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[[File:Grape-Shot.jpg|right|frame|Grape-Shot: 1915 [[England|English]] [[magazine]] [[illustration]] of a woman riding a [[Champagne (wine)|Champagne]] [[Stopper (plug)|cork]]]]
[[Champagne (wine)|Champagne]] has featured prominently in [[popular culture]] for over a century, due in part to a long history of effective [[marketing]] and [[product placement]] by leading [[Champagne house]]s and their representatives, such as [[Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne|CIVC]]. In time this created an association of Champagne with luxury and exclusivity.<ref name="Phillips pg 245">R. Phillips ''A Short History of Wine'' pg 245 Harper Collins 2000 {{ISBN|0-06-621282-0}}</ref> The popularity and positive attributes associated with Champagne have caused many other [[sparkling wine]] producers not located in the [[French wine]] region of [[Champagne (wine region)|Champagne]] to incorrectly use the name "champagne" to describe their wines.<ref name="Dummies 149-150">E. McCarthy & M. Ewing-Mulligan ''"French Wine for Dummies"'' pg 149-150 Wiley Publishing 2001 {{ISBN|0-7645-5354-2}}</ref>

==Early history==
Although sparkling wine was invented in the [[Limoux]] area of [[Languedoc]] in 1535, the wine we know today as Champagne was first produced in the [[France|French]] region of the [[Champagne (wine region)|same name]] around 1700. For centuries prior to this, still wine from the region had been served as part of [[coronation]] festivities throughout [[Europe]], and the French aristocracy had offered it in tribute to foreign kings, associations with celebration and occasion which survive to the present day.

When the ''[[méthode champenoise]]'' was introduced into the region, its ready association with luxury and power brought the unique sparkling wine from Champagne to the fore. The leading practitioners devoted considerable energy to creating a history and identity for their wine, associating it and themselves with nobility and royalty. Careful advertising and marketing associated Champagne with prestige, luxury, festivities and rites of passage, coinciding with an emerging middle class looking for symbols of upward mobility.<ref name="Oxford pg 150-152 & 656-657">J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 150-152 & 656-657 Oxford University Press 2006 {{ISBN|0-19-860990-6}}</ref>

== Popular demand ==
[[File:Champagne.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A traditional [[Champagne flute|fluted Champagne glass]], shaped to best display the wine's [[effervescence]]]]
Successful marketing during the [[Industrial Revolution]] helped to firmly establish Champagne's reputation among the [[middle class]] and affluent elite of the time. The wine came to symbolize the "good life" to which all people could aspire. It also brought charges of decadence and indulgence.<ref name="Johnson pg 335-341">H. Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' pg 335-341 Simon and Schuster 1989 {{ISBN|0-671-68702-6}}</ref> As the American writer [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]] once commented, ''"Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right."''<ref name="Story">Emily Temple, "[https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/04/too-much-champagne-is-just-right-famous-writers-on-how-to-drink/274620/ 'Too Much Champagne Is Just Right': Famous Writers on How to Drink]", ''The Atlantic'', Accessed 14 April 2013</ref>

Towards the end of the 19th century, with a new cohesion in social groups based on economic choices, the beginnings of [[consumer culture]] brought Champagne to the fore as a delineator of [[social class|class]] and [[social status|status]], becoming what has been described as a "centrepiece of [[bourgeois]] society".<ref name="Guy pg 4-6">Kolleen M Guy, ''When Champagne Became French: Wine and the Making of a National Identity'' JHU Press, 2003, pg 4-6</ref> This came about in part by the usual, informal pursuit of traditional practices and social norms. However, there was a great deal of careful and deliberate generation of rituals and images surrounding Champagne, not by any one agency or department, but as a result of widespread commercial efforts to market and popularise its consumption.

The "story" of Champagne wine was gradually re-told, effectively suppressing outdated and unfashionable ideas and images and promoting more desirable ones. This served not only the interests of Champagne ''négociants'' but the French [[nation]] as a whole; by the [[first World War]], Champagne had become a prominent and powerful symbol of the nation's status as a producer of quality goods in general, and vanguard of style and culture worldwide. It became, in effect, a major symbol of France.<ref name="Guy pg 6">Kolleen M Guy, ''When Champagne Became French: Wine and the Making of a National Identity'' JHU Press, 2003, pg 6</ref> During [[World War II]], the British Prime Minister, [[Winston Churchill]], once motivated the British forces with the claim "''Remember, gentlemen, it's not just France we are fighting for, it's Champagne!"''.<ref name="Oxford">Gyles Brandreth, Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations {{ISBN|978-0199681372}}, attributed</ref> The [[United Kingdom|British]] had been particularly hard hit by interruptions in trade during both [[World War]]s.

