The Other Side of Champagne

It’s National Champagne Day, and while good cheer is in order, it’s perhaps important to remember that the Champagne region has had a difficult past. Located in northeastern France, Champagne lies directly along the route from Germany to Paris. During both World Wars, the vineyards here were a battlefield furrowed with trenches and gutted with shell holes. Many vines were uprooted, shrouded in poison gas, or killed by disease and neglect. With most men at war, women and children were left to harvest whatever grapes remained and make what wine they could. By the end of World War I alone, 40% of Champagne’s vines had disappeared, and in the main village of Reims, only a handful of Champagne firms remained intact.

The purpose of a punt (the indentation in the bottom of most wine bottles) is to give you a more stable grasp of the bottle while you pour.

Answer: False.

While it’s tempting to pour a wine by holding the bottle with your thumb inserted in the punt, the indentation in the bottom of bottles was never intended for that purpose. Originally, punts were a way of preventing the jagged pontil mark—the point left over after a glass bottle was blown and shaped—from scratching the surface of a table. By pushing the pontil up into the interior of the bottle, a punt was formed and the table was saved. When mold-made wine bottles were introduced, the punt remained, since it adds stability to the bottle when it’s standing upright. With Champagne bottles, however, the punt has even greater purpose. During the second fermentation, which ultimately gives Champagne its bubbles, six atmospheres of pressure is built up inside the glass wall of the bottle. The Champagne bottle’s prominent punt allows for a more even distribution of pressure inside the bottle, preventing the disastrous explosions that were a common and serious problem for early Champagne makers.

Glycerine

Also called glycerol, glycerine is a colorless, odorless, slightly sweet, oily substance that is a minor by-product of fermentation. Though often commented on by tasters, glycerine probably makes no more than a negligible contribution to… Continue reading

The Other Side of Champagne

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