The daily national Whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1849, 1847-12-27
Irron mo worcester InIass.J .Egis. /

Blols, (Frnncc,) octobe


yotad ahont Pnris and even ltte farther North "
here the cultivation becomes extensive, and the quail
~ of the wine paatable and delicious. It's Just ~
midst OF the rsaGlggt or gape-harvesl mere ana W.
traveller would not fail to be soon apprised Of III
fnct tha he is in wine country, if he should hap
men 10 be ignorant OF Il, The long row OF blach
bottles which crbWn every tdbte dh0e at the hotels,
indicates nothing in itself because you find the sam
in every paf Of France. But the freedom witt
which the contents disposed of by all classes, an,
the fact thai YOU find extra charge in your bill 10
your wine with breakfast and dinner, naturally lead
Won 10 conclude chat the beverage s cheap, and pro
iuced close at hand Then the table isloaded morn
ing aud evening with most nvitlng clusters of the
black and white grupes while the endless subject OF
conversation Is the vine, the red wine, the white
wine prices this year. prices last year. the scarcity
aud yade Of the tdnhedli or wine cask the prices o.
aber in the vineyards &c, &C. In the street, loads
Of old and new wine casks bar your way at every
step and at every corner an old woman, with a bas
ket full of grapes screams in Your ears, with pro
I0nged and lrIghtiul yell the most harsh and disco
nant solicitations to purchase. Go to the public
square at an early hour of the morning, and you see
1hrongs OF laborers of both under the suryei
lance OF police officers, waiting to be hired; some OF
whom have come from places 30 OF Az miles distant,
where the grape is not grown In the market square,
T. different scene is presented double row of pan
can baskets filed with white grapes, compactly set
stretches entirely across the square These baskets
are made 10 carry the back, and taper down near
ly to point at the bottom so that one viii not stand
up alone, aud they have 10 be bplslered up against
each other On each side Of this double row, is q
compact line Of women from the country, lacne
each other and each one Of whom is the proprietor
Of one basket, which she has brought in that morn
ng ON her hack used ii such toll perhaps from dis
lance OF several miles They are dressed SO nearly
alike that you can hardly distinguish one from the
other. A plain white cap, chequtred cotton hand
a kerchief over the shoulders, brown calico waist
coarse homespun (or like homespnn) WOODEN skirt,
blue or brown, cut short, with an iiamense apron,
generally of the same materials, coarse blue woolen
stockings and heavy sabots, or wooden shoes, COM
pose the toilet of every individual, in this battalion
OF not less than Two iundred And the clatter they
keep up in chatting with each other, and soliciting
everybody 10 buy together with the kind Of running
accompaniment formed by the rattling OF the sabots
al every step on the pavement, present scene d.
yering TO the ear and the eye OF stranger, hui not
easy to describe. .#,#.%
Last Sunday, after libtoning to French sermon
from protesant-divine who conJured his hearers
not 10 send their children to Catholic schools, onthe
ground that the Proiesane were feeble minority in
France, and thar they must do everything possible
TO keep their heads above water; and the further
Protestant schools and must therefore be paid Of
in their own COMA very pious motive sroled
couple Of miles into the country, with my En-
gsh friend and his daughters. After Cheering the
limits Of the city, our prom enadc lay along the banks
of the Loire the top Of steep ridge soping down
10 the river through almost unbrok en- succession
of vine fields on each side of the road generally
separated from Us by low hedge, tho often presel
ting no impeachment to Our entering and pluckng as
a 80 "a.
French notions Of Sunday, when tell you that the
yHtagers were laboring in many fields week
day, and where the harvest complete, the hum
Bile cleaner was gathering the stray punches that
had escaped the less ygqnt eye Of the hired aborcr
We soon encountered man by the road side, stand
ing in tub up to his knees in wine and grapes
and stepping about in the lively manner, which Scott
represented theScotch girls as employing when they
wash clothes with their feet. This is the universal
and inyaabe method Of crushing the grapes, except
that when they are crushing large quantities they
put on pair of saEots to facilitate the process. So
that onT has the satisfaction Of knowing that no
person drinks glass of French wine, or can get
glass to drink in which some laborer has not pre-
yiously washed his feet On reaching the country
house Of a Blois banker with whom we were
quainted and stopping TO rest ourselves we found him
in his winepress with his dirty clothes on, and haifa
dozen men about him. busily engaged in the process
Of putting the crushed grapes into the press express
ing the wine and transferring il into barrels to 90
through the process Of fermentation No allusion
was made by any one the fact that this labor was
going on during the Sabbath SO that inferred that
no person was taken by surprise In each of the
four Of the pressoiFi OF room containing the
wine-press, stood an immense vat holding about 800
gallons. These are employed TO hold the grapes of
the red wine, for eight days after they crushed,
and while they undergo the first process of fermen-
A., IL 4 L.. .t-- 49,
is drawn of from the watts for barrelng,, and the
araspes are put TO The press.
The only difference in the manufacture of white
wine is, that the grapes and wine are not subjected
TO any fermentation together, but the grapes are
pressed on the slime day that they are crushed and
all the fermentation takes place in the barrel The
white wine when quite new has a sweet and unpal-
aeabe taste, like our cider, though the taste is
not so pleasant, The new red wine is sour and dis
agreeable 10 my taste. The wine remains in these
casks till February, when il has become perfectly
clear by iermentaton and is then drawn of into
fresh casks leaving thick muddy resduum at the
bottom. Daring the following season fermentation
takes place On various occasions so that the wine
cannot be bottled. These occur when the buds Of
The vine begin TO start ut the time puts forth the
Hover nj the umc when the grape begins 10 change
its color 10 purple, &C. and are called sympabIetic
fermentatons. They certainly bcray some curious
and secret law OF nature probably much beyond the
reach OF human ken. The red and white winos are
both Kept in casks Two years before they arc put into
bottles and considered fit for drinking This IL quite
unlike the Madelrn and Sherry wines, which il is
said should reHun II years in the cask and Il years
in the bottle before drinking. am reminded here of
an anecdoe which thu Engshuian related 10 me -
He said thai when residing in Italy some twenty
odd years ago he knew an Engishnan named Smith
who had spent most 81 his liz. there, and who had
then reached the somewhat advanced age Of oas HIM
dred and eight years. Smith had been in the habit
for n long period Of drinNng wine Of his own manu-.
facture when II WINS Just Hirty years did, The grapes
failed that year entirely, aud Smith made no vine
His countenance grew suddeuy elongated and nnS.
ious friends inquired what was'ihe matter HAlas =,
said he, with deep seriousness, aud evidently weigh
cd down with the pressure OF an iIrrndup r,lo,i,v