By this time, Champagne had come to be seen not only as a luxury but as a worldwide cultural treasure.<ref name="Kladstrup pg 244-251">D. & P. Kladstrup ''Champagne'' pg 244-251 Harper Collins Publisher {{ISBN|0-06-073792-1}}</ref>

==Marketing and placement==
[[File:GeorgeLeybourne2.jpg|left|thumb|150px|The music cover to George Leybourne's ''[[Champagne Charlie (song)|Champagne Charlie]]'']]
In 1866 the famous entertainer and star of his day, [[George Leybourne]], began making celebrity endorsements for Champagne. The Champagne maker [[Moët & Chandon|Moët]] commissioned him to write and perform songs extolling the virtues of Champagne, especially as a reflection of taste, affluence and the good life. He also agreed to drink nothing but Champagne in public. Leybourne was seen as highly sophisticated and his image and efforts did much to establish Champagne as an important social [[status symbol]]. It was a marketing triumph, the results of which endure to this day. The marketing success of Champagne during the "[[Belle époque]]" in export markets was remarked upon in 1882 by the British author and oenophile [[Henry Vizetelly]] on how Champagne had become mandatory at all launchings, inaugurations and celebrations.<ref name="Kolleen">Kolleen M. Guy: "Oiling the Wheels of Social Life": Myths and Marketing in Champagne during the Belle Epoque, ''French Historical Studies'', Vol. 22, No. 2 (Spring 1999), pp. 211-239, {{JSTOR|286747}}</ref>

== In art ==
[[File:"Un Bar aux Folies-Bergère" by Édouard Manet (1882).jpg|thumb|''[[Un bar aux Folies Bergère]]'' by [[Édouard Manet]], completed in 1882, features several bottles of unopened champagne. ]]
French producers commissioned a diverse range of artists to produce advertising material, most notably posters, which dramatically raised the profile of both producer and artist alike. The works are still recognised and highly prized for their artistic merit.<ref name="Guy pg 234">Kolleen M. Guy. (2003). "When Champagne Became French: Wine and the Making of a National Identity". JHU Press. Page 234.</ref> The list includes:
*[[Pierre Bonnard]]
*[[Walter Crane]]
*[[Alfons Mucha]]
*[[Henri Toulouse-Lautrec]]

Champagne also makes a more informal appearance in paintings by masters such as:
*[[Édouard Manet]] in ''[[A Bar at the Folies-Bergère|Un bar aux Folies-Bergère]]'' (1882)
*[[Théodule Ribot]] in ''Nature morte'' (1886)
*[[Paul Cézanne]] in ''Chez le Père Lathuile'' (1879) and ''Chaise, bouteille et pommes'' (1906)
Champagne has widely being portrayed as the drink of celebration for toasting returning heroes from war. The Best Years of Our Life's (1946), Coming Home (1976), The Deer Hunter (1977), and For Queen and Country (1988) are examples. It symbolically represents the joy of those who have their family members returning home whilst challenging the premise that war should be celebrated so highly through the use of champagne. More recently this is illustrated beautifully within the stage play 'Minefield' by Lola Arias (Argentina) by former Royal Marine Commando and performer Dr David Jackson through his deep psychological rejection of home coming whilst around him those that view the war from afar drink champagne.

== In literature ==
Champagne has important symbolic status in renowned literary works, such as:
*[[Émile Zola]]'s ''[[Nana (novel)|Nana]]'' (1880)
*[[Alexander Pushkin]]'s ''[[Eugene Onegin]]'' (1833)
*[[Johann von Goethe]]'s ''[[Goethe's Faust|Faust]]'' (1808)

In more popular literature – including periodicals and magazines such as ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'', ''[[La Vie Parisienne (magazine)|La Vie Parisienne]]'' and ''[[Le Rire]]'', and with humourists such as [[Richard Voigts]], [[Honoré Daumier]] and [[John Leech (caricaturist)|John Leech]] – the wine became a vehicle for scathing satires of the elite and middle-classes.<ref name="Guy pg 234"/>

== In music ==
In music from the era, especially in [[music hall]] and beer hall venues, tunes such as "Champagne Charlie" and "Ruinart-Polka" were very popular.
The "Charles Heidsieck Waltz", after the pioneering Champagne producer, was an orchestral piece composed by Paul Mestrozzi which debuted in 1895 in honour of the Austrian emperor, accompanied by the presence of the wine itself.<ref name="Guy pg 234"/>

The term "champagne music" was a term used by bandleader [[Lawrence Welk]] to describe a style of music akin to [[easy listening]] that Welk performed with his band. Trademarks of the "champagne music" style include a light and upbeat tempo, muted brass instruments, accordions, woodwinds (especially clarinets), [[pizzicato]] strings, and frequent use of [[staccato]]. "Champagne music" became widely recognized through Welk's [[The Lawrence Welk Show|national television show]], which ran for 27 years.

