Why Do We Drink Champagne on Special Occasions?
When it comes to “celebration,” nothing beats the sound of a champagne bottle cracking open. This iconic beverage makes an appearance during toasts at weddings and college graduations, and it is the archetypal drink of choice at any formal event.
But why do we choose to drink this sparkling wine every time we have a celebration? We’ll go into the history of champagne and how it came to be such an important component of celebrations and gatherings all across the world in the sections below.
Champagne’s illustrious past
Champagne has a long history that dates back hundreds of years.
It is believed to have gained popularity in the 17th century, however, its origins may go back much farther in time than that. In reality, it is said that Hugh Capet, the King of France in the year 987, is credited with establishing the habit of displaying wines during festivities and banquets.
By chance, the dinners were held in the heart of the Champagne area of France, which was a pleasant coincidence.
Wines produced in the area were light in body and flavor as a result of the height, weather, and other elements present in the region, and bottles made of French glass would often burst in the chilly caves where they were stored.
Only a little amount of effervescence could be detected in the bottles that survived, which was not something the winemakers had planned for.
After a few years, sparkling wine was no longer a luxury reserved for the king’s royal court. Instead, it became a popular beverage among a diverse range of upper-class folks as a result of the increased amount of attention paid to the cultivation of grapes throughout the wine-making process during the nineteenth century.
Additionally, a new bottle was developed that could handle the pressure caused by the wine without bursting, which was a first for the industry.
This improved not just its capacity to be kept, but also its ability to be transported, which resulted in a surge in exports to England and an even larger level of popularity among the general population.
It took many centuries for a number of well-known Champagne houses to emerge, notably Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot, Mot & Chandon, and Krug, all of which are still well recognized today.
These well-known champagne makers contributed to the accessibility and appeal of the beverage, which was quickly visible in commercials, artwork, literature, music, and other forms of popular culture as a result of their contributions.
Champagne is now appreciated by a diverse spectrum of people all around the world. However, given the history and significance of specific variants (particularly those manufactured in the Champagne area), they continue to be rather costly.
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Champagne will be served at a wide range of events and gatherings in the twenty-first century, as will other alcoholic beverages.
For example, champagne is often used to christen new ships before they sail away from the docks. It’s also popular at award presentations, retirement celebrations, and sporting events to commemorate the victory, among other occasions.
Celebratory occasions will almost always include a champagne toast, in which all guests raise a glass in honor of something or someone and take a taste at the same time as one another.
Though champagne is not exclusively reserved for royals and other members of the upper class, it still has a luxurious air about it and is the ideal way to honor any significant event.
Why Do We Celebrate with Champagne?
Opening a bottle of sparkling, bubbly champagne on New Year’s Eve as the clock strikes midnight has become something of a ritual in many houses throughout the globe for many generations. What is the importance of champagne, and why is it served to commemorate significant occasions?
According to Kolleen M. Guy, assistant professor of history at the University of Texas at San Antonio and author of “When Champagne Became French,” the effervescent, light-colored wine has always been linked with wealth and the celebrations of European royal courts and nobility (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003).
Life’s Little Mysteries spoke with Guy about how it became a part of secular rituals after the French Revolution, which took the place of religious rites that had previously existed.
It is possible to ‘christen a ship’ without the presence of a priest, for example, by using champagne as the ‘holy water.’ She explained how the drink began to be opened during religious occasions such as weddings, baptisms, and other religious ceremonies.
Wine Science: Principles and Applications states that champagne was first manufactured in England, where the technique for bottling and corking carbon dioxide-containing beverages was invented in the latter half of the 1500s, according to the book “Wine Science: Principles and Applications” (Academic Press, 2008).
According to the Royal Society of London, physicist Christopher Merret discovered that adding sugar “enhanced effervescence,” which gave champagne its distinctive glitter.
However, as Ronald S. Jackson points out in “Wine Science,” it took scientists over a century to master the art of estimating the appropriate quantity of sugar to use and preventing bottle explosions.
As a result, the original, sweet variety became popular among the elite in Paris, but the English liked their champagne dry, and the English wine-making process eventually became widespread across the wine-producing globe.
Prior to 1789, the habit of drinking champagne to commemorate special occasions began in the royal courts of Europe, where the luxury drink was seen as a status symbol because of its high price.
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“The novelty of flashing line was a big hit with the royals. It was supposed to have a beneficial influence on the attractiveness of ladies and the wit of men “Guy shared his thoughts.
A global drinking boom began in the late nineteenth century, according to Guy, when champagne became popular around the globe.
Contemporary customs include smashing bottles against ships before their first voyages and tossing champagne glasses on the floor at Russian weddings, both of which are intended to memorialize pleasant occurrences.
“In a secular culture, we want to commemorate the occasion’s pleasure as well as its purity,” Guy said. ” “Champagne does this not just figuratively, but also aesthetically since it overflows with richness and delight,” says the author.
Even the act of opening a champagne bottle is enough to signal the beginning of a party, and in some circumstances, the bubbling wine is not even sipped throughout the celebrations, according to Guy.
According to her, “many sportsmen and racing car drivers have champagne thrown on them…but they don’t drink it.” “I would think that champagne is essential symbolically,” she said.