It fizzes. It pops. Just the word signals a celebration. And it was the favorite drink of the

elite in the Gilded Age and the Bell Epoch. The exuberant, vivacious music of Offenbach and Johann Strauss and

the waltzes of Franz Lehar all seem to be fueled by its popping corks and frothing bubbles. And even today,

opening a bottle of it just means something special and announces important gatherings,

no matter how large or small. It is, of course, champagne, the world's most elegant drink.

But there's a lot more to champagne in its history that lies below its surface effervescence.

Today, my return guest, Don Spiro and I will take a look at the history of champagne,

and as we did with Absinthe, analyze some of the misconceptions and set the record straight.

For this show, I recommend you skip our usual cup of tea and find your best champagne glasses

and join us in this truly sparkling story.

Music join us in this truly sparkling story. I'm Carl Raymond, host of the Gilded Gentleman History podcast where we take a look beneath the glitter and the gold of America's Gilded Age, Francis Belipoc and England's late Victorian and Edwardian eras.

As we get close to the end of 2022, it's time to look forward to a new year. So join me for a celebration.

The night they invented champagne. It's plain as it can be. They thought of you and me. The night they invented champagne.

They absolutely knew that all we'd want to do

is fly to the sky on champagne

and shout to everyone inside

that since the world began

no woman or man

has ever been as happy as we are tonight.

In the much-loved musical film, Gigi, her grandmother, and Gaston played so memorably by

Leslie Caron, Hermione Gingold, and Louis Jordan sing the praises of Champagne.

In this infectious bubbling song, lyricist Alan J. Lerner and composer Frederick Lowe brilliantly

...