The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-01-28
THE YINEYARpS OF CHAMPAGNE.
vine Culture, aud wine Statistics.

$50 "
Paris Correspondence OF the N. Y. Times.
The principal orus Of champagne are
those Of Ay Verzenay and Cramant, but
those OF Ay are especially remarkable for
their delicaoy and flavor. The land on
which these wines are produced is. / need
not say expensive. The hectare 1.-TWO and
one-half acres) in the best situations costs
from 25, 900 10 80, 900 francs, (SG, 600, J and
and the yearly labor bestowed upon it,
amounts TO 1900 franks more. The an
nual expense cannot, unfortunately, be
fixed at that sum, for the price of labor is
yearly increasing, owing to the scarcity Of
hands. For this reason an effort is being
made to encourage immigration from Ger
mans, but the United States offering great
or Inducements in that quarter it is not
very successful. Tho venddnge or gather.
ing of the grape takes place in favorable
years in the month of September, and In
ordinary years in the month Of October.
In general the early ripening Of the fruit is
an indication of good quality in wine.
AS soon as the grapes are pressed the
wine is placed in tuns containing about two
nectolitres, Uorty-four gallons,) and in
these IL undergoes it's first fermentation.
After the frosts are over the wine is drawn
from below and charged to other tuns, in
order TO free it from the deposit which
forms nt the bottom Of the vessel during
the fermentation. In the Spring, towards
the month Of May, the wine is placed in
bottles. This period of the year is chosen
for bottling because IL precedes n fresh
fermentation which always takes place in
the wine, and which it is now desirable
should occur in the bottles. The result Of
this fermentation is to impart to the wine
it's gaseous a foaming properties. The
saocharine matter contained in champagne
produces the carbonic acid gas which
escapes in such an active form even long
after the bottle is uncorked. The expan-
sive force of this gas determines in the
bottles a certain amount of breakage,
which varies according to the temperature
Of the place in which the wine is kept and
the quality of the glass. The moro the air
circulating in these places becomes heated
the more the gas becomes developed, and
hence the necessity of those vast but we'll
ventilated cellars which are cut in the chalk
Of the ridge on which the vines grow.
Formerly the bottles used in the cham
payne district we're all brought from manu-
factories in the north of France. but now
there are several local establishments Of
this kind which supply the greater portion
required. The most precious quality of a
bottle is, l need scarcely say, its solidity
and Its power of resisting the expansive ac-
ton of the gas. Formerly the loss by
breakage was enormous, frequently amount.
ing to five and twenty per cent. Of the
quantity of wine produced. II IL now,
however, controlled TO a certain extent by
the use of an hydraulic press, under which
the bottles are subjected to q pressure OF
from fifteen to eighteen atmospheres. Not
outstanding the facilities Of testing the
quality of the glass offered by this auxiliary,
good bottles cannot always be procured,
the demand being often greater than the
supply. Thus in the cellars of the house
Of Roederer & %. the breakage this year
has been When people take
these facts into consideration they will not
be surprised at the high prices which all
good brands of wine bring in the United
States.
The cellars in which champagne is kept
should be a good many feet under ground
but well ventilated. Those excavated in q
chalk soil are the best, more especially i
they are free from infltration, because they
are at once cool and dry.
The manufacture of the wine, il manu-
facture it can be called, is very simple, bu'
at the same time requires great care and at
tention. When in the months of Septem
Der and October the wines cease TO breal
the bottles and have become gaseous, Their,
is found at tho bottom of the bottle a de
post which has been determined by tn,
development of the gas AS soon as tn,
bottle is stirred the wine becomes troubled
and it can only be used on the express con
. dition that this sediment be removed
. With this view the bottles are placed in al
inclined position, in wooden rests con
struoted for the purpose, the corks beinl
: turned downwards. As soon as the win
becomes clear in this position the bottle
I are stirred gently one day, and turned tn,
|. eighth OF the circumference Of the bottl,
5 the day following. A mark chalksd ON tn,
, bottom Of the bottle serves to guide tn
workman in this operation, which is a yer
; nice one. By a successive series OF thes
= m~anouvrings, in the course of two or tire
months all the deposit formed in the win
|, is gradually drawn down to the neck of tn
L bottle and settles on the cork. A skillru
! workman can manipulate in this manne
from $1,000 to 40, 900 bottles a day.
2 The wine is now mature. II has becom
clear and limpid as water from o rock
souTce-an essential c~ondition-and ther
only remains the operation Of extractin
the sediment from the bottle, without shI
king it OF troubling the wine. To secui
this result, the bottles are placed one b
lone in an instrument called the "disgorl