Jean Francois de Troy’s 1735 painting Le Dejeuner d’Huitres ( The Oyster Luncheon) is the first know depiction of Champagne in painting.
The Romans were the first to plant vineyards in this area of northest France with the region being cultivated by at least the 5th century, possibly earlier. Wines from the Champagne region were know before medieval times. Churches owned vineyards and monks produced wine was served as part of coronation festivities. The Champenois were envious of the reputation of the wine made by their Burgundian neighbours to the south and sought to produce wine of equal acclaim. However, the northerly climate of the region gave the Champenois a unique set of challenges in making red wine. At the far extremes of sustainable viticulture, the grapes would struggle to ripen fully and often would have bracing levels of acidity and low sugar levels. The wines would be lighter bodied and thinner than the Burgundy wine they were seeking to outdo.
Contrary to legend and popular belief, Dom Perignon did not invent sparkling wine. The oldest recorded sparkling wine is Blanquette de Limoux, which was apparently invented by Benedictine Monks in the Abbey of Saint Hilaire near Carcasssonne in 1531. Over a century later, the England scientist and physician Chirstopher Merret documented the addition of sugar to a finished wine to create a second fermentation six years before Dom Perignon set foot in the Abbey of Hautvillers and almost 40 years before it was claimed that the famed Benedictine monk invented Champagne. Merret presented the Royal Society with a paper in which he detailed what is now called methode champenoise in 1662.