, 1874-07-12
Cham pnEtac-Nll1iu-.

| From the Journci a 4 pp!7eI >t;enet
The chant agne from, which the vine takes its
| name WIS an ancient province France. bu: Of
| ths only the procedures Of Epernay and Rheims
produce good vine. The grape generally grown
for producing champagne is the blnck Burgundy,
1t being a slnsuiar fact that this vine, which is
| black grape Only sbout one-fourth Of the
| grapes grown in the Champagne district arc cou-
! scrteu iuto c1eryesclng wine. The rest arc
made mostly into red VINO by = process si1ni,r
to that employed in Burgundy. The grapes are
! picked early il the morning, mud are carried IN
baskets to the roadside, where they are carefully
sorted, all unrpe aud unsound berries being cut
out by scissors. they are then packed IN paners,
which ars placed on donkeys to le carried
home. Here they are emptied directly into
presses cEosely resembling the clder-Freas ueed
i'll tIlia country. The wine runn,ng from tho
press when The power is first applied IL consider
ed the best. After it has stopped flowing the
follower il raised, the edges of the cake are cut
of and thrown into the middle, and pressure
again applied. Ihs is repoated several tn,os
but tho Wnolo process must bo completed before
the gtapes comme.ce to ferment. because tho
extract tbs co|o1 from the huskH. Tue must
runs into large EGs. where it stands frou, six to
twenty hours, durlcg which time it throws up i |
fioth, and deposits other mpul tiles in the bottom
OF the casks. THO must Is carefully drawn off
from these into barrels, in which it under-oes the
1rbt fermentation. 1t remains in theee b.Ireis |
until ABOUT the LIST of December; it is then cIoar
AiIA - Lutu OIIhu uu from Tho lees. 1le tISSt |
step in the manufacture is to mix the products |
OF various vineyards so az to produce wine |
which shall resemble some particular brand, such
as 5lllery, Epernay, or any other that may ba |
popular at tue time. The wilma is then fined by
lalnglaa8; it takes from eighth OF all OUNCE
to quarter to each barrel. This occupies about
month. If at tho eu1 Of this time It is not
clear, it is drawn oil fiom tho Ices aud hucd
again. The wine during this process of iuing
order to mako it pale "a possible.
It is then drawn off, bottled and corked.
As soon as the bottles Laye been
colket, they are carried into the cslIars aud put
into immense piles soma houses filling every
year several hundred Thousand bottles. As the
temperature in the cellar increases with tue ap-
proach Of summer, the wine begins to fermeut.
This IL the critical time with tie manufacture.
Alany bottles bur8s from the pressure of the dis
engaged gases, but if the breakago docs not ex-
ceed per cent by the end of August, no par
tlc1llar measures are thken; if, however, 1T much
exceeds this amount, The bottles must ba un-
condition. since oftentimes the bottles explode
IN the hands OF the workmen. The con-
slant breaking Of bottles sounds like a sue
ceaslon OF plstol shots, but this entirely ceases
bY the end of the summer. Wien tie |
fermentation is finished, the stacks Of bottles |
are oyorhauled, all tho broken bottles arc re-
moved, and those in good order re-stacked.
these aie then allowed to remain at rest until
the yeast has settled at the lower side Of the ,
bottle And iu thls state tile wine remains until
i is ready Tor sale. 1t has yet to be cleared.
For this purpose the bottles are placed neck /
downwards on long benches pierced with holes |
II which the necks tit. The deposit gradually
settles upon the cork. This is then removed by c
aklllful!y withdrawing the cork, and allov1ng :
Inc trotn Which escapes to carry the ycas, with |
It. The wlne is now ready for hnishing AS
above prepared, it is dry aud somewhat deficient
u 1aTor; to inpart sweetness and flavor t
certain quantity of lqueur uu.t be | t
ldded. This ii prepared from sugar and somo
'ery 1;e favored old wine for the better quail | b
los OF champagne, bu1 from brandy, vino, and =
'aSar Tor tue more COMMON kinds; but every | {
manufacturer has his a,1lcular recipes, and tie
jqueur also varies with the couutry 10 Which the
Sine u to be cent. Thus ENGLAND requires | a
'i4e strong III alcohol and not too sweet. while G
y RUSSIA very sweet wine is preferred After ! n
he aqueur has been added the bottles are again b
orked, thG corks tied down. the bottles washed a
nd dried, labels attached, aud the corks ooyer i
ID with tnfoll. The bottles arc then vrnpned -
paper, packed in boxes and baskets, and are
eady for market. There are four Va ~
aef'es OF champagne: first, the pon-effer- e
,escent, which was the original wiue Of G.
ne enampagne and may be either red or u
mite; second, the creamy, or only slightly efrer-
escent third, the eHervescent, which viii e--
e1 the cork with moderate port, and gently | r.
,se over tho mouth of the bottle fourth the | Il
ti, ittoins1y S Sshersesceat, which expels the cork tt
H. ,al hm .1uo report and Immediately oyerlows Ia
onred out, iii also fill the glass rith foam. Il
ne5e varieties arc known as non 73oussetr | +!
re"dnf, neusscur, md grand ,nou,sevr, It
as useless to expect to get good champagne at tc
an-plice as 1t 's to buy gold silver for half 81
5 value. The lowest pr1ce in champagne is OF
bout 17s. per dozen. and good quality can be m
ought ssel5 for about double this ficura. The ! -
west quality would cost ut least 50s. in this a;
'untTy, aud there IL no limit to the prioe Tor b.
Ia best quality. II