Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-05-22
INCREASE IN CHAMPAGNE.
Big Home Production Affects Pur-
chases From Abroad.

Big Home Production Affect, Pur-
chases From Abroad.
The falling off in impoFtations of
champagne into the United States, re-
Gently noted by the bureau of sta
tistics of the department OF commerce
and labor appears to be due, in part
at least, TO the fact that more than
two million bottles of genuine cham
payne" wine is now annually pro-
duced in the United States. The 'Hl-
portations of champagne in the cal
endar year 1906 fell S1,4l4 quarts be-
,ow the imports OF 1905, while fot
the nine months ending with March,
1907, the falling off was 1861 quarts
compared with the corresponding
months of the preceding year; and the
single month of March. 1907, showed
a decl ease of $500 quarts compared
with Marc., 1906.
This falling off in the Importation
Of champagne, which was referred 70
ia a statement prepared by the hu-
reau of statistics some weeks ago,
has led to considerable correspond
ence between the bureau and a large
number of persons engaged in the il..-
portation and sale of foreign cham
payne, or in the production and sale
of American wine of this character.
This correspondence seems TO clear
ly indicate that the manufacture of
genuine champagne" wine in the
United States has quadrupled in the
last decade; that the product now ex-
ceeds two million bottles per annum,
including in this class only the wine
fermented in the bottle and not that
charged with carbonic acid gas oy
artificial methods and that this in
crease in home production is the prin-
cipal cause of the slow growth
in Importation. The class of
wine ordinarily designated as chan
payne" which obtains its name from
the fact that it is Chiefly produced i'll
that section of France former y known
as the province of Champagne, has
as one of its special cha. acteristics
the fact that its fermentation in the
bottle in which it reaches the COLI
sumer results in the absorption by
the wine of the carbonic acid gas gen
Grated in the fermentation, the wine
thus becoming effervescent when the
removal of the pressure permits the
gas to become disengaged
The correspondence between the
bureau of statistics and the wine I'M
porters. dealers and producers in the
United States indicates that the num-
Der Of American producers of cham
payne has quadrupled in recent years
and that the quantity produced has
more than quadrupled withia de-
cade While the census does not sep
arate its record of wine production
into the various classes. the opinion
of the wine manufacturers as gath
cred from correspondence by the hu-
reau of statistics. indicates that the
present production of champagne fer
mentetf in the bottle is. as above in
dicated. more than two million bot
ties per annum, While certain MANI
facturers who have gwen the subject
very careful attention estimate the
number as high as three million bot
ties Of the genuine article In addi-
tion to this. large quantities Of
sparkling wines which are rendered
effeuescent by being arrifciallr
charged with carbonc acid gas are
also put upon the market: but these
are not included in the estimate d
upward Of two million bottles Of gen
uine champagne" wine annually pro
duced in the United States
The conclusion Of the bureau 81