Coppi’s Ristorante
"Come quickly! I am tasting stars!" - Dom Perignon (1638-1714) at his
first sip of champagne....
The quote attributed to him—"Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!"—is supposedly what he said when tasting the first sparkling champagne. However, the first appearance of that quote appears to have been in a print advertisement in the late 1800s by the producer of Dom Pérignon Champagne. While the Dom did work tirelessly and successfully to improve the quality and renown of the still wines of the Champagne, he did not invent sparkling wine, nor was he the first to make champagne. Indeed he worked hard to prevent a secondary fermentation which was seen as a fault and most likely to break the wine bottles. New documentary evidence suggests that a fizzy or sparkling wine was first made in England at least several decades before it was produced in France.
Monday, November 13, 2006
International Wine & Food Society
of Toronto