Champagne the wine was bottled before the initial fermentation had finished. Champagne did not use the "" until the 19th century, about 200 years after Merret documented the process. The 19th century saw an exponential growth in Champagne production, going from a regional production of 300,000 bottles a year in 1800 to 20 million bottles in 1850. In 2007, Champagne sales hit an all-time record of 338.7 million bottles. In the 19th century Champagne was noticeably sweeter than the Champagnes of today. The trend towards drier Champagne began when Perrier-Jouët decided not to sweeten his 1846 vintage before exporting it to
Christie's World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine Christie's World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine Christie’s World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine is an encyclopedia written by Tom Stevenson, published by Absolute Press, which is devoted to subjects relating to Champagne and sparkling wine. The foreword is written by Michael Broadbent. A smaller reduced version, "Champagne & Sparkling Wine Guide", is published in the soft cover format. When first published in 1998, the book became the only wine book to warrant a leader in a UK national newspaper ("The Guardian", October 14, 1998), for the first time revealing a 17th-century document proving that the English used