Champagne is the name of an old province in France some 90 miles north east of Paris.
The Romans fostered development and around 1000 BC began classifying grape varieties, charting ripening characteristics, identifying diseases and increasing yields through irrigation and fertilization.
Grapes were probably first being cultivated in northeastern province of France (at that time Roman Gaul) about 50 years after the birth of Christ. The Romans were great admirers of the fruit of the vine and brought cuttings to France’s Rhone Valley.
These Roman grapes ultimately mutated into some of France’s classic noble varieties: Syrah, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay.
The Roman developed wooden barrels to store the wines in place of the skins and jars previously used.
And as glass blowing became more common, the Romans may have been the first ones to put wine into glass container.
Yet everything stalled in AD 79 when Domitian, a protectionist Roman Emperor, decreed that the vineyard of Gaul be uprooted because wheat was more important.
Probus, a gardener’s son, lifted the ban 200 years later, and the hedonistic Romans soon became to love the wines from Champagne.
After the decline of the Roman Empire, communications with other regions deteriorated, commerce was interrupted, vineyards were destroyed, and winemaking disappeared.
Champagne in Romans time