The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-02-14
Tricks in Wine-Making.

into wine making France is foremost,
and owing to the abundance and va
riety produced, through the variety |
OF soil and climate, it has been called |
the vineyard of the earth. About |
seven eighths of the territory is wine
bearing, and, next to the ordinary |
business OF agriculture, it is the most |
valuable branch Of industry. 1t gives |
employment to 100000 persons. The |
quantity of wine annually produced is
Z.OOOOO0,0U0 gallons, and this is worth |
S3oO,OOO,OoO. These wines differ widely |
one from another, and each has a fame
OF Its own. Of them all the products
Ot.the champagne country are the best
known and most widely distributed. |
This has always heen considered as
bearing off the palm; it has always
been the faVOrite wine of the crowned
heads, as well as of other historical
personages.
The province of Champagne is d.
Vlded into tive departments, but it is
only IN the department of Marine that
the champagne of commerce is made.
And Marine is sub-divided into five
departments. of which Rheims and
Epernay are the true centre of the
manufacture. So when we see
''RheimS' and "Epernay" on the bot
ties we know just where they come
from; and, for still clearer picture.
1t may be stated that the vineyards of
RhelmS are situated around the slopes
OF wooded mountain, while those OF
Epernay occupy an undulating plain.
The Vintage begins in September.
The grapes are subjected to three
preSSures, and the juice being collect
ed into large watts, it is allowed to
stand twelve or eighteen hours, till
the sediment is deposited. 1t is
then drawn off into barrels aud
left to ferment. BY December, the
wine being clear, it is again
drawn into watts, and as the Ter
| feet article is made from the
products of several different vine
yards, the operation of mixing begins
After this is accomplished it is again
drawn into the barrels and allowed to
stand until spring. 1t is then bottled
and carried into the cellars and laid
on its side. and the secondary fer
mentation begins. 1t lasts through
the summer. and during this time
there is often SC much bursting among
the bottles that the loss sometimes
amounts to % per cent. After the
fermentation and breakage cease, the
bottles are overhauled, and those that
are whole are restacked, After rest
ing eighteen months they afe taken
out and shaken, whereupon any little
sediment there may be comes to the
top, and the cork being taken out, the
froth that pushes up brings the sedt-
ment with 1t, SO that it can be re-
moved.
One thing more, and the wine is
ready for the market. Into each bot
tile is introduced little melted rock
candy, mixed with a trifiing quantity
of brandy. The quantity of sweet
ness introduced depends on the couu-
try to which the wine is to be sent.
Russia requires least, and England
and the United States most. The bot
ties are now reeorked, the air excluded
by means of tinfOll, or wax, aud the
champagne, now three or four years
old, is ready for use. Twenty-Five
millions OF bottles are annually put
up, one@sixth of which comes to the
United States.
Next in Importance comes the wines
of the Gironde. The capital of this
department is Bordeaux; hence the
wines are often called by that name.
The Gironde is divided into five Wine
producing districts, of which Medoc is
the most celebrated. 1t is long, mar
row plain, contai1ing $4,000 acres
of vineyards. EiLho million gallons
of wine are annually produced. These
wines are all red, and are what are
called claTets. Onefourth Of them
are the exquisite high class wines, such
as Chateau MarguaX Chateau Lafitte,
and Chateau Eatour. These command
dIf enormous price, even in France,
Comparatively little pure Medoc
reaches this country, as the popular
taste in America likes it reinforced
with spirituous strength. The amount
of mixing that goes on at Bordeaux
is prodigious. Her export is twelve
times as much as the entire growth of
Medoc, and one-half OF these are
bought as genuine, without mis-
giving.
Another of the famous wines exhib-
tied here is the Hermitage. The vine
yards which produce this wine lie on
the south slope of a hill near the town
of Tain, on the Rhone, in the old
province Of DauHhiny. It is called
Hermitage because OF a hermit who
took up his abode there in the thir-
teenth century and planted the vines
for an interesting occupation. The
slope being southerly, the sun shines
on the vines all day long and brings
!, the fruit to marvellous perfection
The vines are in three vineyards, and
AS the peri oct wine results only from
a mixture of the product of the three
ne proprietors must hold property in
each.
The Burgundy wines are grown on
series Of low hills about thirty-siX
miles in length. Along their slopes
and extending a mile or so out on the
plains at their feet, lie the vineyards
which produce the yellow Burgun-
dy." The district of the Sauternes
produces the celebrated Chateau
Yquem, which is esteemed almost too
precious to use. 1t looks like bottled
sunshine.
The department of Charente is rich
in vineyards. All of the wine is used
for distillation, Immediately after fer
mentation. The town of Cognac is
the centre of the manufacture, hence
the name is usually applied to these
brdndies, which are the best in the
world.
1t is of some little interest to know
Gne general average OF alcohol In VINE.
From 1000 gallons of wine they get,
on destillation, from 100 to $50 gallons
of brandy. President Jefferson said
intoxication would never prevail
where wine was cheap; that it was
only the dearness of that that set men
to work evoking the "fery demons"
out of sugar cane, rye, corn, other
grains, etc. But having once evoked
the demon, he masters them and they
can't shake him off. 1t is like Sinbad
and the Old Man of the Sea. So, if the
world demands brandy, of course the
vineyards will be turned into it.
1t is said that immense quantities
of "Old Rye" travel over to Cognac,
and come back transformed into the
best French brandy.
The New Orleans Picayune, in its
issue of January Fl, discusses some of
the notabilities of the Texas circuit.
| 1t saws that "Richball. the famous