Funny Holidays - Champagne Birthday

August 4 marks the birthday of champagne, a drink that is loved by many Today it is difficult to imagine almost any holiday without it A wedding, birthday, graduation party, corporate party - any celebration is opened by the sonorous pop of a cork flying out of a bottle of champagne, which breaks free like a foamy wave and is immediately poured into glasses If you can sometimes drink wine without any particular reason, then champagne has forever become the personification of the holiday This is partly due to the spectacular opening of the drink bottles, but what do we know about it? In fact, champagne has quite a rich history, in which man has tried many times to tame the “violent drink” that did not want to sit in barrels According to the most widespread legend, champagne, like many other drinks, was created thanks to the observation of one enthusiast In an abbey in the province of Champagne, the monk Perignon experimented with intoxicating drinks It is immediately worth noting that winemaking was poorly developed in this region Champagne is located in the north of France, and the local climate had its own characteristics, which greatly complicated the process of making local wine Very often the drink began to ferment again The wine turned out sour Some barrels even exploded This sour wine attracted the attention of Perignon, who on August 4, 1668 presented the brethren with a foamy drink of a pleasant golden color Subsequently, it began to be called champagne The monks liked the fruit of Perignon's labors Champagne production gradually began to expand The drink gained popularity first in the region, and then far beyond its borders That memorable date is considered his unofficial birthday In fact, in this legend, truth is intricately intertwined with fiction Perignon did not open champagne, which at that time had been known for almost two centuries The drink existed long before this, but no one wanted to mess with it Champagne barrels often exploded, causing losses to winemakers who preferred to make more predictable wines However, Perignon's achievements should not be diminished either He led a small revolution in the production of champagne, as he was the first to use cork stoppers Previously, winemakers sealed bottles only with corks made from well-oiled pieces of wood They could not withstand the pressure of carbon dioxide and fired if champagne was fermenting in the container A small explosion occurred, the drink flowed out, and the costs of its production fell on the shoulders of the winemakers as a dead weight The cork plugs were saturated with the drink, swelled and reliably sealed the neck Perignon's achievements were not limited to this During long experiments, he began to add mass-produced liqueur to the drink The monk also worked painstakingly on blending and learned to combine the juices of different grape varieties to obtain the perfect taste Champagne grapes are harvested early, when they have not yet ripened At this point, the sugar level in the berries is lower and the acidity is higher Then the grapes go through the first stage of fermentation, after which they turn into the so-called “base wine” This is a rather sour drink that does not have a pleasant taste It is then blended by adding juice from other grape varieties This procedure is not carried out only with elite vintage champagne, for the production of which grapes of the same year are used Winemakers just have to add mass-produced liqueur and bottle the drink, where it will go through repeated fermentation and turn into real champagne It is noteworthy that in the EU, producers can only call wine that was made in Champagne this way