Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-12-18
CHAMPAGNE MAKING.
TIE DISCOVERY MADE BY AN OLD
MONK 200 YEARS AGO.


MONK 200 YEARS AGO.
Presses AZ work-From Juice to the
BottIs-Rsady for Bottung-Corkipg.
Labelling.
It Was IN old monk named Dom Petrus
PeriGnombo who, over 200 years ago, first
discovered the secret Of champagne. Old
Petrus was attached to the Benedictins
abbey Of Hautyillisrs, but he seems to have
been infinitely more attached to the wins
cellar than to his religious duties. Instead
of proselyting, tho jOyial rsciuss was
happy with his nectar and became per
feet COnnOiSseur in wine. He always saw
that the wine cellar was full. One day
when experimenting with tho precious
drink he discovered that it could easily be
made etferveScent The process through
which champagne passes has sOmethtn. To
do with its peculiarities; but it is the ma
ture Of tho soil ON which the vines are
grown that is the important point That
soil is u mixture of chalk, silica, light clay
and oxide of iron; and the champagne
Manufacturers of France pretend that soil
cannot be found in the necessary proper
tiOns anywhere else in she world than on
the banks Of the Marne. Without any
inquiry they all accept this assumption
and put down all other champagne as
spurious.
WHEN THE VINTAGE BEGINS.
Three fOurths of the champagne grapes
are black-for the color of the grape does
H., Nf tHa
wine. They are about as old rs the hills
on which they grow. When the vintage
begins the roadsides and villages are
crowded with the scum of large cities
Travelling shOwmen and basketmakers,
ugly looking ruflians from Belleville,
dark haired and ragged Italian, and bare
footed gamins-these hordes Of noEde-
scripts are the vintagers. Grape gather
ing in itself is not an unpleasant Occupa-
tiOn. The vintagerS get , francs 40
cents day, and take about twice that
value in grapes. When the dirty fingered
fraternity has gathered the fruit it is
placed in panniers and conveyed from the
fields by asses-carefully muzzled. AS
the ass is not addicted to going unreasen-
ably-never at any time since Balaam' s
went back to him-the grapes are not
likely to get crushed in a hurried transit.
The wine presses are kept at work all
night. The proprietors who have not
presses Of their own sell their grapes TO
the manufactu ers. The price, which
varies according to the quality and the
quantity in the market, ranges between
10 and 20 cents .he kilOgramme two and
quarter pOun 81. \ hectare of grapes
will yield four barrels of wine of 200
htres each about fifty barrels). Two kilos
are required to make litre IA little over
quartz. The cream OF the grape is first
extracted by the press. The first squeeze
is very light. The others are more power
ful, and produce each time a more and
more inferior quality Of juice, until the
sixth is reached, by which time very little
is left in the skins. The skins, which are
not distilled with the juice, as is the case
with making Bordeaux, are used to make
a very bad brandy.
FROM JUICR TO THR BOTTLE.
The process through which champagne
passes from the juice to the bottle is some
what complicated. First the juice is put
in barrels and allowed to ferment. After
three months the produce of different
vineyards is mixed in enormous yats, ac-
cording to the recipe in vogue in the par
ticular establishments; and to this Is
added, if necessary, proportion of some
old wine A subtle taste is required when
the wine is in this state to discover when
it has acquired the proper flavor and
bouquet. Then comes the important
point of effervescence-a source of great
anxiety to the manufacturer, for the ex-
tremest care must be taken to reguate the
amount of carbOnic acid gas which has
generated in the wine.
Too much will burst the bottles and too
little will make the wine fiat The sac
charine matter in the wine Is also regu-
lated at this point, and if the standard
has not been reached the deficieny is sup
piled by the finest sugar candy.
The wine is now drawn off into casks to
undergo the filming, which removes the
'rOpinesS." IL is then ready for bOttling.
It sonnet mes remains in the bottles sew
eral years before it goes through the final
process. The bottles, placed first horizon
tally, are gradually raised up until they
stand vertically, head downward They
are shaken and turned round every day.
This is TO make the sediment descend, for
all foreign matter goes with the juice, for
the simple reason that it cannot be got TO
BO W HtIt tl5Cs uC " lllt IlStIlt >
| however, and finally all the deposit col
lects in lump on the cork from which it
| is ''disgorged," literally blown out, cork
and all. Then a certain quantity of
liqueur is put in to fill up the bottle again
and to give to the wine its distinctive
character. This liqueur consists of a
preparation of the very finest sugar candy,
the best champagne and the oldest and
pureSt cOgnac. With this liqueur the
wine is blended, made dry or sweet, to
sUit the taste Of the manufacturer and his
customers. The next process is the cork
| ing.
Many people, doubtless, on comparing
the size of a champagne cork with the
neck OF the bottle have wondered, as the
man did when he saw the fly in the amber,
how it got there. The fact is it is driven
there by powerful machine and a
twenty pound weight. The bottles after
being corked are wired and set aside for
several mOnths-then tinseled and lab
| eled.-Cor. Hartford Times.
Flesh Flavored to Order.