“Pop!” Goes The Sound of a Sold House

I'm writing this a mere two hours before we close the sale of our house in Stone Mountain, Ga. It has been a long road littered with two real estate agents, several price reductions and dramas that have stunned our patient agent, Alison Wilson, into a near catatonic state. She just called to say the money is in full and waiting for us at the attorney’s office. Phew! Time to celebrate!

"Champagne in order?" But of course! Bubbly from California's Domaine Chandon and Iron Horse (two of my faves) would do, but some events demand the real stuff from Champagne, France.

This got me thinking. How did Champagne inherit the franchise rights to celebrations? After all, they don't have a lot to celebrate in the cold climes northeast of Paris. For centuries, it's been a favorite stomping ground of invading armies from Attila the Hun to the 1,000-day bombardment by German forces in World War I. According to Brad Prescott's history of Champagne, the city of Reims has been destroyed seven times, the city of Epernay no less than 25.

Why so much attention? Well, Champagne's rivers connect the English Channel, Paris, the Mediterranean and western Germany. The region is a great locale for a land war, but also for trade. In between sackings, Champagne was a major trade hub of northern Europe and quite influential in French royal politics. Between 816 and 1825, 37 kings of France were crowned in the cathedral in Reims.

Of course, this pre-dated the invention of sparkling wine. But as Champagne's most famous monk, Dom Pérignon, worked out the kinks involved with transforming still wine into sparkling wine, the royals soon started hailing the new king with bubbles. I guess celebrants worldwide figured if it's good enough for the king of France, it's good enough for us.

I don’t know if I’ll be thinking of all this stuff when I clink glasses with my best girl, Eleanore, tonight. But hopefully a few French kings and maybe even Monsieur Pérignon will look down from the heavens and raise their glasses full of twinkling stars with us.

Pommery Brut, Apanage, Champagne

• $50

• Two thumbs way up

• This new release from Pommery has a lot more citrus than its other offerings (more American in style), but still has a bunch of toasty notes of dough and hazelnuts. Available through restaurants and select retailers, including Kroger. It is distributed by Georgia Crown Distributing Co.