Dinner & A Book - Champagne: How the World’s Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed over War and Hard Times

It was in Champagne, France in 451 that Attila the Hun loosed his hordes against the remnants of the Roman Empire; where wine grapes grow today, 200,000 died in one day alone. Throughout history, rivals have coveted this corner of France: the English in the Hundred Years War, the Prussians in 1814 and 1870. And yet, this region, which historians say has suffered more invasions, battles, and wars than any other place on earth, is also the birthplace of one thing the entire world equates with good times, friendship, and celebration: champagne.

"Champagne" is the story of the world's favourite wine. It will describe how a sparkling beverage that became the toast of society during the Belle Epoque survived the unprecedented conflict of World War I, becoming even more popular in its aftermath. We will meet gutsy, determined, larger-than-life characters bent on preserving their land - and their grapes. These characters see champagne for what it is: their heritage, their promise, and a wine that is part of their souls and the souls of their country. "Champagne" will tell a story - one that has never been told before - of how the wine industry survived, how people moved their entire lives underground in order to save the liquid of the region. Thousands of ordinary people, plus 50,000 French soldiers and countless bottles of wine, lived side by side in the region's 300 miles of underground caves; choirs sang, orchestras played, schoolchildren learned, and kings and queens came to visit, all more than 120 feet below the surface, as bombs rained down overhead.