Five years after its centenary celebrations, the capital of this new nation hosted the 1935 World’s Fair from April 27 to November 6. The exhibition site was the Plateau du Heysel, with the Pavillon des Grandes Marques de Champagne serving as an elegant meeting point.
Despite the financial crisis and the tragic death of Queen Astrid in a car accident, the 1935 Brussel’s World Fair was a resounding success, drawing some 20 million visitors and chalking up profits of 45 million Belgian francs.
The Pavillon des Grandes Marques de Champagne took its place alongside exhibits from 25 participating countries. Built specially for the occasion and superbly located, the palace-like pavilion was among this year’s prize winners, applauded by the crowd and achieving sales of 14,380 bottles, which is even more than at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair.
On December 14, 1935, the pavilion featured in an article in the wine supplement of the Belgium newspaper L’Echo. “Grandes Marques de Champagne pavilion is elegant meeting point at 1935 Brussel’s World’s Fair” read the caption under the photo.
Titled "Only the best things are worth imitating", the article read as follows:
Nothing has spawned so many imitations as Champagne, which was long considered easy to counterfeit since for many people the word was synonymous with “sparkling wine”.
Of the many ways to make a wine sparkle, the simplest method and the one most used by counterfeiters is carbonation (the addition of carbon dioxide from a cylinder).
The Méthode Champenoise, by contrast, is an ancient method exclusively reserved for wines from specific wine regions. Based on natural fermentation, it gradually turns the wine from still to sparkling and takes at least four to five years to reach completion, producing a good, digestible and fragrant wine in the process.
Only in Champagne, however, can the Méthode Champenoise yield wines with the lightness, roundness and bouquet of genuine Champagne.Fakes will only fool those who have never tasted the real thing—particularly Brut Champagne. Despite slavish imitation, Champagne has conquered the world, recognizable anywhere for an authenticity that is not to be found in counterfeit Champagne, no matter how good.
Bolstered by the success of the Pavillon des Grandes Marques, the Champagne Houses will be building a new Champagne palace for their entry in the 1937 Paris World’s Fair.
