Instead, well-established figures such as Abraham Lincoln and General Benjamin Butler threaten to overwhelm Heidsieck both figuratively and literally, especially during his time as a prisoner of the Union, almost meeting his demise.
In fact, Heidsieck's history is so unbelievable at times that it is nearly overshadowed by the immensity and legitimacy of the American Civil War, which often becomes the narrative priority. The result is uncertainty over what is reality and what is embellishment.
Unfortunately, images or direct French quotations are not provided at the request of Heidsieck's descendants who have not made the information public. To tell this story, the authors draw extensively from Heidsieck's personal letters to his wife to fill in holes of missing narrative. While the research does attempt to give a history of champagne, the perspective becomes decidedly centered on Heidsieck's personal champagne house and his struggles to gain loyal customers. Champagne counterfeits became such a common occurrence that Heidsieck had to take out advertisements to distinguish the real from the faux. Later, as Heidsieck champagne was making its way through the United States, other champagne houses also attempted to expand business. Even before Heidsieck's time, champagne was gaining popularity in the United States and was a favorite of George Washington who was said to be "a regular customer even before he became president" (2), though no one had yet mastered the production of carbonation nor exportation technique during this time. While the research focuses a great deal on events taking place on American soil, Kladstrup and Kladstrup do give a fascinating account of the crumbling textile industry giving way to wine production in the Champagne region and the city of Reims in particular. Stranger than fiction, the tale of Charles Heidsieck, also known as Champagne Charlie, entangles French and American history so tightly that by the time the reader finishes, it is uncertain if the book has mistakenly come from the U.S. Readers beware-Don and Petie Kladstrup will have you craving a glass of bubbly within the first few pages of Heidsieck's story, and by the end, a whole bottle.
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