Myth 1: Dom Perignon Invented Champagne
The truth: Sparkling champagne with cork closures was first documented in London in the 1660s — the English were drinking bubbly champagne before the French. Christopher Merret described adding sugar to wine to create sparkle in a paper to the Royal Society on December 17, 1662, six years before Perignon arrived at Hautvillers Abbey. Dom Perignon actually spent much of his career trying to prevent bubbles, which were considered a winemaking flaw. His real contribution was pioneering the art of blending grapes from different vineyards — the technique that defines champagne production today. We wrote the full Dom Perignon myth-busting story if you want the deep dive.
Myth 2: “Come Quickly! I’m Drinking the Stars!”
The truth: Dom Perignon never said this. The quote was fabricated by a monk named Dom Groussard in 1821 to promote tourism at Hautvillers Abbey — 106 years after Perignon’s death. No document from Perignon’s lifetime contains anything resembling this phrase. It’s wine’s most successful piece of marketing copy, and it was written by a 19th-century tourism promoter, not a 17th-century monk.
Myth 3: The Champagne Coupe Was Molded From Marie Antoinette’s Breast
The truth: The champagne coupe existed at least 85 years before Marie Antoinette was born. It appears in English glassware catalogs from the early 1700s. The earliest known coupe dates to 1663 — a glass commissioned in England for sparkling wine.
But there’s a twist that makes the myth almost forgivable. Marie Antoinette did commission breast-shaped bowls — four jatte-téton (breast cups) from the Sèvres porcelain factory in 1787. They were milk bowls for her model dairy at the Château de Rambouillet, not drinking vessels. Four originals survive at the Musée National de Céramique de Sèvres, and the factory still makes reproductions. So the breast part is real. The champagne part isn’t.
Myth 4: Dom Perignon Was Blind
The truth: He wasn’t. Perignon’s legendary ability to identify the vineyard origin of grapes by taste alone led to the concept of “blind tasting” — tasting without knowing the wine’s source. Over centuries, “blind tasting” got confused with “blind monk.” No contemporary record describes Perignon as visually impaired. He worked as cellar master at Hautvillers for 47 years with his eyes open.
Myth 5: Champagne Should Be Served in a Flute
The truth: This one’s more nuanced than “true or false.” The narrow champagne flute became popular in the 1980s because it preserves bubbles longer than the coupe. But wine professionals increasingly argue that flutes are too narrow to allow champagne’s aromas to develop. Many sommeliers now serve vintage and prestige champagnes in white wine glasses — wider bowls that let you actually smell the wine.
The flute isn’t wrong. But if you’re drinking something worth tasting — not just celebrating with — a wider glass will show you more.
Myth 6: Champagne Gets Better With Age
The truth: Non-vintage champagne — which accounts for roughly 80% of all champagne produced — is designed to be drunk within a few years of purchase. It doesn’t improve with age. The yeast, the blend, and the dosage are calibrated for immediate enjoyment.
Vintage champagne and prestige cuvées can age beautifully — 10, 20, even 50 years in the right conditions. But the assumption that all champagne benefits from cellaring is wrong and has led to countless disappointing bottles opened at anniversaries.
The 170-year-old Veuve Clicquot from the Baltic shipwreck aged spectacularly — but it spent those 170 years at the bottom of the sea in near-perfect conditions (constant cold, darkness, pressure). Your kitchen cupboard is not the Baltic seabed.
Myth 7: More Expensive Champagne Tastes Better
The truth: In blind tastings, grower champagnes (small producers farming their own vineyards) routinely score alongside or above famous luxury houses. A €25 grower champagne from a village like Avize or Bouzy can be as complex as a €150 prestige cuvée — sometimes more so, because it reflects a single terroir rather than a corporate blend designed for consistency.
The price of champagne reflects brand, marketing, and perceived prestige at least as much as what’s in the glass. Cristal is superb champagne. It’s also superb marketing. Knowing the difference makes you a better drinker.
Myth 8: Champagne Must Come From Champagne, France
The truth: This is actually mostly true — but with a significant exception. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) protected the Champagne appellation internationally through Paragraph 275. However, the US Senate voted 49-35 against ratifying the treaty. Because America never signed, the Champagne name was never legally protected in the United States. That’s why “California Champagne” labels exist and are technically legal to this day.
In the EU, the protection is absolute: only sparkling wine from the Champagne AOC can be called “Champagne.” But the American loophole — a side effect of Senate politics over the League of Nations, not wine policy — means that in one of the world’s largest markets, the name is up for grabs.
Myth 9: Sabering a Bottle Is Dangerous
The truth: Sabrage — opening a champagne bottle with a sabre — is dramatic but, when done correctly, surprisingly safe. The technique was invented by Napoleon’s light cavalry (the Hussars) who needed to open bottles on horseback. The sabre slides along the seam of the bottle and strikes the lip, cleanly separating the glass collar. The internal pressure pushes any glass fragments outward, away from the wine.
The key word is “correctly.” Done wrong, you get shattered glass in your champagne and a trip to the emergency room. Done right — sliding a heavy blade along the seam at the correct angle — the top pops off in a single clean piece. The tradition started when Napoleon’s officers sabered bottles to impress the “rich young widow” Barbe-Nicole Clicquot. Given that she went on to build a champagne empire, it seems to have worked.
FAQ
Is champagne always from France?
Legally, yes — in most of the world. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) protected the name “Champagne” internationally, and EU law is absolute: only sparkling wine from the Champagne AOC can use the name. But the United States never ratified the Treaty of Versailles, which means “California Champagne” labels are technically legal in America. It’s a loophole born from Senate politics over the League of Nations, not wine policy. In practice, every serious winemaker outside Champagne uses their own term — Cava, Cremant, Franciacorta — because calling it “champagne” would undermine their own identity.
Did Dom Perignon really invent champagne?
No. Sparkling wine with cork closures was first documented in London in the 1660s — Christopher Merret described adding sugar to wine to create sparkle in a paper to the Royal Society in 1662, six years before Perignon arrived at Hautvillers Abbey. Dom Perignon actually spent much of his career trying to prevent bubbles, which were considered a winemaking flaw. His real genius was pioneering the art of blending grapes from different vineyards — the technique that still defines champagne production today. The famous quote “Come quickly! I’m drinking the stars!” was fabricated by a monk in 1821 to promote tourism.
Should champagne be served in a flute or a wine glass?
For most champagne, a tulip-shaped wine glass is now the preferred choice among sommeliers and professionals. The classic flute preserves bubbles well but is too narrow for the aromas to develop — you’re watching the wine more than smelling it. A wider glass lets you actually nose the champagne, which matters enormously with vintage and prestige cuvees. The coupe, while historically charming, loses bubbles too fast for anything other than a quick toast. The short answer: flutes for parties, wine glasses for tasting, coupes for photos.
The best way to debunk champagne myths is to drink champagne in the place it’s made. The Champagne Odyssey trail visits Hautvillers (where Dom Perignon did NOT invent champagne), the historic cellars of Reims and Épernay, and the grower villages where the best-value champagne in the world is hiding in plain sight.
Sources: Tom Stevenson, “Christie’s World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine” (Absolute Press, 2014), The Royal Society — Christopher Merret’s 1662 Paper on Sparkling Wine, Musée National de Céramique de Sèvres — Marie Antoinette Dairy Collection, Wine Spectator — “The Great Champagne Glass Debate”, Jancis Robinson MW — Dom Perignon: The Myth (jancisrobinson.com), Comité Champagne — Treaty of Versailles and Appellation Protection. Read the full backstory in The Complete History of Champagne or explore the California Champagne loophole.
