Champagne

The centrally located and open flatlands of Champagne made it historically into a land of trade and tension. It has been a major European battlefield from the time of Attila the Hun in the fifth century through the First World War. In times of intervening peace its towns held fairs which brought together merchants and bankers from all over western Europe.

The white wine of western Champagne has been a favored beverage of prince and commoner since Roman times. In the seventeenth century Dom Perignon discovered a process by which the natural wine of the region could be transformed into bubbly Champagne. Unfortunately, he did not invent any dishes to go with it.