The mission was simply this - fly to France, drive to Champagne, the region, visit some of the great names in Champagne, photograph as much as I could, come back sober and tell the story.

Le Champagne bears the name of the old province of France, La Champagne, where it is made. The vinicultural zone is officially limited and vigorously controlled by French law, covering 84,000 acres, of which more than 60,000 re under vines. Within this region there are some 250 different villages of 'crus', each with its own characteristics. Beyond the limits of this region, Champagne cannot be made, nor can grapes produced outside this region be used to make Champagne.

Wine was first produced in Champagne by the clergy and the religious orders. The first wine-producing vineyards are thought to have appeared some time between the third and fifth centuries, presumably as a northward extension of the vines planted in southern France by the Greeks and Romans, dating back as far as the year 280.

The fairs and festivals of champagne throughout the Middle Ages enabled merchants from all over the world to experience and appreciate the wine, thereby putting the region on the oenological map. As new kings came to Reims to be crowned, they too acquired a liking for the wine as did the nobility of the kingdom and the ruling families.