Scientists claim a 750ml bottle has 49 million bubbles, while screen icon Marilyn Monroe is believed to have bathed in the stuff. Bottles of it are smashed against ships for good luck and, if you believe recent reports, its antioxidant properties help keep heart problems at bay.
Ahhh Champagne, the celebratory beverage of choice across most of the known world has the ability to elicit outbursts of delight with a pop - or sigh if you've correctly mastered the opening technique. Whether sealing an important business deal or toasting the arrival of a new family member, this sparkling white wine from France's Champagne region is a welcome guest.
And while a tour of wineries is on the must-do list of many visitors to France, the country's Champagne houses are also worth a visit.
One of the biggest names in the industry is Moet & Chandon, and its prestige label is Cuvee Dom Perignon. Considered the father of Champagne, Pierre Perignon, a Benedictine monk believed to have been born about 1638, invented a method called method Champenoise, to capture the bubbles in the bottle, a process which involves double fermentation.
For the past five years, Vincent Chaperon has been sipping away at Dom Perignon. At 36 he is Moet & Chandon's youngest winemaker, with the task of making sure that the product meets the label's high standards while traversing the globe to spread the Champagne gospel.
'Our profession requires great sensitivity. You have to know the vines, know how to pamper and love them, and how to assemble them. That's harmony,' says Chaperon.