Why do we celebrate with champagne or sparkling wine?

Whatever the occasion to celebrate when we are celebrating we cannot miss the bubbles of champagne and prosecco: we reveal you why it is celebrated like this …

Every important anniversary is celebrated with a toast, a toast that cannot fail to have bubbles. Champagne, sparkling wine and prosecco are the typical wines when there is something to celebrate. Whether brindi for Christmas or the New Year or simply for a birthday or graduation party, the bubbles can never be missing.

But why are sparkling wines used to celebrate these occasions? Surely because they are wines, that everyone likes a little, but champagne, sparkling wines and prosecco have their own symbolism that goes well with celebrations and good wishes. So let’s see in detail why we use these wines to celebrate!

The sparkling wine bang to celebrate

The wines we use to celebrate are effervescent wines because they contain carbon dioxide, the so-called bubbles. This allows the cork to be practically “shot” from the neck of the bottle as soon as we leave it, creating the famous “bang”.

As we know, the bang brings luck and it is even more fortunate, it is said, who is hit by the cork. The reason for this belief is that, in the past, it was believed that the noise of the bang scared off evil spirits and therefore freed the environment from negative influences. For this reason, every time we celebrate with a bottle of sparkling wine or champagne, the bang bursts with applause and congratulations. Those who are then hit by the cork will marry, according to tradition, within a year. Certainly if this is a fortune or not, it depends on the wife or husband that will be chosen!

Toast with champagne to celebrate

Even the toast has its own symbolism and tradition. In the Middle Ages, toasting each other by dropping a little drink in the glass of the other, a way to reassure other diners that no glass contained a poisonous substance. An ancient system to prove that we could trust each other. A symbolism of peace, harmony, trust and friendship that has been maintained over the centuries, without the need to pour champagne or sparkling wine into the glass of others, but still letting it fall a little to get wet behind the ears, as a wish for good luck.

Today the toast means not only celebrations, but harmony between the guests and crossed wishes for the future good of all. Even the fact of looking into the eyes while toasting and celebrating with champagne, prosecco or sparkling wine comes from this medieval custom: looking into the eyes was a way to notice if the other had fears in his eyes, or fear of being discovered to have put something poisonous in the glasses.

The color of champagne and sparkling wine as a good omen

The color of the wines we use to celebrate has its importance. The white wines since ancient times represented elegance and purity. With the invention of champagne and sparkling wine, the wine has acquired a gold color and a brilliance previously unknown. This color has automatically become synonymous with wealth and a wish for prosperity. For this degree, marriages, but also recruitment to an apical role in society are celebrated with campaigns, prosecco or sparkling wine. The golden color of the drink in the glasses is an implicit wish for wealth for those who drink.

Other stories that have brought sparkling wine, champagne and prosecco to become the wines of fortune.

As you know, even the launch of a ship is accompanied by a bottle of champagne to celebrate the moment when the boat touches the waters for the first time. The bottle is thrown towards the ship and must break to bring luck. The first contact of the vessel with a liquid must be with a noble liquid, so that the ship always has a safe and prosperous navigation. The world of sailors is full of stories of boats, to whose baptism the bottle did not break and which then did not have much luck. For this the bottles of champagne and sparkling wine are “treated” before the ship is launched to make sure they break.

Finally, even Formula 1 at the end of the race, celebrates the winners with champagne that is strictly used to spray all those nearby. This tradition was born in America in the 1960s thanks to Dan Gurney, who, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans, was the first to celebrate with champagne; practically bathing with this wine to everyone, he met on the podium. Since this gesture led the driver well, who also won the next race, since then the riders celebrate the victories, hoping that they will be repeated more and more often!