Champagne was invented in the West Country!

"Ciderland" - James Crowden.
 
Beautiful celebration of cider - Radio 4
 
This afternoon on Radio 4 during a fascinating discourse on the history of cider making, I was delighted to discover that the "Champagne" method of producing fizzy wine, was actually first perfected by West Country cider makers!
 
Apparently most historical records assign the creation of the "Champagne" method to Dom Perignon. However, using superior bottle-glass technology, the Brits managed to produce secondary fermentation of cider, in the bottle, a full 6 years before Dom Perignon's birth.
 
All this is told in James Crowden's wonderful book "Ciderland".
 
Secondary fermentation involves adding sugar to the cider after the main fermentation is over. The additional sugar encourages the cider to create bubbles. This is why some French ciders have a Champagne-style cork. The method was pioneered in Hereford in 1632 by Lord Scudamore before the Civil War and had reached Montacute House in Somerset by 1664
 
Crowden related this wonderful anecdote during the programme: "There were a couple of sheep-shearers who I heard of, who would drive into a farm, test the cider, and if they didn't like the cider they would drive on out again, because they reckoned if the farmer couldn't make good cider then his sheep wouldn't be worth shearing".