Bruno Bouché adds sparkle to my next book

Historical research may not be the most exciting activity, but when you are trying to get to the bottom of the legends surrounding the world’s oldest sparkling wine, it bubbles along rather nicely!

Yesterday, Bruno Bouché explained why he moved from Champagne to Limoux, while I sampled his production.

As for the legend, sometime around 1531 the Dominicans of Saint-Hilaire accidentally invented the world’s first bubbly in this cave. A century later, the lucky monks welcomed one of their brothers from the north. Naturally they served him their sparkling wine, and the good Dominican Pierre Pérignon returned to his monastery in Champagne with the recipe hidden in his habit.

Did Bruno say any of this was true? I can’t remember!