The Thibodaux sentinel. (Thibodaux, La.) 1905-1912, 1911-05-20

payne region, which culmin;
ted in violent disturbances an
the destruction of enormou
quantities of champagne, was the II
suit of the suffering of the people i
! the Department Of Marine which tn
wine growers there attributed to tn
extensive manufacture Of adulterate
| and counterfeited wine.
| To protect the growers of req
| champagne the French government il
1907 instituted an investigation. A
the result of a years work of the in
| vestigating committee the govern
ment secured the passage of Law
which provided an official label TO
real champagne and requiring that NJ
Wine should bear this label unless j
We're wholly the production of spe
cite dlstrlct-a region within the linn
its OF the Department of Marine
From the start the law delimitins
the champagne country was unpopu
lar, there being numerous complaints
that it was not rigidly enforced Dis
satisfaction led to meetings of pro
test, the wine growers asserting that
wine was imported into Marine where
1t was bottled and marked with the
government label. Counter-demon
STATIONS were begun in the Depart.
ment of Aube, where the wine grow
ers clamored to have their department
included in the delimited champagne
district.
Taking cognizance of the Aube
growers the French senate, after a
long discussion, adopted resolution
April IL in favor of the suppression of
all territorial delimitation. AS soon
as the news Of the senate's action
reached the Marine region, where it
was regarded as a deadly blow to
their interests and a concession to
the rival and neighboring Department
OF Aube, the exasperated Marine wine
growers rose in arms and burned and
sacked every Aube wine depot they
could reach.
Rheims and Epernay, in the Depart
ment of Marine, are the centers of the
champagne trade. Each town is about
two hours by rail southwest of Paris.
The department covers only about
forty thousand acres. This depart
ment lies in the old Province of
Champagne, from which the wine
takes it's name
The soil is of a chalky formation
that retains the suns heat and pre-
vents heavy dews, thus giving the
grape fine chance to mature. The
rolling hill country provides a good
natural drainage, and there is about
the same yield year after year with
out any necessity for enriching or re-
neWing the soil. The vines are grown
on small poles and are cut back every
second or third year. In June. for
miles around, one gets the fragrant
odor OF the young grape blossoms ;,
and in. October, in the vintage season,
masses of small purple and white
grapes, heaped in profusion every
where, are picturesque sight.
The wine is stored in immense
caves in Rheims and at Epernay, 16
miles distant. Some of the caves ex-
tend for miles under the city, and
parts of Rheims are literally honey
combed. Often the caves are three
stories deep, so as to vary the tenn
perature. One descends to them by
splendid flight of 116 steps cut out
of the chalk soil. The caves are more
than ten miles long and are constant
~ being added to. There are about
two hundred large rooms in them, and
a quarter of a mile in length.
1t is not unusual to have as much
as 100000 to 100000 bottles
stored in these cellars at one time.
The wine cellars everywhere are as
spotlessly clean and fresh as a New
England housekeeper's kitchen. In
several rooms fine bas-reliefs are
sculptured in the chalk.
The workmen are all we'll paid; and
each receives, besides, bottle of red
wine in the morning and another in
the afternoon, to keep the blood warm
while working beneath the earth, as
they do most of the day.
Before the cork was discovered real
champagne did not exist. Without it
no sparkling wine could be brought to
perfection, requiring, as it does, the
peculiar process of fermentation after
being bottled.
Only the juice from the first press
ing of the grape is for champagne. the
second and third DRESSINGS being left
for inferior wine. The juice remains
IN these watts from October until Jan
uary, when the mixing takes place.
This is secret in each establishment,
as each Wine-master has his own
method for producing the flavors for
which his brands are noted. This
mixture is called the cuvee, and it
stands again until April or June,
when the filling of bottles begins.
The rapidity with which the bottling
is accomplished by the many work
men is marvellous AS the bottles are
filled, corked and wired they are low
cred in baskets, by system Of end
less chains, to the caves below. where
they. are stacked in precise order in
a very compact and solid mass, yet
SO that each separate one may be
taken out without disturbing the 9th
ers. The bottles are now left from one
to two years, when they are put in
small racks, necks downward, and for