The Savannah morning news., 1903-02-21

those of Mumm, Moet and Chandon
and Pommery-Greno. These firms fur
nish the "demi-sec" wine drunk at
such places as the Cafe Anglais by
the French frequenters of restaurants
OF the first class. They also provide
the secs" and the "eXtra-secs" loved
by Englishmen, Americans, and Ger
mans. Some firms are careful to
mark their products as according to
the "gout Francois" or the "gout An
glais," and in the cellars of the Grand
Hotel there is grand extra dry,
English style" which may be had at
francs a bottle. The Monticello cell
lars offer for the same price a Gre
mant maX-sec, govt Anglais." This is
far from the high prices of the Cafe
Anglais or of Voisin's, where the very
best brands are offered, and are
charged for accordingly, all tastes be-
ing suited. At Marguery's. also. pro-
vision is made for cosmopolitan tastes
as regards champagne. and the Eng
iishman can get there an extra sec"
bottle OF Pommery-Greno for IS francs,
or d dry Veuve-C licquot of 1895 for /
franc more. In the same establish
ment there is good dry Saint Mar
ceauX for 10 francs the bottle.
Inc eternal popularity of cham
fagne, its fame as d great wine, it's
superiority to all other varieties of
juice pressed out of the generous
grape have been faNorite themes with
French writer's ever since it's discov-
cry or invention. The7orfgin of cham
payne is rather mysterious, and the
palnstaking man hasHyet to be found
who shall write it's true and anthem
tic history. 1t was stated recently in
newspapers, French and English. that
the wine was brought'to perfection NV
no less than an old Benedictine monk
Dom Perisnon, who conceived the
idea of blending all the different
grapes of the champagne district for
the purpose of discovering the highast
delicacy and body This is true as far
as 1t goes, but it does not make Dom
Per1gnon the inventor" of cham
payne. He wandered about the hills
or the champagne district in the ear
~ Part or the eighteenth century, and
brought his botanical and agricultural
knowledge to bear on the vines. Monks
or other branches of his order were
also botanists, agriculturists, and
heroallsts, as well as bookmen, and
there is nothing wonderful in their
discoveries of good ways for making
wines and liqueurs. The Carthusians
rounded by ST. Bruno, who was a
Benedictine of the ''refor,oel7,,
branch, have given us the worId-fam-
ed l1queur which they made from the
herbs and aromatic plants of the
fountain side, just as the Benedic-
tilles proper have given us that other
cordial named after them, and lust as
some of the Trappists or Sistercians
VINO IRE also offshoots of the ancient
order, rounded on Monte Casino in
TIE year $40 by st. Benedict, have in
vented a soothing beverage which is
IN commerce and has trademark.
All these monastic people, whose or
ders are nowadays so much threaten
ed by the French government. lived in
communion with Nature, and studied
some of her secrets. Hence. It Is not
surprising that Dom Pierre Perignon
should have used his monastic exneri-
ence in the champa gne district. and
leo the way to the preparation of such
wines for instance. as the Veuve
Chcquot-Pousardin of the present dav.
But the wine of the famous French
province now formed by the Depart
ment' Cf the Aube, the Haute-Marne
the Marine, and the Ardennes was ia
nous long before the, time of Dom
Pierre Perignon. the Benedictine bot
anlst and vine cultivator The plan
tatlons of the first "cignes de Ia
champagne" date from the Gallo-Ro-
not become properly developed until
the fourteenth century. Rheims and
Epernayi now headquarters Of the
VINE, were not famous then for their
magnificent cellars heWn i'm the chalk
or limestone, and so admirably adapt
ed for the delicate work of Derfecting
the juice drawn off from both black
and white grapes. But the win de
champagne" was making it's way as
the wine of Kings 1t was not yet,
however. the king of all Wines" as
Leigh Hunt enormously calls the
mama of Montepulciano," after
Redi.
In 1859. at the coronation of Francis
ii, Mary Stuart's husband, Rheims.
wines were dearer than those of Bur-
gundy, and the wines of the Lyonnais
were dearer and more priced than
both, which is not the case in the pres
ent day by any means. 1t was not
until the coronation of Louis XIII, in
1910, that champagne began to attain
something like its modern perfection.
Before that, however, in 1897, that bad
monarch, Wenceslaus, Emperor of Ger
many and King o. Bohemia, came to
Rneims in order to negotiate a treaty
with Charles VI, and found the famous
local wine so much to his taste that
he prolonged his stay in the old "Civi-
tas Remorum," and got drunk on
champagne daily before dinner. lust
as some exotic magnates frequently do
In Paris nowadays. Francis ] of
France, Charles V of Spain, Henry
VIII OF England, as well as that most
magnificent of pontiffs. Leo X. are said
to have had their own vineyards at
Ay, or Al. In the reign of the Grand
Monarque Saint Eyremond. the Comte
dOlonne, and the Marquis de Bois-
Dauphin bound themselves to have at
their table only the wines Of Al Haut-
villiers, and Ayenay. The medical
faculty also decreed IN favor OF cham
payne, and poets composed odes and
sonnsu - honor Of the light. SPAR