Champagne

sham-pan', an ancient province of France. Its frontier lies east of Paris at a distance of perhaps fifty miles. It was incorporated with France about 1361. Troyes was its capital. It is celebrated for the sparkling red and white wines of the name, especially those produced on the banks of the Marne. Growers press four and one-half pounds of grapes to a quart of champagne. By a law of France the name champagne is restricted to wine produced in a district of about forty-five square miles in the immediate vicinity of Rheims. See Wine; Rheims; Burgundy