With honourable respect and admiration for the history of the craft, and an open mind to the future ahead, we strive to discover. On the shoulders of giants, we see the world around us continuously reshape and expand in its knowledge and technology. Each and every scientific discovery was born out of the mind of one free-thinking human. One courageous individual, who took the leap into the unknown.

We often associate champagne with France, with the French government and European laws fiercely protecting the term 'champagne' and the 'champagne method'. However, it was an Englishman, Christopher Merrett (1614–1695), who initially introduced the distinctive 'méthode champenoise', several years before the monk Dom Pérignon started his experiments at the Benedictine Abbey at Hautvillers. On 17 December 1662, mere two years after the restoration of the British monarchy and the end of state-imposed puritanism, Merrett presented a paper on winemaking to the newly-formed Royal Society. In his presentation, he succinctly outlined the process of making sparkling wine: ‘Our Wine-coopers of latter times use vast quantities of Sugar and Melosses [molasses] to all sorts of Wines, to make them drink brisk [frothy] and sparkling’.

Merrett was describing the 'second fermentation' process, where, following an initial fermentation, sugar is added back to the bottle, resulting in the wine naturally acquiring bubbles. This second fermentation had occasionally occurred by accident in the Champagne region: cold weather would halt fermentation, which would resume in spring as the temperature increased. If this happened, the wine bottles often exploded due to the pressure, causing chaos in the cellars. According to Merrett, English winemakers and importers were, for the first time, intentionally adding bubbles, thanks to the invention of thicker, more robust glass that could withstand the effervescence.

Christopher Merrett was part of a group of 17th century gentleman scientists, noblemen, and polymaths who founded the Royal Society. He moved to London around 1640 and began his career as a physician. In 1651, he became a fellow of the RCP and in 1654, delivered the Goulstonian lecture. In the same year, he was chosen by his Oxford friend, William Harvey (1578–1657), to be the first keeper of the library and museum, a position that was rent-free and live-in. Merrett later compiled the first catalogue, which was printed in 1660. Six years after Merrett's presentation on wine production, Pierre Pérignon was appointed as the cellar master at Hautvillers, tasked with enhancing the quality of the wine produced in the abbey's vineyards, including methods to prevent bubble formation. It wasn’t until the 18th century that the English preference for sparkling wines spread to France. Following the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the new regent, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, ignited a passion for the sparkling version of champagne; winemakers in the Champagne region began to produce sparkling wine in response, leading to the creation of a highly successful industry. Not for the last time an English innovation led to commercial success elsewhere.