Champagne is synonymous with success, celebration, good times, special events and pure indulgence, but the causal connection between Champagne and these special events needs to be established, because it was not always the case

 

The monk Dom Perignon is credited with having invented Champagne, although some authorities dispute this and maintain that it was invented earlier and probably in England. Whatever the truth, it first appeared in France around 1670, at the time that Dom Perignon became a cellarer at Hautvillers. The new sparkling wine was not a big hit at first, and it was generally considered that effervescence is only merit in a petit vin and belongs rightly to beer, chocolate and whipped cream. It was also referred to as the devils' wine. Now by any standard that is a P.R. campaign that's going to take some effort to turn around. From hell fire to heavenly sparkling stars that is quite a repositioning effort. The invention of Champagne was off to a slow marketing start. It was developed at the end of Louis XIV's reign, which was hardly the right time to launch this new novelty drink. The splendour of Versailles was on the wane, and the popping of Champagne corks would have scandalised the ailing king and his pious mistress.

 

In 1715, Philippe Duc d'Orleans became Regent of France. Louis XV was only five years old, but almost instantly Royalty and the Court started popping Champagne corks. France embarked upon one of the most frivolous, extravagant and rip-roaring decades in its history. The Palais Royal, the residence of the Regent, was filled with gay roues and fast young women. The pursuit of pleasure was the main aim of all classes of society. This pursuit of self-indulgence was a great coup for the producers of the devils' drink and produced an era of gallant abbes, powdered dandies, of Boucher's pink and gold goddesses rustling in silks and taffetas. The new drink was scarce and only Royalty and people of exceptional influence could procure the real stuff. Just perfect market positioning.

 

In England, the Victorian music halls sang about Champagne. George Leybourne wrote the smash hit musical Champagne Charlie, which was almost an ad for Moet and Chandon. Most people believed that the jeunesse doree had nothing else to do but stop up all night, spend money like water and drink Champagne. The sales were now unstoppable, and were further boosted when at the turn of the century an ardent Champagne lover was placed on the throne on England. King Edward loved to go shooting, and was always followed by a boy carrying a basket of Champagne bottles, when thirsty, he would call up the boy, and hence a Bottle of the Boy became a very familiar Edwardian expression.

 

Champagne had firmly positioned itself with exclusivity, Royalty and good times. Its relative scarcity ensured that the price was high and thus reserved for special occasions. Its connections with the lustful French Court would ensure that it would remained the preferred drink of the high rollers, a situation that seems to have persisted into the 1980s with customers like Christopher Skase and Alan Bond consuming cases of Bollinger, Krug and Dom Perignon. It was a time when 10-case sales of top bubbly were made before lunch and consumed that afternoon. It was corporate indulgence on a Grand Scale. Madame Lily Bollinger did much to immortalize the drink and create the justification for Champagne being regarded as an essential necessity of life. I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it, unless I'm thirsty.

 

However, Champagne has another more colourful background, just filled with sex and scandal, and it has its origins back in Greece, well before the bubbly was invented. The Victorians decided that Champagne was such a special drink that it deserved its own shape of glass, and thus the Champagne saucer evolved.

 

But the Champagne saucer or coupe was not invented by Victorian England, but rather originally belonged to the Greek Gods. Now, you might say, this is a bit far fetched, but we're told by the French author Maurice des Ombiaux, in his book 'Sein, d'Helene' that one day, a few Greek gods were having a fete, and the party included such notables as Dionysus, Phoebus Apollo and Venus Aphrodite. The group decided that Helen ought to be associated with the enchanted juice of the grape, and the best way of achieving this goal was to have a chalice moulded from her breast. The task of producing a cast was given to Paris (a shepherd and Apollo's protege). The rest we'll quote, we could not write better than what is to follow

 

Helen appeared with her attendant, looking as radiant as Phoebe among the stars, the veil which covered her bosom was lifted and one of the two globes was revealed, pink as the dawn, white as the snow of Mount Rhodopus, smooth as the goats' milk of Arcadia. The Gods just had to sneak another look at Helen's gorgeous breast. Her admirers had glimpsed a teat whose freshness was as tempting as a strawberry. So now you know why strawberries and champagne go so well together!

