. Illustration: Church of Hautvilers, Henry Vizetelly, CHAMPAGNE: with Notes on the Other Sparkling Wines of France, 1882, pg. 36.
3. Illustration: Dom Pérignon, Henry Vizetelly, CHAMPAGNE: with Notes on the Other Sparkling Wines of France, 1882, pg. 39.
4. Don and Petie Kladstrup, Champagne How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times, HarperCollins, 2005, pg. 25-26.