put into 





V IT 



them from tlielee, and cfpecially if they 



bottles. - " :\ r 



AJl thefe obfcrvations which wc have made, will be 

 of great ufe to thofe perfons who would improve their 

 wines, or defire to drink delicious liquor; but fuch 

 perfons muft remember that they ought, above all 

 this, to iludy to have good vaults, and 'thofe which 

 are cooleft in the fummer, and warmed in the winter, 

 are ever the beft. ''*,,: • ■ "',■•. ,-, 



It may fcem to many perfons in this country that we 

 have been too prolix in the account we have giyen, but 

 thefe obfcrvations are not defigned for thofe who are 

 acquainted with T^e pradlice already, but for fuch 

 perfons as are wholly ignorant of thefe things, and 

 who are fo far from taking any pains in the ordering* 

 their wines, that it is a pain to them to conceive the 

 greateft part of thofe things which I have taken no- 

 ., tice of to be necefiary, and who canhbt be perfuaded 

 ' but that they obferved every thing reguifite to the pro- 

 per management of wines, as exaftly as thofe of 

 Champaign do. ■'.-^^. -. '.7--1 



They pradife nothing in Champaign, which may not 

 be perfeftiy imitated in other places ; the drawing off 

 the wines, the manner of fining them, and putting 

 them in bottles, &c. is all equally poflible, and alfo 

 eafy. Many perfons might enrich themfelves, if they 

 would fct themfelves about it, with the help of thefe 

 obfcrvations, and of thofe they might make them- 



/ felves, to bring their wines to perfeftion, andinftead 

 of felling them for one or two fols per pot, as they 

 ordinarily do, they might fell them for upward of 

 eight or ten. They would have the fatisfaftion of 

 augmenting their income, and fee their wines fought 



. . after, and they would be able to fell them not only at 

 home, but alfo to tranfport them into foreign coun- 



. .tries, becaufe their fituation is more favourable to 

 fend them by fea, than that of the Champagnois, who 



. are obliged to tranfport theirs upon waggons, and by 

 <: rivers, into Germany, and the fartheft parts of the 



-■■north. ■ ......: ■■■-"...:.- 



Perhaps fome critics will objeft the difference of cli- 

 ; . mares, which will not permit the fame culture of the 

 fame plants, which, by their different qualities, re- 

 quire particular managements. This way of reafon- 

 ing might have place, if I had pretended to fpeak to 

 : a people who ftudied to order the Vines with great at- 

 / tenrion, and to give them d finenefs, but I have it 

 chiefly in view, as I have had in coliefting thefe dif- 

 ferent obfcrvations, to mftruft thofe people who ai^e 

 entirely ignorant of the method ufed in thofe countries 

 . where they are accuftomed to make excellent wines, 

 as well by reafon of the goodnefs of the lands, and the 

 warmth of the climate, as by the induflry of thofe 

 who inhabit them. :'v -c 



'* 



.^{Ult 



I 



I 



I 



Flavigny, and Scmeur. Beaune is placed almoft in 

 the middle of thefe towns, which arc not above eight, 

 nine, twelve, twenty-one, or twenty-four miles at the 

 fartheft, to be as it wtre, a nurfe to them all, in 

 diflributing plentifully amongft them the liquors 

 which it produces. ,. . 



All the learned are agreed unanimoufly that it is the 

 ancient Bibrafte, of which mention is made in Csefar's 

 Commentaries. './... 



Casfar, not having above two days provifion for his 

 army, and being not above thirteen miles at the moft 

 from Bibrafte, the biggefl, richeft, and moft fertile 

 city of the Eduans, thought proper to march thither 

 to procure provifion for his troops, and that is the 

 reafon he quitted his way to Switzerland, and came 

 to Bibrafte.' Com.Casf. Lib. deBel.Gal 

 But to return to the town of Beaune : this town can- 

 not pretend to glory in thefe ancient remains of anti-^ 

 quity, which the air confumes, and time reduces to' 

 duft ; it only glories in its good wines, which every 

 year bring to the citizens new riches. However, it 

 has been within an age paft a ftrong place, and is ftill 

 furrounded with a large ditch, which runs into the 

 river Burgoife ; this takes its fource at about half a 

 mile from one of its hills ; it is alfo encompalTed with 

 a rampart flanked with fome towers, and five great 

 baftions. The ditch which encompaffcs the town, is 

 above a mile and a half in circumference ; the citi- 

 zens there enjoy almoft continually a pure air, and a 

 clear fky, being equally about a hundred leagues off 

 from the Mediterranean and the ocean. The waters 

 are, as one may*"fay, in fufpence, when it is about to 

 determine its courfe. There is alfo a great body of 

 water in its neighbourhood, which is feen in all the 

 charts of France under the name of the Pond of long 

 Extent/". It is the opinion' of fome perlbns, that this 

 partakes of the %aters of both feas. :• ./ -.• - '; 