The breast-shaped chalice was the creation of what was to become the forerunner of the Victorian Champagne coupe, and Champagne producers were not adverse in promoting that divine illusion of drinking from the breast of the daughter of Jupiter and Leda.

 

However, there is a more contemporary player, the 'Austrian whore', as she was known Marie Antoinette, who is heralded as being the inspiration of the Victorian coupe. Marie Antoinette was determined to leave her mark in history apart from eating cake. Her reputation shocked even the libertarians of her own age, much less the prudish Victorians. Marie Antoinette had countless lovers (well connected of course) and she even confessed herself that she led the life of a despicable prostitute. Her prowess was remarkable and in order to outdo her rivals Helen, Cleopatra, Catherine de Medici and everyone else, she had four coupes made, cast in rose-white porcelain, moulded from her breast.

 

Now there's another marketing coup (coupe) for the Champenoise, and no doubt the forerunner of the half bottle, (one coupe), a full bottle (two coupes) and magnum (four coupes). At 370ml per coupes would that make the lady a 36 or 46 cup? Interesting questions, one for more research, and no doubt far more interesting than drinking out of a glass slipper.
But it wasn't only the size of Marie's coupes that intrigued the public. The night before her coronation in 1775, she spent on the Porte Neuve at Reims, an inlet of love, dressed as a Bacchante. The story goes that she spent three hours copulating with a selected Hercules (was Paris in town that night?). She is alleged to have learnt new positions from Comte d' Artois, and at Trianon experimented with the ladies of the household.

 

However, having delved into history for an answer about the Romantic qualities of Champagne, one feels, one has to conduct a contemporary survey. No, it's not out with the yellow pages looking up Escorts, but it is asking customers a question - What's so different about champagne? The men say it's the pop, the ladies say it's the froth and bubble. Sounds like the expectations are not too different from Marie's.

 

The Millennium of the year 2000, or 2001 more correctly, will be the first time in history that the change of a Millennium has been toasted with Champagne. We are witness to the greatest sparkling party of the Galaxy, as exciting as the birth of a new star, an extraordinary time to be alive. Millions and millions of Champagne corks popping all night, froth and bubble lasting long into the night (Marie's 3 hour endurance record could be broken). A truly extraordinary moment filled with all sorts of expectations and mystery.

 

The millennium is also a time for some serious contemplation - particularly about the human psyche and its ability to turn on other humans in the most callous of ways. If there be but one wish, one prayer, let us then pray at the dawn of the new Millennium that mankind has learnt one thing - to love and respect all life. A simple prayer and hopefully not an impossible one. Peace, love and health.

 

How does one describe Champagne? Sight, nose, palate is a good start to make some reasoned observations, but that would be too simple a method to be adopted by French producers. From a simple name of a French Province, Champagne has become a magic word that needs no translation in any language to be understood. The French have done such a good job in promoting their product that the name Champagne is synonymous with elegance and savoir vivre, style and refinement.
Champagne Charles Heidsieck developed a unique way of analysing the product. It starts conservatively enough with a statement " ON THE EYE", followed by a statement about the nose, "ON THE NOSE", and then "ON THE PALATE".

 

All pretty safe up to now one would assume. Then there is a statement on gastronomy - perfect - but wait, there is more is to come. To leave the observations at this point would be to admit that Champagne is just another drink and that would not be acceptable. They have invented a new classification method, that of the imagination. To describe your Champagne, you simply circle the sensations you experience when you are drinking it. For example, the 1985 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millenaires is described thus, "An accomplished wine, which approaches the sensations of ecstasy. The ideal accompaniment for the key moment in our lives".

