The name comes from the Champagne region, in northwestern France, but was known to the Romans (who called vinum titillum). In the fifteenth century and was known by this name in Paris, though not in their region of origin where the term designated Champagne badlands.

During the seventeenth century popularized the consumption of these wines in French and English courts at the instigation of some families of this region. Around 1660 began to bottle it just before finishing the first fermentation in order to best preserve their flavors, but as a result the bubbles appear, especially in pale wines, low alcohol and bottled in the spring equinox. This effervescence was a source of concern for producers who called it "came from the devil" and "jump-stoppers" for the bottles and caps exploded jumping. Had it not been for the popularity of this wine was bubbling in England, he had abandoned this form of production.

In 1670 Dom Perignon, the Benedictine Abbey of Hautvillers introduced a series of changes, such as the selection of grapes, tapered cork fastened with a metal clip and thicker glass bottles. Despite the many efforts of the monk the origin of bubbles remained a mystery until Louis Pasteur study the fermentation in the nineteenth century.

There is evidence that the first signing of Nicolas Ruinart Champagne was founded in 1729 in Epernay: Maison Ruinart.

Throughout the eighteenth century, the champagne began to acquire international fame, thanks to the promotion made by producers such as Claude Moët or Florenz-Louis Heidsieck. In the nineteenth century were added producers like Bollinger family or Pierre-Nicolas-Marie-Jouët Perriet. Some ladies continued the work of production after the death of their husbands, including Mrs Pommery, Ms. Terrier And Mrs. Clicquot (the latter was known as the "Grande Dame of Champagne"), which also contributed to the visibility of champagne. Even Talleyrand (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord) described as the 'wine of civilization.