insideKENT Magazine Issue 47 - February 2016 | Page 65

FOOD+DRINK

Pop open the bubbly
for Valentine’s Day
Popping the cork on a bottle of sparkling wine on a special occasion is as natural and
traditional as it gets – a celebration without some bubbly is just not the same. From the
sound of the cork to the fizz in the glass, there is something exciting, romantic and
somehow magical about a glass of crisp, cool, sparkling wine. BY LISAMARIE LAMB

Bubbles, fizz, and celebrating with a drink didn’t
begin with the invention of Champagne
(Champagne was first created in the Champagne
region on France in the eighteenth century);
sparkling wine came first. It hails from the sixteenth
century, and was first made in the Languedoc
region of France.

really took off. This gave the Champagne
producers a boost, and makers such as Dom
Perignon, Veuve Clicquot and Andre Francois
were able to refine the taste of their creations.

wine was a special, celebratory drink. And
although prices have dropped considerably from
what they were two hundred years ago, the
tradition has persisted.

The trend for sparkling wine – some from
Champagne and some not – was born.

So, sparkling wine and Champagne is drunk on
occasions such as New Year’s Eve, Christmas,
weddings, and, of course, Valentine’s Day.

It wasn’t particularly well received back then…
since the pressure in the bottle tended to make
corks pop and bottles explode on a fairly regular
basis, it was nicknamed ‘the devil’s wine’, and
only those who were brave enough would actually
get close enough to sip it. Over time, however,
as superstitions melted away and taste buds
looked for something a little different, sparkling
wine began to become more popular. And when
Henry IV took to drinking it regularly, its popularity

This was a double-edged sword. As more and
more people clamoured to buy sparkling wine,
the producers kept increasing the price (this was
also partly due to rising production costs as they
invented new and better machinery to make the
wine taste better and explode less). As a result,
soon enough (by the nineteenth century), only
the wealthy could afford bubbles on a regular
basis. Everyone else had to save up and wait for
a special occasion; hence the idea that sparkling

Squerryes // Westerham // www.squerryes.co.uk

If you are looking for some sparkling wine to
celebrate with this Valentine’s Day, you don’t
need to look too far – there are plenty of producers
right here in Kent. Thanks to the terroir (the soil
and geology of the surroundings, as well as the
climate) of the county – which is similar to that
of France – the conditions are ideal for producing
wonderful sparkling wine.

Chapel Down // Tenterden // www.chapeldown.com

Squerryes Court was
built in 1681 with the
Warde family making it
their home since 1731.
Their family motto,
LICET ESSE BEATIS
(permit oneself to be
joyful), sets a wonderful
precedent to the newest
development in the
family business as
award-winning sparkling
wine producers. Set in
2,500 acres of
Outstanding Natural
Beauty in the Kent
countryside, the
Squerryes Estate was
renowned for