Graham Harding – A History of Champagne in Six Bottles

Graham Harding returned to academic life in 2014 to study the history of wine after a professional career in publishing and consultancy. The book of his 2018 Oxford doctorate, Champagne in Britain, 1800-1914: how the British transformed a French luxury was published by Bloomsbury in late 2021. This won the 2022 Prix de l’OIV. He was history editor of the Routledge Handbook of Wine and Culture. He has around 20 articles, book chapters / articles either published or forthcoming. These cover such issues as changing tastes in food and wine, 19th century marketing and branding techniques, 19th century retailing and distribution, the gifting of champagne, the concept of ‘cultural terroir’, the gendering of consumption, and ‘culture’ in history. He is an associate of the Oxford history faculty and attached to St Cross College, Oxford, where he is wine steward.

This talk will tell the history of champagne and sparkling wine from the earliest days. It is now produced all over the world but the focus of this talk will be on Europe – and particularly on the history of sparkling wine in Britain. Most of us have heard of Dom Pérignon but who was the first ‘Dom’ of sparkling wine and what role do bursting barrels play in the story? What vital discovery did a 17th century fellow of Worcester College publish? How and why did Moët & Chandon make a British ‘turn’ in the late 19th century? Who did and who did not bath in champagne (and how much might it cost to repeat the experience today)? The story will be told through six separate bottles and through the glasses and bottles that have been used over time for this drink of celebration and success.