New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-11-13
FROM PARIS TO LIBOURNE. II.

From Ou Own Correspondent
LIBoURNE, Sept. 26, 1857.
Instead of completing the report Of our PoitevIn
experience and then bringing on the description OF
our Journey TO this place all in confederation
accordingly" jump in medals res, that is, into the
middle Of the vineyard Of Monsieur B. of Llbourne.
As Mrs. Ticket felicitOusly remarks, "A persons
thouahts, however they may stray. will go more or
less on what is uppermost in their minds. They
will do it, Sir, and you cannot prevent them" Nov
to see the vintage was the LEAKING object of my
journey, ard when We were arrived In the heart of
vine district, my good friend Emile d. humorsd
10Y whim and led NE out to the vineyard above
mentioned, where the grape harvest was going on.
Wefound the proprietor an acquaintance Of Emiles,
experimenting eighteen men, women and children
who were gathering the dark purplebu clusters
of grapes An inquistve traveller could not fall into
better bands. Mr.. B. is, firstly, wholesale wine
merchant; secondly, tolerably large cultlvator;
thirdly an intelligent cOnnOisseur and cultivator;
fourthy, most obliging gentleman, whose unweary'
inc courtesy anticipated the rather eIactng curos-
ty Of foreign newspaper correspondent. The In
formation he 80 abundantly impaired is, therefore,
of good authority and confirmed by what others tell
the free bestOwal of his time and patience on
stranger, hope some Of your readers will help me
share the obligation.
The clusters were cut with knives and thrown into
wooden baskets, which were empted into tubs hold.
ing about bushel, which stout men then took upon
their heads and carried to the house, where they
tipped them into the large square watts holding about
two hundred bushels each. In these vats stood two
men with their trowsers rolled above their knees,
mulching the rich fruit with their bare feet. The
FIRST trimmings from the watts received in tubs set
for the purpose; il is muddy, palered iquor, sweet
and nearly hayorless to the taste Like New-Jersey
cider; it is generally poured into the fermenting
tuns when the tubs are FULL il fermented and treated
by ITSELF it is said to produce wine rather heavier
but not so fine favored as that of the tuns. The
contents of the vats after being sufficiently tram.
Pied are shOyeled into the enormous tuns stems and
all. Here they undergo the first fermentation,
which lasts for period varying FROM ten to sixteen
DAYS according to the temperature Of the weather.
the ripeness and quality Of the fruit and the depth
of color desired to be impaired to the wine. At the
end of that time the toerably clear liquor il drawn
of and put in barrel, where We leave it, although
from the first barreng of good wine to its drinking
from the bottle six years after before which
lapse Of time it does not reach the maturity of its
virtue there are several natural and artificial pro-
cesses that require to be nicely cared for When
the mass in the tuns has yielded its last voluntary
drop, it 10 transferred to the press, where water
added, and then squeezed to the last degree of dry
ness The product Of this e1tortion is piquetfe,
rather "a poor creature" iourish, rouehish, with
slight spirituous properties, which is tho common
drink OF servants, fsrm-laborers peasants, and the
small people Of wine districts-when they can get
it. tbs sometimes called rape, bat RAPE is properly
the wine made from the geaniDgs Of unripe or over.
looked grapes which the poor are permitted to make
after the proprietors vintage il over.
What is said above applies especially to Mr. b.
VINEYARD this year, and must be quslfed before it
would hold good in all particulars Of other localities
and seasons His clos containing about fifty acres lies
ip the fats, or pains ss they call it here of the valley
of the Dordosne. The soil rich auvion, ofeasy cu
tiyation; the vines are never enriched By artificial
means; some Of them, with gnsrled stocks as large
round az q mans leg at the calf, we're known 40
"the old vines" when q servant Of the present pro-
prietors father was boy, and that was before the
great Revolution; the wine from these old settlers is
Of finer flavor but less abundant than from younger
stocks the grapes are all of the red or rather dark.
blue kind bat Of several varieties; minglng OF Va.
rieties ia thought necessary to obtain the desired
combination Of spirit body, favor, ETC.; the vines
are planted in rows about four feet apart the roots
OF every two rows running toward each other; the
ground between the radically associated rows is
kept loose by pick and hoe the internal bereen erery
f,ro ro,,s q. IN oy,ss The wine of the pafss take.