Champagne has long been associated with stars of [[rock (music)|rock]] and [[pop music]]. In the song "[[Killer Queen]]" by [[Queen (band)|Queen]], [[Freddie Mercury]] is quoted as saying "She keeps Moet et Chandon in her pretty cabinet."


Since the late 1990s, high-end champagne brands have been featured in [[rap]] and [[hip hop]] music and videos; bottles featured in videos are often quite [[bling]]y and distinctive, often gold. The [[Louis Roederer]] brand [[Cristal (champagne)|Cristal]], with a gold label, has seen increased popularity since the mid-to-late 1990s due to its association with [[rap]] and [[hip hop]] artists, notably the New York rappers [[Biggie Smalls]] (the Notorious B.I.G.), [[Puff Daddy]], and [[Jay-Z]].<ref name="Obs">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2002/sep/08/foodanddrink.features5|title=Hip pop|last=Ojumu|first=Akin|date=8 September 2002|work=[[The Observer]]|accessdate=2009-09-08 | location=London}}</ref><ref>L. Farmer ''"[http://www.thewinenews.com/decjan0607/cover.asp Grabbing le Bâton - A new generation of Champenois is ready to handle the good and the too good] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071124083246/http://www.thewinenews.com/decjan0607/cover.asp |date=November 24, 2007 }}"'' The Wine News, Accessed 16 December 2007</ref> Since 2006, Cristal has seen a loss of popularity and some boycotts, notably by [[Jay-Z]], due to statements perceived as racist,<ref name="Decant">{{cite web|url=http://www.decanter.com/news/86845.html |title=Rapper Jay Z boycotts "racist" Cristal |last=Woodard |first=Richard |date=June 16, 2006 |publisher=Decanter.com |access-date=2009-09-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324090433/http://www.decanter.com/news/86845.html |archive-date=March 24, 2010 }}</ref><ref name=sltjz>{{cite journal|last= Steinberger| first= Mike, ''Slate.com'' |title= The Cristal Boycott | journal= Slate |url= http://www.slate.com/id/2144328 |date= June 22, 2006 }}</ref><ref name= gua>{{cite web|last=Arnold |first= Ben, ''The Guardian'' |title=Jay-Z pours away the Cristal |website= [[TheGuardian.com]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jun/16/urban.popandrock |date=2006-06-16 }}</ref> with other champagnes such as [[Armand de Brignac]] (gold bottle) making inroads.<ref name="bw">"[https://web.archive.org/web/20061203181201/http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2006/10/is_the_champagn.html Is the champagne in the Jay-z video for real? It's complicated.]", ''[[Bloomberg Businessweek]],'' ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050113175059/http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/ Brand New Day],'' Burt Helm, October 25, 2006</ref>

In 2011, American duo [[LMFAO]] released a song entitled "[[Champagne Showers]]".

==In movies==
[[File:Champagne1.jpg|thumb|150px|Poster promoting the 1928 Hitchcock silent comedy "Champagne"]]
One of the longest-lasting associations of Champagne and popular culture belongs with [[Ian Fleming]]'s fictional spy character [[James Bond]], who is portrayed as a frequent drinker of Champagne ''prestige cuvées''. A count of over 22 Bond films reveals 35 occasions on which the character was portrayed drinking Champagne, of which 17 were [[Bollinger]], preferably Bollinger R.D., and 7 were [[Dom Pérignon (wine)|Dom Pérignon]].<ref>[http://007.atomicmartinis.com/fstats.htm Make mine a 007...: Film statistics] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226205946/http://007.atomicmartinis.com/fstats.htm |date=December 26, 2007 }}, accessed 16 December 2007</ref>

