The bubbles in the wine are a natural process arising from Champagne's cold climate and short growing season, so they pick the grapes late in the year. Right, so this doesn't leave enough time for the yeasts present on the grape skins to convert the sugar in the pressed grape juice into alcohol. The cold winter temperatures put a temporary stop to the fermentation process, but it starts to ferment again in the spring, but this time it ferments in the bottle. So, the refermentation creates carbon-dioxide which now becomes trapped in the bottle, thereby creating the sparkle? Exactly! But Dom Perignon didn't like the sparkle, he wanted still wine. He was not able to prevent the bubbles, but he did develop the art of blending. You mean blending different grapes and different juices? It says here that champagne is made from black grapes, how can that be? Dom Perignon developed a method to press the black grapes to yield a white juice. He also improved the clarity of wine, so his wine was the best ever made. Nowadays, champagne is very popular. It's not just seen as a luxury anymore. Yes, everybody drinks it now.