The New York herald., 1873-09-30
NEW TUESDAY SHEET

AVO llH OllUUls
benevolent. elderly gentleman Ia spectacies
aiio ,a wvic nolhg nothing IN an easy, companoH
! iu "ay anu thought, as watched Chem DONG
was not a hard one
The chef clerk acccmpanles ma tn tho ob,efor
| WIDOW CLIcQU0I's WINE CELLARS
burly giant IN shirt sleeves, with q blue apron
| o! prosperous and contented aspect az Though he
ieIloiced In N. vernet and his service.
,ss, we enter m nrst low; gloomy cave, with strong
cave after cave, dmly lighted from above. and So
INTO long room IN total darkness, where there IS
provided with candles placed in heavy IRON candie
sticks having hooks to hang upon the finger;
rumbng noise is produced by man
rolling champagne bottles with a dexterous twist
OF the wrist to make the wine deposit its crust ON
the corks, in order that it may be taken out and
the liquor cleared before 1t Is sent to market. Then
we go INTO u long vault. filled with empty casks
all ready to receive the produce OF this years vint
age.
On cropping our way through total darkness,
amidst tubs excellent strong tubs they seem, as
the candle-ight flashes upon them and the all
pervading smell OF vinegar, grown mOuldy, we
Is cold and damp. The walls are covered with a
glutinous slime, so acrid and pungent that the
stain OF 1t cannot be got out OF cloth or linen any
more Than the stain OF drunkenness can be got out
OF character. IL is gttering slime, OF a beautiful
brown color, not unlike thin coating OF treacle.
Bottles in hundreds and thousands shine upon
either side OF us, like living things, and men
with candles nit about III the darkness M Yer
net has several million bottles of champagne in
stock each bottle representing five franc piece.
me ground sounds hollow beneath our feet. There
are other caves deeper than this with bottes
bottles, casks and bottles, and the same strong
smell o vinegar everywhere.
We slip and stumble through the thick grease OF
the wine lat which covers the ground of the lower
caves and one, the small old cave In which the
Widow Clicquot kept her wines, gives good idea
again, through lanes and avenues OF casks and
bottles, through roads and streets of them, with
that thick slime smelling like glue and vinegar.
cllnging to our feet. wonder, as look, how much
wit and thought, how much JOY and how much
mischief may De held in one bottle of champagne.
There is no meaning IN magnums. TIE wlne Is
not better for being put into larger bottle, and
the quality of that contained In pints is quite equal
The size or champagne bottles is uncertain; it
varies considerably. There Is no special manufac-
ture of them, and no law or custom regulating
their contents Tney usually contain about three
1Ourths OF "a litre,
Eacn bottle should be separated by a small piece
OF wood when champagne Is kept in stock and it
should be laid down horizontally, or the cork dries
anu the gas escapes.
The corks used Tor Cncquot champagne are
especially good. however, and fully suince to re-
tain the essence and perfume OF the wine. The
metallic covering or wax put over them afterwards
is merely used for ornament. strong iron wire
Is the only thing necessary to keep the cork in
place.
M. vernet only employs about 200 work
men in doing the immense trade OF Mme
Chcquot. But ne sells very little wine in France
and none at all to private persons The firm has
no accredited agent even In Paris. none in Lon
don OF st. Petersburg, but there is one In New
York.
1t Is curious to see how clumsiiy and with what
an apparent amount or needless labor champagne
is corked. The thing Is done in the old way by
means or an iron vIce and wooden mallet.
The last thing done to campagne is to take out
the dregs OF 1t, which collect at the neck of the
bottle In rhe shape and size Of large walnut.
Then the havoring sirup Is added. 1t seems TO be
all done by the rule OF thumb took
ladle and u tunnel and he put in az much az he
liked to every bottle, just before 1t was corked up
for market.
Champagne will keep for thirtf years or more,
unless you drink IL: but IL is none the better for
keeping 1t may be drunk IN perfection at three
years Old. Its havor depends upon the vintage,
not upon time.
new bottle of champagne looks like SPIDERS
web noating about in water. IL is terrible stuff to
keep, and about fifteen per cent of the wine kept
in NJ. yernets stock breaks yearly. The bursting
OF champagne bottles arises rom some flaw In
them. Now
BEHIND EVERY DIFFICULTY LURKs AN INVENTION.
The man who first makes champagne bottle
that VIII not burst will also make large fortune.
AS we walked through NJ. Vernet's cellars bottles
were bursting on all sides OF us with reports louder
than those OF pistols and almost rs dangerous.
When a champagne bottle bursts in workman's
hand-as it very often doest frequently deprives
him OF his eyesght. II Is q hazardous thing to
shake champagne bottle, or even to touch it, and
PRUDENT PEOPLE HAVE THEIR coRKs DRAWN BY
THE WAITER.
ChceuOt sells no magnums OF champagne, only
pint and quart bottles; but there is rosecolored
%e e & M 'aaa a %E5 % g. aSSa as s the the
mqykes u merely steiasd WIN oIa Bog5y rSs, wine
III JHe proportion VI one paTb lO LNcHLY. lurIc 10
no still champagne OF the Clicquot brand.
When the VINE OF a particular vintage proves
unusually good 1t is Kept to mix with the wine
grown the following year, to keep up an average
quality. The best champagne remains about six
months in the wood before bottng.
1t takes two full hours by the clock to visit
Widow Cic1uOt's wine cellars. and one comes out
OF them haif stihcd. 1t is temple OF Bacchus
where nc is wOrshpped in darkness, aud the
salutes perpetually firing in his honor from those
bursting bottles are more costly than the broad
sides of line-ofbattle ships.
WIDOW POMMERY's CAVE.
There is also another sort OF champagne wine
cellar which is constructed out OF some ancient
chalk pits which were accidentally discovered near
Rheims not long ago. The best OF them belong to
Widow PommGry,
VIGOROUS MINDED OLD LADY.
who has built herself queer looking castle on
hill. without a tree near it. night Of l2O broad
Stone steps leads down to these chalk pits, wnere
800, 900 bottles OF champagne are stacked away.
They seem like the cavcrns OF mighty gem, who
dwell midst darkness and weird rcvcls. Here the
bottles like tipsy people, make most row at night,
and regular eu de jOie Is heard from them during
the small hours. Large as is the quantity ol cham
payne kept IN stock, not more than 20, 000 600 bot
Ties are exported yearly, and certainly not enough
true Cllcquot is sold TO provide for the consump-
tion OF Russia alone.