 This town can count fourteen or fifteen thoufand in- 

 habitants, of which the fourth part are employed in 

 cultivating the vineyards, and another fourth part in 

 carelefly exercifing fome profefTions they are ignorant 

 of, and the other half in enjoying the pleafure of a 

 foft, idle, and delicious life. The gout and ficknefs 

 are'banifhed from thefe walls. From thefe hills, 

 that produce fuch exquifite wines, ilTue out fountains 

 of ice, and little rivers as clear as melted cryftal. Thefe 

 waters iffue out from the earth in a line oppofite to 

 the perpendicular, bubbling up, and pufhing out of the 

 earth on high globes oY rock cryftal, which keep their 

 fpherical figure, till they are at the fuperficies. 



;> 



In Champaign, where their Grapes do not ripen but 

 .with difficulty, becaufe their -country is cold, they 

 / make pale and white wines, the wines truly gray, 

 .which area little coloured, and the velvet wines: 

 • Why cannot they make all thefe forts of wines in Ber- 

 ry, in Burgundy, inLanguedoc, in Provence, &c. ? 

 The Warmth of the climate will not permit wines 

 to be made perfectly white with black Grapes ; they 

 will have a little colour, and they will not thence be 

 , lefs exquifite than thofe they have made thefe fifty 

 ; years in Champaign, and in the main are better in 

 tafte, and better for health, thian thofe wines that 

 : , are pe'rfeftly white, which cannot be ufed but after 

 - dinner. • . ■ 'm : : ^ ■•- . 



ji 



■ h 



diJfertatiGn on the fituation of Burgundy 



I 



' * 



that it produces. 



Mr 



h V4 



The town of Beaune is the center of Upper Burgun- 

 dy ; it is fituate in a territory the moft fertile and fe- 

 Vene in France ; it is all round encompaffed with ci- 

 ties, among which is Autun the ancient capital of the 

 Gauls, Dijon the capital of the duchy of Bourgogne, 

 Nuis, St. Jean de Laune, Verdun, Seure or Belle- 

 garde, Chalons on the Saone, Arnay le Due, Sanlieu, 



A - 







The hills of Upper Burgundy, which produce the 

 wine, the only wine which one can or ought to call 

 Burgundy wine, do not extend farther than from Di- 

 jon to Chalon, upon the Saone, yet we ought not to 

 reckon thefe vineyards to be in perfeftion but from 

 ^hambertin to Chagni, about twenty-four miles in ex- 

 tent, for the Vines at Dijon and Chalons do not en- 

 joy thofe climates which produce thofe wines that are 

 iit to be transported into Great-Britain, the circles of 

 the Empire, and the Low Countries, as thofe which 

 are confined within the limits, that I fhall mention as 

 cxaSly as I can, without being apprehenfive of paffing 

 under any ccnfure upon this account. • i^. 



The fame row of hills in the fame fituation, and hav- 

 ing the fame alpeft of the fun, extends itfelf almoft 

 as far as Lyons, and all thofe little mountains are 

 wholly covered with Vines, but the lands are lefs fine, 

 and lefs light at Chalons, heavier at Tornus, and 

 coarfer at Ma^on. This alters the form of the pro- 

 dudions of thefe little hillocks, which, notwithftand- 

 ing they hav^ the fame arrangement, and the fame 

 fituation, produce fo different liquors, j -^ . . , 

 All thofe little valleys are lioked one to the other to 

 the eaft afpedt of the fun, and form the figure of an 

 unbent bow, and have oppofite to them a row of 

 mountains of the like figure, but a great deal higher, 

 which appear or feem to join them, although they 

 may be fifteen, twenty, thirty, and fome fixty leagues 

 ofl\, and forming an oval figure, contribute to make 



ahe 



tK •-• *-^ 



- H 



v 



