History of Champagne - From The Late 19th Century To Modern Day

From The Late 19th Century To Modern Day

By the end of the 19th century, Champagne was making its mark and embedding itself into popular culture. The early 20th century brought its share of challenges. Some of the seeds of these challenges were planted during the century before when Champagne's growing popularity encouraged Champagne houses to look outside the Champagne region for a cheaper supply of grapes. The French railway system made it easy for truckloads of grapes from the Loire Valley or Languedoc to be transported to Champagne at prices nearly half of what the houses were paying Champenois vine growers for their grapes. Newspapers published rumors of some houses buying rhubarb from England to make wine from. With hardly any laws in place to protect the vine grower or the consumer, Champagne houses had most of the power in the region to profit off of these faux Champagnes. To compound the misery for Champenois vine growers, the last few vintages of the 19th century were difficult with frost and rains severely reducing the crop yields. The phylloxera epidemic that ravaged vineyards across France was finally making its way to Champagne. The harvests between 1902 and 1909 were further troubled by mold and mildew. The 1910 vintages was particularly troublesome with hailstroms and flooding. Nearly 96% of the crop was lost.

Collusion was practiced among various Champagne houses in order to drive down the prices of grapes to as a low as they would go, with the ever present threat that if the houses could not get their grapes for cheap enough they would continue to source grapes from outside the region. Champenois vineyard owners found themselves in a situation where they were being paid less for fewer grapes. Poverty was widespread. In January 1911, frustrations reached their boiling point as riots erupted in the towns of Damery and Hautvilliers. Champenois vine growers intercepted trucks with grapes from the Loire Valley and pushed them into the Marne river. They then descended upon the warehouses of producers known to produce faux Champagne, tossing more wine and barrels into the Marne. The French Government tried to answer the vine growers' concerns by passing legislation defining where Champagne wine was to come from. This early legislation dictated that the Marne department and a few villages from the Aisne department were the only areas approved to grow grapes for Champagne production. The glaring exclusion of the Aube region, where the historic capital of Champagne—Troyes—is located, promoted further discontent as the Aubois protested the decision. The Aube, located south of the Marne, was closer to the Burgundy region in terms of soil and location. The growers of the Marne viewed the region as "foreign" and not capable of producing true Champagne but the Aubois viewed themselves as Champenois and clung to their historical roots. The government eventually reversed themselves and included the Aube-much to the dismay of vine growers in the Marne who vigorously protested the decision. More riots erupted and the region was on the brink of civil war. As the government fumbled for an answer that would appease both parties, World War I erupted and those issues had to be set aside as the entire country braced itself for war.