Evening star., 1923-11-11

they went away drinking light
wines!"
Whom do you have to help out
oftenest?" 1 asked
THE French" he laughed "They
| initiate their guests, having. a great
admiration for their late aties, but
lack their cool heads. The French
man is naturally abstemiouS'
X x X X
THAT Paris represents the bright
L ness of champagne Gard cham
pagne, the gayety of Paris) to so
many people is the explanation as
to how the trade has not only held
its own at home, but doubled,
Before the war, the cons merce in
France represented about mine mil
lions,'' says Monsieur CouErie, land
the expectation twenty millions.
Now. the year 1923 seems to be on
the. basis of about eighteen millions
AS to the expectation, it does not
attain more than half the pre-war
figure"
The trade with England has come
back to its own again. taken alto
gether, but with appreciAble varia-
tions due to changing customs duties
and the economic crisis.5 The i'm
portations to Germany AID Austria
simply do not exist any more. The
commerce with South africa and
South America has been some little
touched by the development of local
industries and the abuse of labels
which the war permitted"
On the other hand, the production
is still considerably less in quantity
than before the war. : The actual
figures of 1922 are not given; but
as it was a particularly abundant
year, it is astonishing st what low
prices (foreign exchange aiding)
some of the less famous producers
of Epernay, in particular. have been
able to put authentic champagnes on
the market.
One producing house, whose trade
is known to me U SHALL not give
its name) guarantees champagne of
the true legal zone. delivered to fam
lilies in Paris from So cents to S4
cents per quart bottle-:S4 cents for
grand vim of 1914. Ths same smaller
producers of Epernay zcan lay down
second zone" champagne at 40 cents
per quart bottle-spec csfied on the re-
ceipted bill as wine exclusively from |
foremost crus Of the &ncient province |
of Champagne, but no slonger included |
in the Zone of Delimttation of 1909" |
OF the more famous=marks of cham |
pagne, prices (by the magic of ex-
change) are characterized by the |
same reasonableness. There is a !
mark, for example, prominent on |
every first-class wine card of the |
world It's general sales office is just |
walk in there, and. by the case or !
single quart, wiredS gold-foiled and !
wrapped in tissue paper to put in an
overcoat pocket (oIe on each sideD |
their Imperial Brut of 1914 at s1.20; |
their White Star Sec and Grand |
Cremant Imperial (Ooux) at 96 cents, |
and their Carte Blanche (Demi-Sec)
and Carte Bleu (Doux) at exactly rs
cents per quart bottle, by the ex-
change rates of the present writing. |
X *=* 4
T HAVE given real champagne prices
as they look to an American
when he gets to Paris.
There is no doabt, here, when the
word champagne" is found on the
bottle, cork or =receipted bill from
the producers! Yet certain great
marks have thez coquetry (being so
well known) az actually to omit,
from some of their finest products,
the magic word for which France
has not refraiaed from sacrificing
many of her loyal sons!
The ancient province of Champagne
was much larger than the present
legal zone and many growers in it
produce juices and finished wine that
was true champagne before 1909.
But, as otthef vineyards have not
these fine qualities, the French gov
eminent actually cut off whole |
territory-for the high name of
"champagne"!s
What guarantee is the word
champagne" =on a French bottle?"
asked Monsieur Couprie.
"On label and, cork, it absolutely
he says, that the wine
comes from and has it's origin in the
champagne district as delimited in
1907
1t was the. year when the excluded
areas all but brought off a revolu-
tion in consequence. The nearer