My latest conversation is with Graham Harding, author of Champagne in Britain, 1800-1914: How the British Transformed a French Luxury (Bloomsbury, 2023).
Graham and I met last spring in London, where we talked about the history of champagne during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, along with the fascinating history of “branding,” which came of age during the same period. Graham has not only studied branding with academic rigor, but also lived it during a long career in marketing and advertising prior to becoming an academic. Additionally, he has published A Wine Miscellany: A Jaunt Through the Whimsical World of Wine, which has been described as “a thorough and entertaining collection, sprinkling facts and lore on the history, culture, business and science of savoring and making wine.” This episode is filled with booze, business, and some great stories.
As always the podcast is available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Pocketcasts, and the Substack app.
Episode Outline
0:00-5:30: Introduction.
5:30-7:56: The unexpected bonuses of publishing Champagne in Britain.
7:56-18:21: Early life, Cambridge, working in publishing, advertising, and marketing.
18:21-28:25: Leaving the business world for academia, getting into wine, A Wine Miscellany, developing his dissertation topic, champagne and the origins of modern marketing, nineteenth-century “influencers,” product placement.
28:25-41:58: The science of champagne bubbles, the early history of champagne, “Sir Farter,” making champagne drier in Britain and the origins of the drink we enjoy today.
41:58-49:55: The birth of modern branding, the intersection of taste and social history, why champagne was better for branding than “still” wine.
49:55-57:16: The history of the term “branding,” why champagne became the drink of the aristocracy.
57:16-1:05:41: Graham’s family background and its possible relationship to his career path, going back to school in his 60s, working with William White, Christina de Bellaigue, and Peter Mandler.
1:05:41-1:16:45-: New collaborative projects, craft vs. science in pinot noir.
1:16:45-end: Outro.
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