The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-12-03
CHAMPAGNE.
Rom London Society.

Ffon London Society.
Notwithstanding its celebrity, champagne is
the youngest as well as the liveliest OF wines.
As you journey from Strasbourg TO Paris you
pass within mile of Rheims the little village
OF Hautvillers, standing above the vine-clad
banks of the Marine. Here there is an ancient
monastery, in which lived Joyous monk,
Dom Perignon by name, who, hundred and
fifty years ago, gave the world the invention
OF champagne. On account OF his many vlr-
tues, in which an accurate taste and clear
head were conspicuous, he took charge OF the
broad sunny vnedsrks Of the abbey, and had
the control of The cellars of the estab-
lishment. Even as a blind old man his
taste distinguished between different
kinds of grapes, and, accordiag to an old
chronicle, he would give wise instructions
concerning them, saying that the wine OF
one grape must be married to the wine Of an
other" His powerful mind also conceived
the happy idea that the insertion of a cork in
bottle might more ehectually answer the
purposes which had hitherto been attained by
the nrimitive st; nUer of buncG OF max soaked
in oil. He had already raised the VIZ GUS re-
nown of his monastery to a great height VIM
by lucky chance he hit upon the invention
OF the eifervescing wine known as champagne
The iovial monks kept the secret as long as
they could, but at length it transpired, and
the new wine in due course adorned the sup
pers of the Regent and Of Louis Quinze.
The first person who took the etfervescing
wine of champagne out OF the cellars OF the
abbey of Hautviers was M. Clicquot. ct
ought however, to be said that Mumm's firm
is the oldest of all.) NJ. Clicquot, aud still
more his indefatgable wife, the VeuUe Clicquot,
and their subsequent famous partners Werle
and De Sachs, infinitely extended the trade.
81 knew Madame ClicquOt, writes Mr.. Tones,
"a dwarfish wthered old woman of eighty
nine years, whose whole soul was in
business, scanning over each day to
her last the ledger of the commercial branch
which she had given her name. She died in
1866" Her daughter married the Comte de
Chevign6, her granddaughter married the
Count de Mortemarte. Her cipher is c. NJ,
which some interpret as Chevigne-M e-Mortemarts
and others as Champagne Meusseux. The
great triumph of their wine was obtained at
the invasion Of the Allies in 1915. The Rus
sian soldiers were fooIed by the mimic ar
tillery of the bottles, and returned to their
own country to spread abroad the glories of
this wine. The Clicquot wine, which never
varies, is expressly manufactured for the Rus
sian market and is sweet and strong II is
not fitted for the English palate, that prefers
adry wine. Moot and Chandon, at Epernay, are
the most popular producers of low priced wine.
Champagne is essentially an artificial, and
is frequently sophisticated, wine. The cham
pagne trade has of late years chiefly fallen
into the hands of Germans. 1t is not possible
to have champagne that is not made by a
mixture Of different wines. This is the mar
riage of wines, or cucfe, which Dom Perignon
discovered. The white grape, which grows
80 largely at Avize, gives the light color
SO indispensable to champagne, the grapes
generally being red or black. 1t must
therefore be recollected that fine
bottle of champagne is a work of art. We
do not wish to underrate Natures wines; on
the contrary, so far from sneering, as is COM
al tIo 1on -,
grocers, there is no doubt but the Wines, gone
rally, are pure, wholesome, natural wives. 1t
is a cheering fact to know that these wines are
gaining ground, and in the hot weather this
summer iced claret and water was favorite
drink with the cabmen. At the same time we
ought to be just to the wines that have been
educated into their present high state OF per-
fectiOn. The care and cOntrivance and cores
pondpg expense in the case of sparkling
wines is extraordinary. What tie uncritical
public chiefly want is effervescence, and the
only limit to this is the strength of the
bottles.
With champagne, above all wines, you must
not put new wine into old bottles, as these
bottles burst 1t is only very gradually tn at
manufacturers of champagne have been able
to bring their enormous losses from breakage
into decent average, which has been mainly
effected by lessening the amount of sugar
nsed. 1t used to be quite common thing tn al
is a man at Eperney who cooks nearly every
thing consumed in his house in champagne.
There are little marble cutters all over his
cellar which draw of the contents of the eX-
ploded bottles, and meat and vegetables
boiled in champagne are not bad
Now the public are beginning to
understand that so much effervescence is a
mistake, and to dislike loudly.explosive
cork. Lord Macsulay somewhere Iikens the
fiat writings of some author to champagne
which he had unwarily allowed to stand at his
elbow. Now this shows that Lord Macaulay
either drank bad champagne or was at least
no Judge of it. A really good wine would
retain its sparkle and It's goodness for many
hours. 1t is not bad plan to get rid of the
foam and ice, which greatly disguise the wine
the ice serving to neutraze the excessive
sweetness. Indeed, this reaction has gone
too far, and there is now pestientia
doctrine to the effect that we ought tC
decant champagne and place it before fire in
order to obtain its true flavor. This doctrine
however, will never find much acceptance, as
1t obiterates the cheerfulness that always be-
longs to this wine. Champagne has late
been severely attacked by Mr.. Dsnman in his
structures on Mr.. Beckwith's report on the
wines at the Paris Exhibition. Mr.. Denman's
is an amusing and well-written little book
and the wines of the Greek Archipelago are
we know, very meritorious wines, more natu.
raj and pure than the champagne wines but
we do not think that he will find it at all easy
to overthrow the champagne wines, OF
that he will find much sympathy
especially among ladies, on the sub