More than 200 years ago the montgolfier brothers huddled before a fire on a chilly night in the french town of annonay and wondered why smoke went up in the air .
With few qualified chinese wine professionals available to recruit , mr st pierre sr turned to pierre de montgolfier , a close beijing friend , to help him kick-start the business through his family connections to the bollinger champagne empire .
The montgolfier brothers sent the first living creatures ( a goat , a duck , and a rooster ) up in a balloon at versailles in front of an enormous crowd that included the king and marie antoinette .
