Tea at Trianon: The Rise of Champagne

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, February 6, 2021

The Rise of Champagne

From Tatler:

Although first produced in the Champagne region of France in the 1600s, the drink has its origins in the Roman period, with the enterprising invaders producing wine in the chalky terroir the area is renowned for. As Peretti shares, ‘several Gallo-Roman chalk pits are still being used today in Reims as cellars.’
Originally conceived as flawed wine due to its unpredictable bubbles, it soon gained popularity, and was used as the coronation drink of French Kings from the 17th century onwards. It was the Duc d’Orléans though who was responsible for its sudden arrival in French high society, after serving it to his circle of aristocratic friends at the Palais Royal in Paris. From here its popularity rapidly spread across Europe, with royalty and aristocracy ordering crates of it from the newly founded Champagne houses of Moët & Chandon and Taittinger.
‘The Champenois have always been pioneers and were among the first wine producers to begin exporting internationally as far afield as America and Russia in the 18th century,’ explains Peretti. ‘The growing affection and demand for Champagne among England’s aristocracy during the 18th century helped develop the UK market.’ (Read more.)