THREE CHEERS TO CHAMPAGNE Dr C.V ANANDA BOSE

 

16. THREE CHEERS TO CHAMPAGNE

 He was my school mate. He was then a seminarian, aspiring to become a priest. He had an infectious sense of humour and always used to crack jokes, throwing all of us into peals of laughter. But when I met him in the United States after a gap of several years, there appeared to be a sea change in him. His countenance was grave, sombre, so unlike his former self. He had driven 300 miles to see me and he was late by half an hour. He explained at length the reason for being late. On the way he was accosted by a policeman. When he stopped the car the cop sniffed inside and asked him if he was driving after consuming wine. When he protested and said he had drunk only water, the cop pointed to an empty wine bottle on the seat and said ‘the evidence of your water is here. ’

How did you escape then, we asked anxiously. ‘I raised my hands skyward and exclaimed O my heavenly father, did you turn water into wine once again?’ The cop burst into laughter and let him go.

There is a saying in my mother tongue, that the squirrel never forgets tree climbing. Similarly the bubbly student priest of my olden days never loses his faculty to crack jokes, I thought in relief. May be to needle the priest our talk centred on wine itself. And he was an authority on the subject, and he talked at length, explaining everything one always wanted to know about wine, from a to z. And he also gave me a friendly advice. Being a globetrotter, Anandakkuttan (that was how he used to call me in school) should visit the Champagne country in France. You would then realise that wine has more to it than meets the eye.

And the next time I went to France, I remembered the Father’s advice. So my wife Lakshmi and I boarded a train from Paris to Champagne region. The centre of Champagne region is a town called Reims. Extensive vineyards and facilities to season the wine attract tourists from all over the world to Reims. The people come here for two things. To get a kick of spirituality and the kick from the spirit. Once this place was a centre of pilgrimage as it had one of the most famous cathedrals of the past, the olden Notre Dam Cathedral. This is a great historical monument now. The beginning of France as a nation can be traced to this town. That was when the Bishop of Reims anointed Prince Clovis in 498 AD, marking the beginning of France. Many of the subsequent kings also were crowned in this town.

Today, though it does not have a king, Champagne rules the world as the king of wines. The worth of Champagne is in its quality. The people here are insistent that at every stage in the production of the wine, from the preparation of the ground for cultivation, farming techniques, manuring, weeding, harvesting the grapes and their conversion into wine, should all be done in the most meticulous manner. Only wine made of grapes grown in this region is allowed to be named as Chamagne. They won’t accept the arguments that other wines are equally good in quality. There have been riots and clashes on many occasions on this count. And this has given birth to many special laws relating to wine.

The quarrels that had taken place on account of Champagne had been more bitter and more virulent than what used to take place on account of women or money. A proclamation was made in 1908 fixing the boundaries of Champagne. This led to widespread clashes and to rioting. The farmers of places not included in the designated area were up in arms and because of their pressure the proclamation had to be withdrawn. Angry over this, the residents of Chamagne rose in protest, leading to rioting. There was another reason for the rioting. Some greedy businessmen brought low quality grapes from elsewhere to adulterate the wine from Champagne so as to make a huge profit. The local residents naturally feared that this would adversely affect the good name that the wine and the land had. If such adulteration went on, Champagne would lose its position as a market leader. This would upset the very foundations of the country’s economy. When there was a dam burst in popular anger, excited youth ransacked the cellars storing cheap wines and destroyed the jars. After widespread protests and furore, the government brought in a new legislation relating to Champagne in 1927. That law is still in force.

The law was intended to ensure the superior quality of Champagne. Only wine produced in the designated area would be qualified to be called Champagne. The entire process of manufacture and seasoning was subjected to stringent quality control.

There is an inevitability of history in the maintenance of superior quality of Champagne. The vineyards in most of these areas were once under the ownership of monasteries. In the times of crusades it was the practice of many soldiers going to wage wars in foreign countries to entrust their lands with the monasteries. In the case of those who never returned, the lands became the property of the monasteries. Since the priests were not greedy and did not have the burden of family, the vineyards were looked after well by them. They had dedicated their lives to the service of the Lord and they considered protection of the vineyards also as scared as their prayers. The process of cultivation of grapes and making of wine went on as a selfless service in the hands of the priests. It was indeed a Benedictine priest, Dom Perinon, who was considered as the father of the superior quality wine of Champagne. The peculiar taste and quality of the wine were attributed to another priest Friar Jean Udart. It was believed that these two had exchanged their notes.

We went to an underground processing centre to see the making of Champagne. This huge cellar of several floors, constructed in a labyrinthine fashion, extends to a length of sixteen miles. Our guide explained to us the manner of making Champagne. Ripe grapes were harvested and carefully sorted. Crushing them to take the juice is the second stage. Grapes can be crushed five times to take the juice but the juice taken during the first three crushes alone would be used for making Champagne. The juice so taken is kept for fermentation. After that juice of the red grapes and of white grapes are mixed in a certain proportion. Sugar and yiest are added. It is this processes that give the special taste for champagne. The next stage is filling bottles with this juice. Sugar and yeast are added. The wine become bubbly because of this. The second stage of fermentation takes place now. To remove the deposits in the bottle requires special expertise and needed to be done with utmost care. The bottles are now kept upside down. The muck would get deposited in the neck of the bottle which is then cooled down. The muck will get frozen and therefore hardened. When the cork is opened the frozen muck also gets thrown away like a piece of ice. Syrup and sugar are added at this stage to give the wine its special flavor. Then the bottle is kept in water for three years.

When it is the flowering season in the vineyards, it is festival time in Reims. Tens of thousands of youngsters will assemble there from different parts of the country. They will get quite a handful of money if they pluck the grapes and hand them over at the counter in the evenings. With enough money to have a good time for some months, they happily go back to their colleges or houses. This is a harvest festival that provides opportunities for the youth to bet, to sing, to gamble, to dance and to take part in variety entertainments.

Our guide told us about an interesting bet. A youngster was in a bar enjoying his drink. Another man having his wine announced a prize of 1,000 dollars for anyone drinking ten bottles of wine at a stretch. The youth who heard it left the bar and returned within half an hour. He consumed all the ten bottles of wine and got the prize money of 1,000 dollars. Asked where he had gone for half an hour, the youth replied: ‘I wanted to make sure that I can consume ten bottles of wine. So I went to the next bar and took ten bottles of wine. Convinced that I can do it, I returned here for the contest. ’

So, bubbling with enthusiasm and intoxication, Champagne, the king of wines, continues its triumphant march across the nations. Anyway one thing can be made abundantly clear here: whether it is booze or business only quality will prevail.