 

The 1989 Piper Heidsieck Brut celebrates special occasions full of memories worth treasuring. You choose it to indulge your pleasures and share the best of times with lifelong friends. Piper Heidsieck Brut Rose is ideal for a refined dinner, just as it is for a romantic supper for two. It goes wonderfully with red fruits and is perfect as a summer aperitif. However, the best is yet to come and indeed if a bottle appears at home tonight you can be sure that the wine is the wine of romance and seduction, with a nature that is generous and enchanting. Champagne Krug Grand Cuvee is described as a symphony, a composition where all instruments play together, complementing each other in total harmony. On the other hand, should you be so lucky as to taste the 1988 Krug Clos du Mesnil then, the wine could be described as a sonata where the style of the composer is clear and unquestionable. To understand Champagne, it appears necessary to understand one's Body, Spirit, Soul and Heart, and only then, according to the Champenoise, will the real quality of Champagne be revealed.

Almost all South Africa's wines are produced in the Western Cape region. The Cape wine industry is relatively small compared to other wine-producing nations.

According to John Platter's South African Wine Guide, South Africa ranks 18th in the world in terms of acreage, but 8th in the world in terms of output, accounting for about 3.7% of international wine production. There are 253,241 acres under vine in the Cape region. In volume South Africa exports about 8% of its production. The total crop amounts to 270 million gallons with about 51% made into wine.

There are approximately 78 estates and 97 independent cellars in the Cape region. Ten times larger in investment terms are the 70 wineries co-operatives spread throughout the Western Cape which crush the grapes and produce and sell the wines of about 5,000 grape farmers.

The story of the grape in South Africa began in 1656 with Jan Van Riebeeck, the first commander of the Cape Colony. He planted vines that year at the foot of Table Mountain and on February 2, 1659, wine was pressed from Cape grapes for the first time. In the late 17th century, the French Huguenots arrived and brought with them first-hand knowledge of wine making, as well as vines.

In the eighteenth century, the Cape's wine region began to flourish. Napoleonic wars severed Britain's ties to France, and with it Britain's primary wine supply. In 1866, Phylloxera was discovered in the Cape and decimation of the vineyards followed. By grafting their vines onto American rootstocks that were more resistant to Phylloxera, wine making resumed in South Africa by the end of that century.

Climatically the Cape is ideally suited to cultivation of the vine, with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. South Africa is a Southern Hemisphere region with seasons opposite to those of the United States. Harvest in South Africa usually occurs from late December to late March, with the peak in February. Cool maritime breezes offset the extreme heat during the harvest season.

Soils are highly varied, not only between different regions, but also often within the same vineyard. In general, soil on the Coastal plain varies from Table Mountain Sandstone in the west to granitic compounds on the mountain slopes further east. Shales predominate in the Karoo.

The vineyards lie in three main regions: Coastal, Breede River Valley, and Boberg. The Coastal Region includes the oldest farms at Constantia, Durbanville, Paarl, Stellenbosch, Swartland and Tulbagh. The seven secondary districts are Boberg and Overberg, (near Hermanus on the coast), Olifants River, Piketberg, Klein-Karoo, Benede Oranje, and Douglas. The towns of Robertson and Worcester are in the Breede River Valley, where most of the fortified wines are produced.

The most widely planted grape in South Africa is Chenin Blanc which now accounts for about one-third of total wine production. Of the other white grapes, Chardonnay, which has been increasingly planted all over the world in recent years, accounts for less than 5% of all plantings. Colombard and Palomino comprise about 8 percent each. Palomino plantings are declining as demand for fortified wines has decreased. Other white varieties include Muscat d'Alexandrie, Cape Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Weisser or Rhine Reisling, Gewurztraminer and Ugni Blanc.

Perhaps one of the most interesting white wine grapes in South Africa is Riesling. There are two distinct varieties, Cape Riesling and Weisser or Rhine Riesling. Cape or South Africa Riesling is thought to be related to Crouchen Blanc, a French variety relegated to table wine production in France. Red grapes account for about 15% of the total production in South Africa. About half of this total is Cinsault, known locally as Hermitage, which makes an ideal blending wine. Other grape varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage, and Shiraz with smaller plantings of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Gamay, and Grenache. Pinotage is a hybrid grape variety unique to the Cape. It was created in 1925 by Professor Abraham Perold from a cross of Cinsault and Pinot Noir. The Pinotage grape produce complex and fruity wines with age, that are mostly also drinkable when young.