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It IS true, there are a great many wine merchant?, ] thing of during the preceding montlis, bccaufe thcr 



who, feeing the great fondnefs that there is for their 



frothy wines, ofrcnrimes put in allum, fpirit of wine, 



and pigeons dung, and a great many other drugs, to 



make it froth extremely ; but it is certain byexperi- 



ence, that the wine frochs when it is any time bottled 



from the vintage to the month of May. There are 



fome who pretend that the nearer the vintage time 



the wine is produced when it is bottled, the more it 



froths. Many do not asrce to this ooinion, but no- 



thing IS more certain than that there is no time in 



which the wine froths more, than about the end of the 



fecond quarter of the month of March, and this al- 

 ways happens toward the holy week. There does not 

 need any artifice at all, one may be always fure to 

 have wine perfeftly frothy, when it is bottled from 

 the loth to the 14th of the month of March; of this 

 there is fuch reiterated experience, that it cannot be 

 doubted. 



It is good to know that the wine does not froth pre- 

 fently after it is put in bottles ; it mud beat leaft fix 

 weeks, and fometimes fix months, before it froths 

 well. If it is to be tranfported, you muft give it near 

 a month of the vault, efpecially in the fummer, to 

 recover its remove. 



But as wines, efpecially the mountain wines, are not 



ordinarily bottled in the holy week, becaufe they are 



then too green, or have too much hardnefs, efpecially 



; if the year has been cold and moift, or too much 



liquor exprefled, if the year has been hot, the mofl: 



-.fure and advantageous way to have exquifite wine, 



i that is perfeftly frothy, is not to bottle it till the rife 



- of thefap of Auguft. It is certain by experience, 



that it froths exceffively when it is bottled from the 



r loth to the T4th of Auguft, and as it will then have 



loft the tarcnefs or greennefs of its' liquor, one may 



be affured in bottles to have the fipeft and moft frothy 



rifing of the fap in Auguft will put th.e pa: ts in a o-rca: 

 motion. This eHecl motion will have onthe^jvcr 

 wines of the year, but oftentimes the wines of two 

 years from the mountains will appear more m.cUow 

 more or lefs exquifite, more or lefs forv/ard, accord- 

 ing to the different motions it has received by the dif- 

 ferent imprefilons of the air, which will vary more 

 fenfibly in the different leafons of the year. 

 There ought to be a very great attention to keen 

 the wine continually in cool places, for, as nothiiitr 

 does it more hurt than heat, it is of the greateft im^ 

 portance to have good cellars, and excellent vaults. 

 No part of the world has fo good vaults as thole in 

 Champaign, which is the reafon it is fo difficult to 



•wme. 



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'There has been another experiment tried, which is, 

 - not to bottle the mountain wine till the holy week 

 . of the fecond year, that is, eighteen mbnths after 

 ^v the vintage ; and it has been found that it froths fuf- 

 iuficiently, but lefs by half than that which has been 

 ^:.>bottled in the rifing of the fap of March the year 



It is not believed IKaT'lche Viver' wine, "wliich has a 

 lefs body than that of the mouhtains, can froth To 

 much in the fecond year. When one would have 



find any where eife fo good wines as thofe of this 

 province. 



Thofe who would lay up a ftock of wine, and are 

 able to keep it two or three years, or whofe bufinefs 

 it is to fend it into other far diftant provinces, or to 

 foreign countries, ought to chufe the mountain wine ; 

 for as it has more body, it will better bear tranfpor- 

 tation than thofe of the river; and bcfides, theEncr. 

 lifti, the Flemings, the Dutch, the Danes, and the 

 Swedes, defire thefe ftrong wines that can bear the 

 tranfportarion, and hold good for two or three years, 

 which the river wines will not do. 

 ^ The moft noble river wines are thofe of Auvillers, 

 Ay, Epernay, Pierry, Cumieres ; thofeof the moun- 

 tain arc, of Sillery, Verzenay, Taiffy, Mailly, and 

 above all, thofe of St. Thierry have the moft reputa- 

 tion. The laft has for a long time had the greateft 

 name, and been the moft called for, and one may 

 venture to fay, that it comes nothing behind the bcft 



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wines of Champaign. 

