The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-08-24

She prayed so soft, so sweetly,
At last seemed to stir,
tried TO lift me from the grave,
To rise and go to her.
Then all my wounds burst open,
And forth the torrent brake,
From head and breast the blood stream,
Times Randolph.
Champagne.
HOW 1T is MADE AND WHERE THE BEST CAN BE
FOUND.
From the Saturday Review
1t is not of course to be expected that the
finest champagne should be given on ordi-
nary occasions; this would be a throwing
OF pearls to people who had no time or OPP
portunity to Judge their lustre properly.
Indeed, when one considers the labor and
skill employed in the making Of the finest
chainpagnes one is apt to think that, ac-
cording to French fashion, they should be
drunk only after dinner, when it is possible
to give comparatively uninterrupted con-
sideration to their merits. The grapes from
which champagne is made are almost en-
tirely the black and white Burgundy-two
thirds of the black, roughly speaking, be-
ing used to one third OF the white in the
making of sparkling champagne.
Very fine champagne can be made only
from the black grapes that are grown in GER
tain favored districts, such as Ay; but the
wine made from white grapes only is, though
it gives q fine flavor, deficient in body, and
would be too light and acid if used alone.
In the champagne country the process OF
cutting and pairing the grapes is simple
enough, as the grapes, being Of good sub
stance, do not require the very delicate
handling found necessary in other districts.
The branches are carefully inspected, and,
when all unripe or rotten berries have been
removed, they are put under the press, q
powerful machine worked by hand and
made, with the exception Of an iron screw,
entirely OF wood. 1t may be pleasant news
to some champagne drinkers that the tread
ing out of the grapes by bare-footcd or
lcather-shod men and women, practlced in
some districts, is not here employed.
After the pressing the wine is put
into large watts, where it is allowed
to fcrmcnt for from twelve to eighteen
hours, after which it is drawn off into casks,
where n second fermentation takes place.
Up to this time the wine is pure fermented
Juice of the grape, but If bottled in this con-
dition the wine would be still, and to give
it the required sparkle the addition OF sugar
is necessary. The necessary amount OF this
element is determined by means Of al in
strument which discovers the quantity Of
saccharine originally contained in the wine,
the quantity lost in the fermentation, and
consequently the amount which has to be
added. 1t will be seen that the use OF this
instrument requires great experience, care,
and skill. The saccharine used for the finest
wines is composed Of the purest white cane
candy dissolved in fine old wine reserved
for the purpose, while for the commoner
wines coarse sugar and spirits are used.
After the preparation Of the wine in casks,
brilliancy is given to it by the process of
/" fning" with pure isinglass, and after that
it is ready for bottlinS about the month OF
May after the vintage. 1t is slowed away
in deep cellars in stacks OF from ten to thirty
bottles, from any part Of which
stacks a single bottle can be removed at any
time for examination without disturbance
to the pile in which it is laid.
Although the wine is perfectly bright
when bottled, it soon throws down a sedi-
ment, which must be removed before the
wine goes into the market. In order to
effect this the bottles have to remain in
position for Il year or more. When
it has been ascertained, by careful eXami-
nation, that this has taken place, they are
put in wooden racks with the necks slightly
so that the sediment slides to-
ward the corks, and each bottle is gently
lgitatcd at stated intervals by practiced
hands, who, it is said, can, after some expo
rience, shake several thousand bottles day.
With every shake the mouth of the bottle
becomes more and more depressed, until
hey stand nearly on end, when the sediment
8 settled in the neck of the bottle close to
he base OF the cork.
In this position the bottles remain until
he wine has to be prepared for consump-
ion by the process OF getting rid of the
or, to use the technical term,
$ disgorging." This is done by q skilled
workman, who takes each bottle, and with |
special instrument strips off the iron clip
which holds down the cork, when the press
ire Of the fermenting wine forces out the |
ork, and with it the sediment. The wine
5 allowed for second or two to froth over
n order to cleanse the neck of the bottle of
II impurities. The bottle is then placed |
II frame under an air-tight stopper, which
hecks all further waste Of gas or wine. |
Vine in this state is termed brat, and is alb
oluteIy dry and sugarless to the taste.
here are some people who have, and some
Tho affect, q taste for champagne in this
ondition, but it is condition which only
he wines of the finest vintages can sup
ort. 1t is therefore necessary for general
purposes to add to the wine in bottles at
his point certain further amount OF sac
harine, the quantity OF which is determined
Y various circumstances, chief among
;hich are the quality OF the wine itself and
he quality OF the market to which it is des-
med.
It is gratifying to know that the least |
uantity OF saccharine is used for the Eng
sh market, and that therefore finer cham
agne is, as rule, to be found in England |
han elsewhere. While three per centum OF
accharine is used for the first, and from !
light to ten for the second quality OF cham
agne sent to England, eighteen to twenty
'er centum is needed to catch the taste OF
he German, American. and even French |
1t is obvious that fine.
vine disguised with this amount OF syrup |
as no chance of asserting its true merit;
nd it is natural that the purveyers OF cham
agne should pay some attention to this
act. And it is therefore fair to conclude
hat he who wishes to possess the finest
hampagne had better look for it in tile
English rather than in any other market.
At the same time, as often happens, where
he best there also Is the worst to be found.
,he fashion of drinking good champagne
5 q festal wine has led to the custom of sup
living what it is hoped may pass for good
hampagne, and what may be harmless
,reparation OF cider or some other indigo
ous effervescing liquid, or harmful COM
,ound imported from abroad. A year or
wo ago there was kind of panic as to ball
DOM champagne, when it was suggested
hot pofra)e1Im woo lorpalv amployad IN moi;