Accidental Inventions

 

In this world today, there are several products and services we use in our everyday lives that came from mistakes or accidents. Thus, serendipity, an unsought, unintended, or unexpected but fortunate and desirable discovery of great benefit and happens by accident or luck, is the right word to describe accidental inventions (Dictionary.com, n.d). Some incredible inventions that have occurred over the years and are very beneficial to society include the invention of champagne, chocolate chip cookies, and microwaves. The focus of this discussion will be on the accidental discovery of champagne.

Champagne

Champagne is a well-loved variety of sparkling white wine that originated from the champagne wine region of France. This sparkling white wine is produced according to some specific rules that require the execution of specific vineyard practices, including sourcing the grapes from specific locations, specific grape-pressing methods, and the use of secondary fermentation process of the wine when already in the bottle in order to cause carbonation of the champagne. Champagne, mainly used in celebrations, is produced from various grapes, including pinot noir, chardonnay, and pinot Meunier (Moncel, 2021). These three types of grapes produce almost all the various types of champagnes that exist. However, small quantities of pinot blanc, pinot gris, arbane, and petit meslier are sometimes added to produce champagne. Various effervescent flavors like citrus, almond, and apple are used to produce champagne. This drink that reflects celebration is made with different sweetness levels and contains moderate alcohol compared to other wines.

 The Discovery of Champagne

The sparkling champagne wine was an accidental invention. This all started around the 5^th century. During this time, the Romans planted vineyards in the region of northeast France. When Hugh Capet was king of France in 987, he started a tradition of bringing successful monarchs to the region while displaying the local wine at coronation banquets. The early champagne wine was pale, pinkish, made from pinot noir. The Champenois of the champagne region of France were jealous of the reputation of wines made by their Burgundian neighbors who were located in the warm south. This envy forced the Champenois to try to produce wine of the same quality as the Burgundians, but the cold climates of the north posed severe challenges in making red wine. The cold temperatures made the grapes have very high acidity levels and low sugar levels as they struggled to ripen (Wikipedia, 2022). This resulted in the production of light and thinner wine quality compared to those produced by the Burgundies. Also, the cold winter temperatures always halt the fermentation process, thereby leaving dormant yeast cells, which will awaken in the spring when temperatures get warmer and start the fermentation process all over again. The byproduct of this fermentation process is carbon dioxide which remains trapped in the bottled wine, causing intense pressure that may result in an explosion of the bottled wine (Liger-Belair et al., 2008). However, for the bottles that survived the pressure, the wine contained bubbles that were very unpleasant to the Champenois. As a result, they continued to look for various ways of eliminating bubbles in the wine they produced. 

By 1668, the catholic church decided to handle the issue of bubbles in the bottled wine produced by the Champenois by bringing a French monk called Dom Pierre Perignon to devise a solution for the fermentation problem. By the 17^th century, the problem of bubbles in bottled wines still existed; however, people were happy and enjoyed the white wine that contained bubbles. As a result, Dom Pierre Perignon's task changed from struggling to eliminate bubbles to making the wine fizzier. He thus developed the official process of making champagne called the French method, thereby crowning him the inventor of this celebratory sip called champagne (Wikipedia, 2022). With this new love for the wine with bubbles, the leading manufacturers used advertising and packaging efforts to associate their champagnes to nobility and royalty in the 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th centuries. As a result, the king of France, Hugh Capet, began serving the sparkling wine in official dinners at the Royal Palace. By 1715, white sparkling champagne was introduced to the rich and famous by the Duke of Orleans.

Several stories emerged about the actual inventor of champagne. Even though Dom Pierre Perigon is named as the inventor of champagne, several documents proved that an Englishman was the first to produce the sparkling wine while Dom Pierre Perigon only came in to eliminate the bubbles in the wine given that the bottles would explode under the pressure of carbon dioxide during the second fermentation process. Thus, Dom Perignon is the inventor of the second fermentation process of the white sparkling wine in the bottle; thus, he earned the title of the inventor of champagne. It is also important to note that Dom Perignon was the first winemaker who produced white wine using blue grapes and developed the 'Methode Champenoise,' the traditional method of producing champagne using specific grapes and following particular processes.

By the 19^th century, the obstacles observed in producing champagne were overcome. The house of Veuve Clicquot made rapid developments to the 'method champenoise,' thereby facilitating large-scale production of the sparkling wine profitably. During this same period, many champagne houses such as the Krug, Pommery, and Bollinger champagne houses came into existence. However, World war I and II brought some significant setbacks to the champagne houses and vineyards in the northeast of France. However, after the world, the French government passed legislation that laid the groundwork for the 'Appellation d'origine controlee' (AOC), a system meant to define winemaking laws and regional boundaries in order to prevent fraud and illegal activities in the production of sub-standard champagnes in the region (Wikipedia, 2022).

Given the increasing demand and popularity of the white sparkling wine called champagne, the northeast region of France where this wine was discovered now produces over 200 million bottles of champagne, with demand coming from every part of the globe. Given the worldwide perception of class, nobility, and royalty associated with champagne, the wine is now consumed worldwide and highly reflects luxury and celebration. Champagne has risen to be one of the most expensive wines that exist, and it is produced in different qualities that reflect directly in the price. Thus, buying champagne from a well-known and renowned champagne house guarantees the quality of the champagne (Moncel, 2021).

                                                              References

Dictionary.com. (n.d). serendipity. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/serendipity            

Liger-Belair, G., Polidori, G., & Jeandet, P. (2008). Recent advances in the science of champagne bubbles. Chemical Society Reviews, 37(11), 2490-2511. https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2008/cs/b717798b/unauth    

Moncel, B. (2021). What Is Champagne? TheSpruceEats. https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-champagne-1328734         

Wikipedia. (2022). History of Champagne. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Champagne#:~:text=The%20history%20of%20Champagne%20began,wine%20to%20a%20sparkling%20wine.