Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-07-23
Swimming in Champagne.
so,IETaISG FOR WINE DRINKERS To REAL
HOW GES APPEAR IN THE vATs.

tOh WINE ~
HOW aIES APPEAR IN THE vATs.
From FIaggs' European Vineyards.
The sight nenr at hand of "a stern
round tower of other days" admonlshed
me l was entering the domain of Chateau
la Tour, one of the three reigning houses
of Haut Medoc, by decree of the Bor-
deGux Chamber of Commerce and the
suffrages of princely drinkers, the world
overranking number one in classltica-
tion of a select sixty, chosen from among
the many thousand vignobles of district
where all is choice and fine. Surrounded
by a field of little low vines, as insigniti-
cant to look at as any of the others,
stood handsome new chateau, with press
house, storehouscs, stable, etc, close by,
while apart from all, and rising from
among the hop o. -my-thumb trellis, was
& stately antique tower, giving dignity,
character, interest and name to the place.
A gentleman of distinguished look, with
two ladies', was walking toward the house
as l drew near saluted him and asked
permission to walk about the property.
If Monsieur will be good enough to
wait a moment the regisseur will be here
and conduct him" The regisseur or
conductor coming up, l was presented
and turned over to him. He showed me
tie press house A pile Of grapes al
ready stemmed was heaped ill conical
form on the pressoir, and five or SIX men
with trowsers rolled above the knees,
were trotting about in q circle, tralnping
the pile under foot, beginning at the out
er circumference and gradually contract
ing their circuit until they met in the
middle and on top of the cone. This they
call ''fouler pied crushing with feet),
There might be cleaner way of doing
tie thing / don't think there could be a
fouler The regisseur made no apology
for the sight, nor did the trotters seem
in the least ashamed Wherever 1 went
that day, except at the Averous farm and
Chateau Lafitte, this mode Of crushing
was in practice. 1t is said no other SO
effectually cIushes the pulp without
breaking the seed. In fact, that 1t is i'm
portant for the quality of the wine that
1t be trodden out with naked feet 1t is
also said, and very truly, that soap and
water will cleanse the feet as well as the
hands At one place l visited l inquired
Of the workmen if they washed their feet
before tramping on the grapes, and was
told they did not. One of them enlight-
ened my ignorance by explaining that
wine had the power to fling off all impuri-
ties so that it was of no sort of conse-
quence how free they made with it. No
doubt there ia good deal to be said on
the ether side of this question OF Dirt
confess that what / saw and heard dis
turbed my old notiou-at all events, the
Medoc vintagers acted as if quite sure of
their chemical deductions, and would
walk with bare feet slap dash through
puddle and mud and mount the juicy
heap with the assured tread of men firm
ly grounded in their principles.
At the "Hospice" at Bhgny, in the
Province Of burgundy, the property Of
au endowed hospital i'll Beaune, | found
the arrangements excellent. Tho watts,
which are constructed like those Of Me-
doc, only lower and wider in proportion
to their height, hold about a thousand
gallons each. Often 1t is necessary TO re-
sort to artificial heat in aid Of the fer
mentation, but 80 long as things work
well in the watts nothing Of the kind is
needed But there is another mode Of
rousing up the slackening process and at
the same time bringing the skins and
seeds which have settled TO the bottom
into contact with the new made alcohol,
so that the latter may combine well with
the coloring matter they contain.
This consists in stirring up the whole
moss from bottom to top. 1t is done
twice during the process Of fermentation.
1t takes four men to do it well Naked
as Adam when he was good-snd then
they go in-into the wine vat-chin deep
they go in, and there, with feet and hands,
fingers and toes, turn over, stir about
and mix the liquid that was getting clear
with the pomace that was depositing it
self, and