The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-11-13
JOHANNISBERGER.
THE FAMOUS VINEYARDS ON PRINCE
M:TrERNlcH's ESTATE.
How the Wine l. Made for Which
Connoisseurs Pay Fancy Prices
Trip Through the Wine Coi-
lars The Wineries.
rcoIoyns Cor. PHILADELPHIA -Timss.l


70 From tn. mouth Of the Neckar, as far
down As Blnn, where Beethoven was
born. tho banss Of ths Rhine present two
coDtinaois picturesque pinoramas, IN turn
smiliog and peaceful or warlike and majss-
tic. Closs by tine old Castle Won Biberich Is
big white house at the foot OF u lofty hull
covered all over with grape-vinss The
: house Is ownsl BY Prince Natternich, and
from this vineyard comes the far-famed
wine OF Johanni,berg. The estate was orig
inally priory founded in the eleventh CEN
tury The priory afterwards became an
abbey and nsar by was the Gotte3thal con-
vent Between the two religious establish
ments stretched a vineyard which belonged
to both. As the monks and nuns lived on
good terms with each other, during the vint-
ego they mingled freely under the grapes as
they gathered the ripe clusters; then, when
the ba ,kets had all been emptied and the
pre- sses had received the last lunches the
sleek brothers and tender sisters sampled the
new wine together and united in singing
hymns or in religious dances around the
vats into which the precious liquid was
flowing All, those were indeed the good
old days!
THE PALACE.
The palace IL about three miles from the
landing place-not a regular stopping place
for boats, by the way and is situated
upon an elevation. A grand and beauti-
full view met my gaze from the terrace
in front of the chateau. The vineyard
euctrcle, the hou g closely There are about
seventy-fve to eighty acres Of grapes, and
every AFRO Of 1t Il worth more than SIC, 600.
The yield. year in and year out, is, say,
$3.50 bottles. every drop Of it worth al
lea,J s. on the plantation and some OF IL
not t. bs bought IL you offer 81 drop to its
owner.
Til, wines OF the Johannisberg demand
the utmost care and attention aud the cost
of kssping up tie vineyard Is very heavy,
but the profits are estimated at quite 10 per
cent. of the actual value Of the property.
When the estate passed into possession OF
Metternich it was decresd that one-tsnth Of
the annual yieli should be reserved for tire
emperor of Austria, and SO every year that
monarch's cellars are restocksi with this
magnificent nectar.
THE VINEYARDS.
The soil on this place Is of a very red
clay, heavily intermixsd with gravel Some
spots are newly planted and very little
land lies fallow. The vines are all Of one
kind, the Riesling. There ara several kinds
Of table grapes in the yard AMI around the
walls in the garden, but In the vineyard
there are no varietis4. There Is great
rivalry between Msttsrnich and the grand
duke of Nassau, who owns the Steinberg
wine place. Both viney ards have the same
kinI OF grape, SO it is but the location and
tine soil which can be in favor Of the one or
the other.
Toe mode of making wine is the same,
but the grapes are not always plucked at
L.. has -2,.ls.n IynI
In November, not infreQuently when the
snow Is on the ground. but when caught by
rain or snow, the wine loses much OF its
favor. On one occasion the steward of the
Johanuisbsrg estate picked his grapes Q
week earlier than did his rival on the Stein
terg. During that wesk snow fell and the
dukes grapes were watersd SO that he lost
many thousand dollars. AS for Mstternich
one hogshead of that years wine-l75 gal
ons-made out of selected berries, netted
him $1,000. or s. bottle on the farm
THE CELLARS.
l was permitted to visit the cellars which
are under the palace. After going down
twenty-five or thirty feet we entered the
frst cellar. Hundreds OF lights illuminsd
| the room. There were two rows OF barrels
of wine, and on almost every barrel was .
| lighted candle. The vaults are all about
forty feet wide and twenty feet high, arched
with stone. In the center stood a table and
on it were several empty glasse4 We sat
down OH the eni of a barl and the steward
talked to me in q way that made me love
him. The grapes from which these wines
are made ara picked by women and chill
dren, who have wooden tubs with leather
straps SO that they may be carried on the
back When these tubs are full they are
taken to place where skilled men classify
the grapss-that Il to say. they take all the
finest punches and lay them In one tub, the
next finest in another, and SO on
THE wINE-PRESs.
From the first-cla - grapes the besr berries
are cut out and placed in a large earthen.
ware dill They arc trodden out, not by
bare-f ,oted men, but by msn In boots made
for that purpose. They are pressed in a
press which no other sTt OF grape ever
touches The juice is put into cleap bar.
rel and LETT T fermentation. The bung.
hols is covered with an earthenware funnel,
which is half filled witt water. SO that the
gas bubbles up through the water, but nc
air can reach the VINE. When the wine
is made it Is bottlsI and stored care
fully away In the private cellar OF the
prince, and no mans money may buy q
| uTOp VI tuto suPCs sh1ShAoAs
The frst-class Lunches from which the
best berries have been cut are carefully
dive ted of dust and other impurities and
are then trodden and pressed, and to the
juice thus produced is added that pressed
from the best grapes cut from the second
and thirl-class punches. This juice Is then
run into barrels in the cellar, the bung-
of each barrel being covered with an earth
ware funnel half filed with water. as al
ready described. The juice remains thu.
until March, when it is drawn of intc
perfectly clean barrels The first year the
wins is drawn of into other barrels four OF
five times It is first drawn Off four or five
weeks alter 1t Is put into barrels, then in
two months. then three. then In four. In the
second year twice Is sufficient, In the third
year once then once in two years; after
that it remains Quilted until bottled, corked
and capsuled.