This short film from the 1930s shows the grape harvest and wine production in Hautvillers/Champagne, specifically showing the production of champagne and cuvee (specific blends or batches of champagne). The film opens with a shot of the Cathedral of Reims being restored after damages from World War I. The film shows a tapestry of the sixth-century Archbishop of Reims, Saint Remy (Remigius). Viewers see the Abby of Hautvillers in the Marne Valley (01:02), and a statue of Dom Perignon of Champagne. Children and adults of Champagne process through the streets of Hautvillers, praying for a bountiful grape harvest. Women sit in a vineyard picking grapes. Men and women harvest grapes on a hillside vineyard. A woman pours a glass of juice or wine for a man (02:15). There are more great shots of people working the vineyard, one with a windmill in the background. Horse-drawn carts haul the grapes in wooden baskets. At a long table, women inspect grapes and cut away defective ones (03:08). There is a shot of the Marne river in the background of the vineyards (04:00). Several people ride in a cart while others walk behind as the harvest is taken to the pressing houses. Grapes are weighed and then poured into a press (04:48). Two men set up a grape press. Several other men turn a large wheel to press the grapes. Footage shows the juice flowing out of the press. Men move barrels of wine in a cellar (06:15). The film then cuts to a bottle factory. An automated machine drops molten glass into molds that form bottles. Bottles are moved on a conveyer belt to women who inspect them (07:31). Another man puts the bottles into a machine for a first corking. A basket elevator system carries the bottles of wine down to the cellar. Men move bottles of cuvee in the massive cellar (08:49). A man shakes bottles of champagne to settle and sediment (09:32). There is a shot of 120,000 bottles in the cellar. Bottles have their first corks removed along with the sediment deposits (10:26). Additional wine is poured into the bottles of cuvee, then the bottles are corked again. The film shows the process of making corks for the champagne bottles (11:30). A woman shows a finished cork next to an unfinished cork. People grab finished corks and recork the bottles (12:20), which are then carted back to the cellars for additional rest before being shipped to consumers. The film then shows the final dressing of the bottles (13:24); people wrap the cleaned and labeled bottles and put them in wooden shipping crates. A man in the packing room hammers a wooden crate shut. Crates are stacked, and their destinations appear on the boxes (14:22). The film then shows various bottles of champagne, champagne glasses, and champagne bottles being poured at celebrations and being used to christen a ship.

Champagne is sparkling wine. Many people use the term Champagne as a generic term for sparkling wine but in some countries, it is illegal to label any product Champagne unless it both comes from the Champagne region and is produced under the rules of the appellation. Specifically, in the EU countries, only sparkling wine which comes from the Champagne region of France can be legally labelled as Champagne. Where EU law applies, this alcoholic drink is produced from grapes grown in the Champagne region of France following rules that demand, among other things, secondary fermentation of the wine in the bottle to create carbonation, specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from specific parcels in the Champagne appellation and specific pressing regimes unique to the region.

Primarily, the grapes Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay are used in the production of almost all Champagne, but a tiny amount of pinot blanc, pinot gris, arbane, and petit meslier are vinified as well. Champagne appellation law allows only grapes grown according to appellation rules in specifically designated plots within the appellation to be used in the production of Champagne.

Hautvillers is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. The Abbey of St. Peter which existed here until the French Revolution was the home of the famous Dom Perignon, a Benedictine monk whose work in wine-making helped to develop champagne.

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Comment!

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com