, 1885-05-10

How Champagne l. Made In California
AElnK the Dry MIne..

Aging the Dry Wine.
lSan Francisco Cor. Baltimore American.
After having seen so many vineyards
we thought it advisable to visit one Of
the places where the grapes are made
up into wine and stored for sale, so We
visited the warehouse and wine vaults
of Aspad Haratzihy, on Washington
street. The outside appearance of this
establishment does not promise mur.i,
but when one gets inside CT it he finds
it to lie immense. We spent over two
hours in going through the fermenting
rooms, wine vaults and bottling estaD-
lishment. We saw how champagne is
made and how the various dry wines ere
kept 50 as TO give them age and guaran-
tee their purity. On the top floor We
found a number of Cinnamon washin.
the lottles. These are all made in
France. The breakage during the first
fermentation is about ~ per cent. The
washing of the bottles required the
services of about twenty men.
We next visited the room where the
wines are blended so as TO make cham
payne Most people supposed cham
payne Is made out of one wine, but it
Is made GU OF different wines, as no
win will sparkle by itself. 1t is also
htiCo'aA1 ~ nla Out lut pTODOTLlOn OF
alcohol, sugar and acid of each kind of
wine. There are five kinds of wine
used in blending. These are the Beis-
ling, Berger, Gutedel, Muscatel and
Ziufandel.
The bottles are filed automatically.
and at least a half dozen men are en-
ployed from morning to night in filling
them. The BOTTLES arc then corked and
tied with one string and put into the
temperature room, where the heat is
from 20 to so degrees. This keeps the
cold from the wine and induces
fermentation. During fermentation
albumen and the natural sedi-
ment of the grape seed percipi-
tate themselves on the lower side of the
bottles. From Z to 10 per cent of the
bottles are lost from explosion. After
the lapse of about three months the
bottles are taken out of this room and
put into n cooler one. The bottles are
laid flat. We passed through cellar
after cellar FLIED with these bottles.
After six months of gradual fermen-
tation, again the bottles are put in
racks, and every bottle is twisted or
turned for four months every day. Two
men do nothing else but twist the bot
ties, which brings the sediment down
into the neck. The bottles are then
taken down from the rack and stood on
tip end. The neck of each bottle rests
in the bottom of its underneath neigh
Dor. When the sediment is all taken
out OF the neck Of the bottle, which is
done by a man wearing a wire mask, a
small quantity of rock-candy syrup
is put in TO sweeten it. The terms
dry and extra dry mean more or less
syrup. After this is done a new cork
is put in and tied and wired. The first
cork costs . cents, the second one about
cents. Zach tottle is then shaken up
so rs to incorporate the syrup with the
vine. 1t is then laid by for at least six
months iefore it is sold. Tho cham
lagne before the syrup is added is like
vinegar.
IN tho first floor are sixty watts, each
containing from ,000 to 1000 gallons
of wine, and we went through sixteen
cellars either stored with champagne or
various wines stored in bulk. This
house has never less than GOO, 900 gal
Ions OF still wines on hand, besides their
large stock of c~hampagnes. am sat
isfied from what have seen of the cul-
ture of the grape and the making of the
wine that in a few years the California
wines will supersede all others.