What was the name of the Benedictine monk who legend has it invented Champagne?
Dom Perignon “Come quick, my brothers, I am drinking the stars” Actually, the English scientist and physician Christopher Merret documented the addition of sugar to a finished wine to create a second fermentation six years before Dom Perignon set foot in the Abbey of Hautvillers and almost 40 years before it was claimed that the famed Benedictine monk invented Champagne. Contrary to legend and popular belief, Dom Perignon did not invent sparkling wine.Merrett presented the Royal Society with a paper in which he detailed what is now called méthode champenoise in 1662. Although Dom Perignon did not invent Champagne, he did develop many advances in production of the drink, including holding the cork in place with a wire collar (muselet) to withstand the fermentation pressure. In France, the first sparkling Champagne was created accidentally; its pressure led it to be called “the devil’s wine” (le vin du diable) as bottles exploded or the cork jolted away. Even when it was deliberately pro
