Los Angeles daily herald., 1884-11-09
Palm Garden.
Matinee to-day tar. NJ.
THE VINTAGE IN FRANCE.
Plenty of Champagne and Fine
CIarets Promised.
FrOm the LnndOn IImes.


CHATEAU LouDENNE, Sept. 20.--The vintage
which has been In progress during the last
month In the more southern parts OF france,
will, in the course Of the next week or ten
days, be In full activity IN the Medoc, the
Champagne, and burgundy districts. The
question is now general; What are the In
dicntions OF the probable yield of the five
and quarter million acres Of vines which
still remain to France Notwithstanding the
ravages OF the phylloxera, and how far u
will go TO hll up not only the large space
which has been arranged In countless eel
lars, but also the 1s,0OO,OOO hhds. which an
army of coopers has been busily preparing
during the twelve months which have
elapsed since the vines were last stripped ol
their luscious burdenH'
The Chr0nique Iinicoie OF Bordeaux, re-
marks; "Our country appears to have
broken with Its deplorable past of bad years.
A more prosperous series has been inaugi-
rated In 1883. and we are not forbidden TO
hope that this prosperity will continue to
show Itself even In yet more marked
form"
Thus far the news from all the vineyards
seems to support this prognostication to
certain extent, as the following brief sum
mary will serve to show: For example, the
prospects in the Champagne and Siumur
districts continue to be extremely favorable,
and the rains which fell were very. oppor..
tune, so that there Is every promise, both OF
taken 10 be the most favored districts OF
France, so far as this years vintaseis con
cerned.
In burgundy, masters have so much i'm.
proved that the quantity In Burgundy Will
now considerably exceed that which was at
one time anticipated. while the wines OF
| 1884 will probably rank high in quality.
The reports IRON the Bordelais district
may also be regarded as satisfactory. despite
complaints Of the injury caused to the vines
| by the milldew and the phylloxera The
vintage will probably be nearly as large as
| that Of last year, while there Is reason to be-
| lieye that the quality Will be fairly salts
| factory. In this respect the white wine dis
tricts are equally promising.
| II will perhaps serve to give your readers
| a better idea OF the condition OF affairs II we
| limit our attention more to the district from
| which we are writing, viz; that OF the
Gironde. where clarets are chiefly produced.
| Taking the two last years, the production Of
| the six ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF that department
was Al ,0s6. 2gs gallons In 1883, as against only
| q, ,s9j, ,64s gallons In the previous years. Let
US add that the yield of single estates in any
| vintage Is such as to cause astonishment to
those who have not devoted much attention
to the question of wine production. For
| instance, in the year 1888 the number OF bot
ties of wine produced at Chateau Lifte was
10000 bottles, and at Chateau Latour 5000
| bottles.
The probable quality OF the present vint-
age occupies just now the attention of the
| BOrdclaiS wine grower even more than the
| quantity. There are not wanting signs
| which may serve to guide us, and among
| these Is the date Mt which the vintage will
commence. This question Is always re
| gardcd by wine growers as affording an i'm.
portant index OF the quality OF the wine OF
the year. Records are accessible showing
the commencement of the gathering of the
grapes in each district for many years past.
In Burgundy, registers exist giving the
dates since the year 1895. There the
"ban de vendange' fixed the time for
the vintage after, the large .proprietors,
who were usually the heads of the .abbeys
ttn l,tt l, had hna n
consulted. These particulars are now all
the more interesting us they appear to cor
roborato the opinion expressed by Arago
with regard to the great heats of the sum
mers of former times when compared with
those OF recent years, Thus, In the 18th
century II appears no vintage occurred 81
late as October. During the 18th century
the vintage twice commenced III the month
of August, aud 81 times during september.
Tho 10Th century shows also two vintages In
August but only y In september; the l7th
century, - in September, but none IN
August; while In the 18TH century We fluid
~ vntnges In September. OF which the
earliest commenced on the 10th OF the
month.
The wine growers consider that the quail
ity this year will be good, This opinion AZ
pears to receive some support ii we look tC
the dates of the commencement OF few OF
the best among recent vintages In the Bor
deaux district For example, In 1854 the
vintage, which was very abundant and OF
nne Quhilty, UoHlWcNueu on tne otn VI sep
tember: while In 1867 1t began on the 18TH
In 1874 ON the llth, and in 1873 on the Slth ol
september. The present year will. there
fore, coincide pretty well with that OF 1875
and, although we ctnnot hope for what has
been described MS THE oceiu of wine
4, ,s39.9l2, ,602 gallons) which 1s75 produced
In France, merchants and proprietors will
be well satisfied should 1884 initiate 1878 IN
quality.
on this question of the anticipation OF
quality bordeaux paper makes the follow
ing amusing remark, which shows that the
role of prophecy is as little respected now
as In the olden times. 1t cautions its read
ers against those who, having seen in a cor
tain district some small pieces of vines bear
ing here and there hut few hunohes OF
grapes, picture to themselves at once that all
Is lost, and describe the condition of the
country generally as being similar in char
acter-a conclusion which, the writer says
reminds him Of that Englishman who, in his
travels through France during the last cen
tury, having remarked woman with red
hair, Immediately wrote in his note book
En- France toates las Jemmes soRt rousses. y
81 willingly abandon" says he, "the femmcs
rOussGs to this facetious author our prit
uciies Frenchwomen will know very well
how to defend themselves"