 By allthe obfervaiions which have been 'made on 

 what is praftifed in this province, in cultivating and 

 - ordering the Vines, and in fining off the wines, 'in 

 bottling and carrying them up and down into cellars 

 ■ 'and vaults, and from vaiults to cellars, it will be 

 found that even perfons of good tafte, in 'the pro- 

 vinces of Burgundy, Berry, L'ahguedb{j,^hd Pro- 

 ^^' Vence, who arie yet very curious ahd delicate in mak- 

 r;ing wines/ efpecially for their own tables, know not 

 '"' fq well how to bring it to perfeftion, as thofe who are 

 -; accuftomed to make it in this province -, for though 

 " their wines have not the tartnefs of thofe of Cham- 

 paign, yet they are able to make them more clear. 



wine that will not froth at all, it ftiould be botded in fine, and light. They might therefore try if the-f 



Odtober or November, the year after the vintage *, if 



June or Jul) 



will froth flightly. 



would not be preferved better in drawing them off 



from the Tee, than in lettihg'ihemTie oh it,"accord- 



' ihg to their ufual cuftom, which fome arie of opinion 



^ti" 



though but a little, if any thing at all. 



To find in the wine of Champaign all tht merit that I ; is ^abfolutely wro'ng.^ They fhould chufe and' pick, 

 it ought to have, it fliould be taken out of the vault in the frefh of the morning, their fineft black Grapes, 

 not above half a quarter of an hour before it is drank, ^ and thofe whofe berries adhere the leaft together, bc- 

 i'' and It muft be put into a bucket, with two or three '-'' caufe they are the ripeft, and they Ihould obferve to 

 r pounds of ice •, the cork ftiould be opened and put - leave as little ftalk to them as may be ^ and with re- 

 in again lightly, which, if it be not done, the wine ' gard to preffmg, in which they are ufually faulty. 



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will break the bottle, or will not o-row cool, if it were 

 not unftopped, and it would evaporate itfelf, if it re- 

 mained quite open. When the bottle has been half 

 i quarter of an hour in this ice, it muft be taken out, 

 becaufe the ice would otherwife chill it too much, 

 and make it lofe its brifknefs. * This wine will be ex- 

 cellently good, arid of a delicious flavour,'when it 

 has been a little affe<5ted by the Tee, but great care 

 muft be taken that it may not be either too nluch or 

 too little. ^ ■=- ' ■ ' 



As thefe wines, efpecially' thofe of the fame year, 

 work continually in the vaults and cellars, and ftill 

 more in bottles than in pieces, according'to the diffe- 

 rent feafons, and the divers impreffions of the air, it 

 ought not to be furprifing, if the fame wine, efpe- 

 cially th« new, oftentimes appears different in tafte. 

 We find a wine potable in January and February, 

 which will feem hard in March and April, becaufe of 

 the rifing of the fap, which agitates if more ; the 

 fame wine in June and July will appear entirely foft, 

 and in Auguft and September we ftiall find it hard 

 again, which one fhall not be able to perceive any 



they fliould immediatel-y, as foon as carried, trample 

 every load of Grapes fucceffively as they arc brought 

 '"^ in, and collefting the firft, muft put it in new cafks 

 of alefsfize; and when they have finiftied treading 

 • the remainder of each carriage, they ftiould put them 

 "'into the common vat, bur let them not remain tTiere 

 V- fo many days as they are generally ufed to do, that 

 fo their common wines may be thinner, and lefs 

 "ftrong^. By this management they might make four, 

 five, or fix pieces of fine wine, more or Jcfs, accord- 

 ing^as they fli all find it good, and then' they fhould 

 take the fame care, as has been faid thofe of Cham- 

 paign do •, and if they would be content now with a 

 lefs produce, 'they would have a far greater quantity 

 the following years, and would be continually bring- 

 ing it to a ftill greater perfeftion, as they improved 

 more and more in experience. In thofe countries, 

 ■ where they can conveniently have preffcs, they fhould 

 '. make them. ' ' 



Their wines would be more delicate, more light, and 

 lefs coloured, by this attention, and with half the 



- fining, would be better for tranfportaiion, in drawing 



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