The Knight Who Invented Champagne: How Sir Kenelm Digby developed robust glass bottles - verre Anglais - which enabled wine and cider-makers to produce bottle-fermented sparkling wines and ciders

The Knight Who Invented Champagne is the story of how developments in the British glass industry in the early part of the 17^th century led to the production by Sir Kenelm Digby of strong glass bottles, the so-called verre Anglais. These 'shaft and globe' bottles, strong enough to contain the pressure of a second fermentation, led to the production of bottle-fermented sparkling wines and ciders.