Champagne has provided inspiration and a touch of [[exotica]] to many other [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] productions over the years. In 1928, [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s silent film ''[[Champagne (1928 film)|Champagne]]'' famously begins and ends with a shot through the bottom of a Champagne glass. [[Billy Wilder]]'s musical entitled ''The Champagne Waltz'', a 1937 film with the [[tagline]], "As gay and sparkling as a Champagne cocktail!", accentuates the perceived rivalry between traditional classical music and more popular, modern tunes: Champagne being the exciting, decadent newcomer, the waltz representing old-fashioned attitudes.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028705/ IMDB: ''The Champagne Waltz'' (1937)]</ref>
Several other movies have given Champagne notable prominence.{{Such as?|date=September 2012}}, including the anthology comedy [[Four Rooms]], where Quentin Tarantino's character has a whole monolog praising Cristal. <ref>Wine Intro "''[http://www.wineintro.com/champagne/movies.html Champagne and Movies]"'' Accessed 16 December 2007</ref><ref>Into Wine "''[http://www.intowine.com/champagne4.html Champagne at the Movies]"''</ref>

== As a colour reference ==
Although often bearing little actual resemblance to the colour of the wine itself, the superlative-sounding name "[[Champagne (color)|champagne]]" is frequently used as a descriptor for the pale, yellowy-beige metallic hue popular with buyers of prestige automobiles, also of the colour of some high-value [[equestrianism|equestrian]] livestock, and some [[gemstones]], especially [[diamond]]s. In the case of diamonds, any colouration used to be considered a defect which lowered prices considerably, until the idea came up to associate certain hues with Champagne.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}

== Ritual and symbolic uses ==
[[File:Glass02.jpg|thumb|left|130px|The Champagne coupe is erroneously claimed to symbolise aristocratic femininity]]
The iconic nature of Champagne has long been used as a means of effusive ritual celebration, in which the wine is not consumed so much as "sacrificed". The Champagne bottle traditionally smashed off the [[Bow (ship)|bow]] of a [[ship]] or [[aeroplane]] at its launch is believed to originate in the rather more reserved celebrations surrounding the [[Infant baptism|christening]] of a baby.<ref name="Guy pp 37-40">Kolleen M Guy, ''When Champagne Became French: Wine and the Making of a National Identity'' JHU Press, 2003, pp 37-40</ref> It is not uncommon to see champion sporting teams spraying bottles of champagne around their dressing rooms during celebrations, and indeed a bottle of champagne is a common gift to player-of-the-match award winners in [[football (soccer)|football]] or [[cricket]]. The contents of a bottle agitated and sprayed over onlookers from the winners' [[podium]] of [[Formula 1]] [[motor racing]] and other sports has origins in the earlier patronage of prestige sporting events by the social elite; the extravagant "waste" of the highly valued wine being an expression of the spirit of the ''Belle Époque''. Rock band [[U2]] famously end their concerts in similar fashion, spraying the audience with Champagne before leaving the stage.<ref>Pimm Jal De La Parra, ''U2 Live: A Concert Documentary'' Omnibus Press 2003, p128</ref> The act of pouring out champagne in the sink ("[[Sinking (behavior)|sinking]]") has arisen in Sweden due to a ban on spraying champagne in bars.<ref>Johan Åkesson, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110217152130/http://www.dn.se/livsstil/reportage/vaskning-ar-bratsens-provokation "Vaskning är bratsens provokation" (Eng. ”Sinking is the brats’ provocation”)], ''Dagens Nyheter'', 2 August 2010</ref>

In a similarly extravagant vein, [[Marilyn Monroe]] was reputed to have taken a bath in 350 bottles of Champagne.<ref>L. Cramer ''"[http://www.mercurynews.com/losgatos/ci_7663258?nclick_check=1 Champagne is the life of the Party]"'' San Jose Mercury News, 7 December 2007</ref>

The "saucer" shaped glass is another Champagne icon associated with a celebrity sex symbol. The [[Champagne coupe#Champagne coupe|Champagne coupe]] is often claimed to have been modeled on the shape of the breast of a French aristocrat, often cited as [[Marie Antoinette]] or [[Madame de Pompadour]]. This is almost certainly apocryphal, as the glass was designed especially for sparkling wine in England in 1663, preceding those aristocrats by almost a century, and sparkling Champagne itself by several decades.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.snopes.com/business/origins/champagne.asp|title=Champagne Glass Origin|date=3 March 2002 |publisher=Snopes}}</ref>

{{Clear}}

==See also==
*[[History of Champagne]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Champagne In Popular Culture}}
[[Category:Champagne (wine)]]
[[Category:Topics in popular culture]]
[[Category:Marketing techniques]]

Champagne in popular culture - Revision history

imported>GreenC bot: Rescued 1 archive link. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:URLREQ#dn.se