Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-11
FACTS ABOUT CHAMPAGNE.
They Didn't Know Anything About Il
Two Hundred Years Ago.
From the st. James Gszstte.

| From the st. .sues Gszstte
| Mr.. Henry vizetelly has just issued new
and greatly enlarged edition Of his book, Facts
about Champagne" which seems to tell every
thing that il worth knowing about the history
and mystery of what Thackeray called "the
wine Of the world"
II is difficult to imagine the world without
champagne, yet its origin dates back barely
two centuries It was discovered by one Dom
Perignon. the cellarer Of the abbey Of Hautvil-
Iers. who discovered also how to make 1t effer-
vesce. 1t was at the close Of the seventeenth
century that this discovery was made, when tho
glory of the Roi Soleil was on the wane and
with il the splendor Of the court Of Versailles
Louis XIV for whose special benefit liquors
| had been invented. recovered CLEAN Of his
youthful energy as he slipped the creamy. foam.
ing vintage that enIvened his dreary tete-a-
ietes with the widow Of scsrron. 1t
found its chief patrons, however. among
the bands Of gay young roysterers, the
future roues Of the regency, whom
the Due d'Oreans and the Due de Vendome
had gathered round them at the Palais koyal
and at Anet 1t was one OF the famous
soupers ut Anst that the Marquis de Sillery--
who had turned his sword into pruning knife.
| and applied himself to the cultivation of his
paternal vineyards on the principles inculcatod
by the cellarcr Of st. Psters-frst introduced
/
| hower-wreathed bottles which, at q given
| signal. a dozen OF blooming young damsels
scantiiy draped in the guise OF Bacehanals
| placed upon the table were hailed with rap
ture, and thenceforth sparkling wine was an
indispensable adjunct 10 all the pstits soupers
Of the period.
| CRATES GATHERED AT suSRrsR.
1t is asserted by the vintagers that the grapes
gathered at sunrise always produce the lightest
and most limpid vino. Moreover, by plucGing
the grapes when the early morning sun is upon
them they are believed to yield forth more
juice. Later on in the day, too. spite of all
| precaution. 1t ia impossible to prevent some of
the detached grapes from partially fermenting,
| which frequently suffces to give slight excess
of color to the must-a thing especially to be
| avoided in a high class champagne. When the
grapes have to be transported in open baskets
for some distance to the press house, jolting
along the road either in carts or on tho backs
OF mules and exposed to the torrid rays of
bright autumnal sum- the Juice expressed from
the fruit. however dc1terously the latter may
be squeezed, is occasionally Of a purple tinge,
! and consequently uscloss for conversion into
! champagne.
HOW CHAMPAGNE Is PREPARED.
The special characteristic of champagne Is
that its manufacture only just commences
where that of other wines ordinarily ends The
must flows direct from the press into capscious
reservoirs, whence il is drawn off into large
watts and after being allowed to clear is trans
ferred to casks holding some forty -four gallons
each, in which sulphur match has beer previ-
ously burned. These casks arc not filled quite
up to the bunghole, which is generally covered
with vine leaf kept in Its place by piece Of
tile. The bulk Of the newly made wine is left
to repose at the vendangcolrs until the COM
mencement OF the following year. The first
fermentation, entailing a loss Of ABOUT tx per
cent, lasts from fortnight to a month, accord
Ing to whether the wine be mou--that is. rich in
sugar-or the reverse. In the former case fer
menta:ion naturally lasts much longer than
when the wine is vert or green. This active
fermentation Is converted into latent fermenta-
ton by transferring the wine to q cooler cellar.
as 1t is essential it should retain certain pro-
portion of its natural saccharine to insure its
future effervescence. The casks have pre-
viousy been completely filled and their bung-
holes tightly stopped--a necessary precaution
to guard the wine from absorbing oxygen, the
effect OF which would be to turn it yellow and
cause it to lose some of its lightness and per-
fume. After being racked aud fined, the pro-
duce OF the different vineyards is ready for
mixing together in accordance with the tradi-
tional theories OF the various manufacturers;
and should the vintage have been Indifferent
certain proportion of old reserved wine Of a
good year enters into the blend.
BURSTING BOTTLES.
When champagne is first bottled the bottles
are much given to breaking. 1t is impossible
to check certain amount of breakage, espec-
tally when a hot season has caused the grapes
and consequently the raw wine, to be sweeter
than usual Moreover, whom one casse or
breakage sets in on q large scale the .empera-
ture OF the cellar is raised by the volume of
carbolic acid gas letloOse, which 10 not without
Its effect on the remaining bottles. The only
remedy Is the instant removal of the wine to a
lower temperature whenever this is practical
BILE. manufacturer of the pre-scientific days
OF the last century relates how one year, when
the wine was rich and strong, he only pre-
served 100 out of 900 bottles; and it is not so
long since 100000 out of 200, 900 were destroyed
in the cellars of q well-known CHI ampagne frm
Overlooking purchasers still affect to select =
wine which has exploded in the largest pro-
portion i'll the cellars as being well up to the
mark as regards its effervescence, and profess
to make inquiries as to its performance In this
direction.
The corks. which are mainly obtained from
Catalonia aud Andalucia, cost more than two
pence each and are delivered in huge sacks re-
sembling hop-pockets. Previous to being used
they are either boiled in wine or soaked in a
| solution of tartar, or else they have been
steamed by the cork merchants, both to pre-
vent them imparting bad flavor to the wine
| and to hinder any leakage. They are COM
monty handed warm to the corker. who dips
them into u small vessel of wine before
| making use Of them. Some firms, however
prepare their corks by subjecting them to cold
| water douches twice day during five or six
days beforehand. The fceleur receives the
bottle from the cOrker and with u twist of the
| fingers secures the cork with string at the
| same time rounding its hitherto fiat top at a
rate which allows from 900 to /, 200 bottles to
pass through his hands in course Of the day. The
| metteur do Ill next affixes the wire with like
| CELEBRITY, and then the final operation is per-
| formed by workman seizing a couple Of bot
ties by tho neck and whirlng them around his
| head as though engaged i'll the Indian club ex-
ercise. in order to secure perfect amalgama-