The story of champagne

It is extraordinary enough that only one small area in north eastern France, on the northern edge of Europe’s wine-growing regions, should be capable of producing the finest sparkling wine in the world, one of the few worth discussing as wine and not merely as a sparkling beverage. Yet champagne fascinates not only wine lovers, but also historians – social, economic, political – linguists, physiologists, physicists and chemists.

The long-awaited new edition of Nicholas Faith’s landmark The story of champagne tells the story of champagne from the wine-makers’ point of view. This classic study of the world’s greatest wine is a masterpiece of storytelling and analysis that has for decades sent readers away with renewed excitement about the different types of champagne and the landscape, geology and climate that inspire them.

Organized in four sections The story of champagne examines the history of champagne from its origins in the seventeenth century to the hi-tech industry of the twenty-first before examining the wine itself, how it is made, the crus, the vines and the harvest. The third section provides completely up-to-date statistics on wine production and consumption and Faith finishes off with an all-important and completely up-to-date evaluation of wines by their makers.