I'm Tasting the Stars
"A Look at Champagne"
By Neil K. MacMillan

You’re at a party. A band is playing dance tunes while people chatter about plans for the New Year. In the corner, mostly unheard, a voice from the television brings you the festivities for Times Square. A waiter in a white round about jacket hands you a glass to toast the New Year. But this isn’t your every day wine. This is gold in a glass. This is champagne, and not just any champagne, but a 1995 Dom Pérignon Rosé. After all if you are going to give wishes for the best New Year possible what better to toast with? What is it about champagne that fascinates us? Maybe it’s the ceremonial nature of the libation or maybe, like an old Taittinger advertisement, the image of beautiful women in slinky black dresses comes to mind. Whatever it is; champagne has left an indelible mark on the world. In the rich history of wine, champagne is a relative latecomer. As we all know, wine was a staple even in ancient Greece and in Egypt of the pharoas. Champagne as we know it only dates to the 17th century. The bubbly wine was, at first, something not to be encouraged. In 1688, Pierre Pérignon was appointed to oversee and refine the wine making process to offer an alternative to the heavy red Burgundy wines popular with the French court. However, he did not invent sparkling wine.
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