a unique exhibition reveals the magic of champagne

In this month of December, Épernay sparkles. From December 12 to 14, 2025, the city wears its Clothes of Light (see box at end of article): three evenings of festivities celebrating the Champagne art of living. The facades light up, the bubbles tinkle in the glasses and the air is filled with this joyful effervescence that makes the capital of Champagne vibrate.

But behind the lights, another invitation looms. So open the door of the Champagne Wine and Regional Archeology Museum to discover the exhibition And suddenly, the Champagne !. This event is part of a special year, since 2025 marks on the one hand the 100 years of Avenue de Champagne, on which the museum is located, but also the 10 years of the inclusion of the “hillsides, houses and cellars” as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

As for the title of the exhibition, the museum director recalls that “it recalls the extent to which the arrival of champagne was perceived as something magical, with these bubbles which come to life in the glass and become foam. It’s a new product, which opens up a whole universe and nourishes the imagination.”

Champagne, a festive imagination

At the start of the journey, the visitor is captivated by a scenography which evokes the moment when the cork pops. A vibration, a breath, then the foam that rises: it all begins with this simple gesture, which has become a universal symbol of celebration.

“Champagne has a polyphonic and singular image for a drink. It brings together opposites, crosses social classes and invites itself into key moments of our lives. It is this socio-cultural phenomenon that we wanted to explore,” underlines Laure Ménétrier, before continuing: “the exhibition does not aim to tell the story of the process of making champagne, but to show, through 210 objects, how this sparkling wine has become a marker of modernity and conviviality.”

To reveal how champagne embraces various eras and worlds, the tour highlights quotes, such as this extract from The Great Gatsby, where Francis Scott Fitzgerald describes the grace of a suspended moment: “We heard music at my neighbor’s house during the summer nights. Men and women fluttered like moths through its enchanted gardens, in an atmosphere of murmurs, champagne and stars. »

Another atmosphere with the drawing of the artist Leonetto Cappiello for the advertising poster (pictured below) praising Delbeck champagne, in 1902 which shows a twirling young woman popping a cork, foam gushing, a true ode to the joy of living. Or the festive photo at the Union des Artistes gala in 1963, with the elite of film actors.

Champagne has also found its way into the highest spheres of power: a long-necked bottle bearing the seal of the coronation of Louis XV bears witness to this at the tables of heads of state.

Between art, design and art of living

The exhibition also reveals sumptuous glasswork: a “Vine Leaves” cooler from 1924 by René Lalique, the iridescent gold-ground flute cup from 1902 by Louis Comfort Tiffany, or the flamboyant bottle created in 1990 for Taittinger by one of the icons of pop art, Roy Lichtenstein (photo below).

Furthermore, it is a question of highlighting the singularity of champagne, symbol of a French art of living. Wine for family celebrations and declarations of love, it also has a more universal dimension, accompanying diplomatic reconciliations and sporting champions on the highest step of the podium. Behind a red curtain, we discover a more naughty side of the nectar that we also loved to savor in brothels.