Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-06-21
THE SPARKLING WINE
Champagne, How ft is Made and Who
Discovered IL.
From the New York Tribune.

From the New York Tribune.
Champagne, as everybody knows. was in
yented-that is the word TO Use FOR the wine
certainly was not discovery-by Dom Perig-
non, Benedictine monk. in loss Being an
pointed to the post Of collar-man at the Abbey
of st. Peter, IN the village of Hautyillers. ON
the Marine. some five miles from Epernav and
hfteen from Reims, he conceived the idea %
marrying" various wines. The product OF
one vineyard was noted for its fragrance.
another for Its generosity. third for it's color.
fourth for its preventative qualities. and so
on. by judicious blending" Dom Perignon
produced a grand wine. a sparkling vine
that burst from the bottle and over.
flowed the glass. Moreover. IL was white
though made from black grapes IL so far ex.
celled ali other wines that il quickly won tho
hrst place and took the name Of the province
Champagne. Vast improvements have been
made IN the manufacture of champagnes since
the death OF the monk in l7l5. but the priuci-
pies he introduced have never been abandoned
The newly expressed juice Of the grape after
the hrst fermentation IN casks. Is conveyed to
the cellars or caves in the chalk rock and
after a brief period il Is racked and ready for
making the 'cuyee," which consists I'M ..blend-
ing or mixing the wines of various VINEYARDS
together IN such proportions as TO produce a
perfect wine. As the result depends on the
skill, art. experience and judgment of the
faster, the champagnes of the several MANN
faeturers differ accordingly In order % insure
the greatest uniformity the mixing ~ done IN
gigantic yats containing from 81. 600 TO IS 600
bottles. The wine Is then returned into casks
and at the proper time IN May or June bottled,
securely corked and Land away for at least two
years and half IN the cellars Soon after
bottling the second fermentation takes place
which produces the effervescence aud forrnsl
a sediment. When the wine ia ripe for
IL sha
day for from three 70 eight weeks
by skilled workmen called ''remneurs" Iul
order to detach the sediment from the bottl,
and get II 10 rest on the cork the bottles beins
racked neck downward Then comes the WORK
OF the ''degorgeur." who carefully loosens the
cork, which flies ont. carrying the SEDIMENT
with II and a small quantity of the wine Thi
makes room for the dosage" which is prt !
pared according to the market for which th
wine Is intended. This dosage" "a n lioueu
compounded by each manufacturer after
recipe of has own, consisting mainly OF old wins
OF the best quality. a dash of the best coCnao
and some pure sugar candy. 1t determines 10 =
great extent the character of thy wine whether
II shall be dry or sweet. light strong. After
the dosage" is added the bottle is recorked
and the wine Is then ready for market Only
new bottles used. and the greatest care IL
exercised to secure sound ones. Because OF
the pressure which the gases of the wine bring
TO Dear upon It, the champagne bottle IL one OF
the strongest and heaviest made, weighing
nearly two pounds. Its sides must be Of uni-
form thickness, the bottom solid. the neck per-
fectly round with an even and gradual con-
vergence, the inside smooth and polished and
the elements of tie glass such AS will not mix
with or act upon the wine. Ii costs at whole-
sale about cents. The aim in bottling cham
payne Is TO nix the pressure at about five aimos-
pheres When ii has five and three-quArter
atmospheres IL is known grand mousseux"
and if above that there is extreme danger Of
its bursting the bottle. Notwithstanding the
utmost care there is considerable breakage by
the imprisoned gases. The average lose ranges
from three to eight per cent.