Day 17 of The Falstaff wine advent calendar.

Day 17 of The Falstaff wine advent calendar.
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The Falstaff wine advent calendar: Day 17

Champagne was not the first traditional method sparkling wine.

Dom Pérignon may claim credit for the first sparkling version of Champagne in 1668, but he certainly wasn’t the inventor of traditional method fizz. Instead, it is his Benedictine brethren at the Abbey of Ste Hilaire near Limoux in south-west France who appear to have the strongest claim to this title.

Records from as early as 1544 refer to Blanquette de Limoux, a sparkling wine based on local grape Mauzac. It seems likely that Dom Pérignon visited the abbey at Limoux, in which case he may well have taken this knowledge back to Champagne.

Gabriel Stone
Gabriel Stone
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