"Drinking The Stars"

Is that a fountain or a geyser of champagne I see in Leon Benigni's Lido (1923, Georgina Kelman Gallery, NYC) ?

At this time of year as our thoughts turn to champagne, let us remember  Dom Perignon (c. 1634-1715), the man credited with putting the bubbles into champagne.   Like so many stories, this one is not so simple as it appears.  In fact, the Benedictine monk labored long and hard  to stamp out bubbles (technically known as re-fermentation in wine making) for his king, Louis XIV.  The came Claude Moët (1683-1760), an enterprising merchant specializing in sparkling wines, who became a favorite of Madame de Pompadour and an official purveyor to royalty by the grace of her paramour, Louix XV.   It was another Frenchwoman,  Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Cliquot (1777-1866), who brought the drink of kings to the nouveau riche after the Revolution.  Indeed, the company Veuve-Cliquot (Ponsardin) still bears the name of the widow (veuve) of Francois Cliquot.

Although the champagne coupe had been invented by the English in 1663, the French appropriated it by spreading delicious rumors that it had been modeled on the breast shape of one or another French aristocrat, possibly the aforementioned Madame de Pompadour.  Today the flute appears to be the more popular glass for champagne but, at least at weddings, the traditional coupe is still the glass of choice.  These delicate pastel champagne cups were designed by Emile Galle, circa 1902-1904 and are in the collection of the Musee d'Orsay.  The blue and green coupe has shimmering ribbed sides, while the pink and green coupe is decorated with green dots. I cannot choose between them.

Finally, from Delbeck & Cie in Reims, center of all things champagne, comes an ingenious answer to the infernal internal combustion engine - the champagne-powered car!  Happy New Year!