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How the turntables…

It turns out that champagne is perhaps not as French as the French would like to think.

A new documentary that explores the questionable origin of this sparkling wine, Sparkling: The Story of Champagne, points out some historical evidence that suggests the drink was developed in England before it was popularised in France.

Much of the evidence comes from the first literary mention of champagne, which was in a 1676 play by George Etherege, The Man of Mode, or, Sir Fopling Flutter, reports The Telegraph.

In the English Restoration comedy, the characters engage in a drinking song with lyrics that end off in “Then sparkling Champaigne/ Puts an end to their reign.”

The director of the documentary, Frank Mannion, said the play included the first mention of sparkling champagne anywhere in the world:

“It offers documentary proof to the British claim that the Brits were drinking sparkling champagne years before Dom Perignon, the “Father of champagne”.

“In fact, it was the English aristocracy that helped to make the sparkling drink fashionable and that’s one of the reasons why the English can make a claim to having ‘discovered’ champagne.”

Well, consider the cork blown off of this one.

More from The Telegraph:

Dom Perignon, a French Benedictine monk, is credited with champagne production in 1697, although his story is shrouded in myth. The claim that he called to his fellow monks: “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!” was invented for a late-19th century marketing campaign.

Bolstering the English case, it has also been claimed that Christopher Merrett, a West Country scientist, invented the second fermentation technique required to produce champagne, and the bottles to contain it, documenting his discoveries in 1662.

Mannion’s documentary features a visit to the Royal Society to examine Merrett’s paper, in which he described making wine effervescent.

It also includes interviews with Tony Laithwaite, the Queen’s winemaker, and the chairmen of Taittinger and Bollinger, along with the chef de cave of Dom Perignon.

Not to mention, Stephen Fry re-enacting scenes from the play as Sir Fopling.

Mannion adds:

“In the film, we canvass several different opinions as to the origin of champagne and leave it up to the audience to decide who invented it.

“In this post-Brexit age, it is a colourful prism through which we can have a good-humoured look at Anglo-French relations.”

Sip on this:

The documentary will be available on BritBox from the end of July if you’re interested.

French or English, I am just ecstatic that champagne exists at all.

[source:thetelegraph]