V 



T 



V 



T 



the fineft profpeftin die world. This oval mufthave 

 niore than one hundred and fifty leagues in circum- 

 ference. 



From thefe hills of Beaune all the oppofite mountains 



the 



are 



feen, and they are thoie of Switzerland, 



of Savoy 



omtc, and Mount Jura, of which Caelar 

 :his time called Mount St. Claude, thofe 

 beyond thcfe is a frightful void, and of an 



and Mount St. Bernard rifes into the 



immenfc length, 

 clouds, always covered with fnow in the moft violent 

 heats of the 'dog days ; and although it be fixty-fivc 

 leagues off from Beaune, it is iccn diftindly without 



the help of any glafs. 



This perfeft ovafforms a plain of the fame figure, to 



v/hich thcfe mountains that environ it, feem to fcrve 



and make their wines, for although Burgundv, bvthc 

 goodneis of its foil, and its cxpofurc to the rifin^'fun 

 does naturally produce delicious Grapes, yet the man- 

 ner of cultivating their Vines, and of making their 

 wine, contributes much to its goodncfs. 

 During the winter the vignerons employ themfelvcs 

 in examining the earth of their vineyards, and bv 

 fomc loads of earth conveniently laid, which they car- 

 ry thither, they fatten the places which appear to be 

 worn out, and feem to require affifcance to produce 

 the better Grapes, which happens however but very 

 feldom. But then they take notice of thofe places 

 which are void of Vines, whether they are deciinino- 

 by age, or do not appear to promife Grapes, and they 

 make large trenches from a foot and a half to two 



for walls and ramparts ; this vaft plain is watered by f feet and a half long, and a foot deep. If the earth 

 the Saone, which he calls Alduafdubis in his Com- j is too lean, they put in half a foot of good earth, and 



Mou 



Jura, paffes by Befanfon, and by Dole, and cafts 

 iifelf into the Saone at Verdun ; there are alfo a 

 thoufand pretty rivers and ftreams, which, after ma- 

 ny turnings and windings, lofe themfelves in the 



Saone. 



This great plain, which is at the center of the con- 

 tinent, is fo even, that the Saone which runs through 

 it, by its gentle courfe deceives the eyes of thofe who 

 look upon it, it being difEcult to difcover which way 

 its ftream glides. Caefar himfelf was furprized at it, 

 as he declares in lib. i, of his Commentaries. 

 The Saone is a river that feparates the Eduani and 

 Sequani, i. c. Bourgogne from the Franche Comte, 

 and flows into the Rhone with an incredible gentlenefs, 

 that one cannot diftinguifli by the eye which way its 



waters run. 



This is a vaft plain, fo fertile ind even, that all the 



kings of France are wont to affemble their armies 



toWiew 



lad 





of the court. 



Behind the firft row of hills that produce fo good 



wines, there is nothing to be found but hills and 



valleys ; the hills that are the leaft diftant are all 



planted with vineyards, and thcfe lituations are called 



backward hills.- In the hotteft years, when the rains . * - * w 



are Icfs frequent, the Grapes there make a very good J c wiiofe pores are morfe clofe, and lefs fpongy. 



fometimes a little old well rotted dung, but generally 

 fpeaking, they put in nothing at all, and taking one 

 or two branches of a neighbouring Vine, they bend 

 them down into each trench, and cover them after- 

 wards entirely with the proper tarth of the vineyard, 

 in fuch manner, that you may kc the two ends of 

 the Vine branch bent come out of the earth ; to wit, 

 that by which it holds by the Vine, and that of the 

 other end, which comes out of the trench, where they 

 have bent it, about three or four fingers in length. 

 They make a great many of thefe trenches in a vine- 

 yard, that they may be always fupplied with young 

 Vines that will produce a good plenty of Grapes, for 

 it ought to be obfcrved that this Vine branch bent 

 down in a femicirclein this trench, which is a fhoot 

 of the preceding year, having its pores open, takes 

 in two forts of nourilhment, the one from the Vine to 

 - which it is united, and the other from the trench in 

 which it has been bent, in which it takes root. Thefe 

 are what they call provins or layers. 



They produce abundance of Grapes, which are com- 

 monly firft ripe, well nourillied, large, and well re- 

 liflied, but their juice is not fo good as that of the 

 Grapes of the old Vine. The phyfical reafon is, that 

 the nourilhing juice has not been fo well filtred in 

 pafling through thofe layers, whofc pores are very 

 open, and in paiJing thro' the pores of the old Vine, 



Wine, 



never has the perf 

 forward 



■%• 



-i They dig with a fpade the vineyard ordinarily three 

 times a year, that is about the end of February, or 



The plain of this oval is in part covered with wines, j the beginning of March, when they give it the firft 



fertile in all forts of grain, embellifhed with vaftmea- time, and it is in the month of March, or about the 



dows, where a thoufand ftreams play in their different end of February, that they prune their vineyards, 



windings, adorned with fine forefts bhabited with And in this confifts the addrefs and fkill of the vigne- 



ftags, wild boars, and above all, with roe bucks, which j ron, for he ought to make a right choice of thofe fine 



delicious, and agreeably fumifh the I branches that he is to prune, and of the joint where 



are 



very 



gentry 



lands are planted 



he is cut the fhoot, as well as that which he is to 

 cut entirelv off. 



form of orchards, which produce without culture I Obferve what I have feen praftifed by the vignerons. 



which. 



tTiey 



grafted, it is enough, the fun and the earth do the 

 reft. The Peach-trees, which throughout fympathize 



avc been once I Of four or five branches, the fhoots of a year, belong- 



with the Vine, there make upon the banks a fair or fourth joint at moft. 



ing to the fame ftock or Vine, they leave but one or 

 two of the beft made, which they cut off to the third 



branches 



and the leaves being narrow, they 

 Urn from dartine his rays on th 

 them 



i^eaches which they produce arc < 

 polour that would not anticipate 



has 



them 



fi- 

 in 

 of 

 of 



and fug 



I 



It ought not to be forgot 



rifen above the mountains of Sav<iy, there is a prof- differtation. 



The fame they pra6tife on the Vines of the hills, which 

 produce the fineft wines, for as to the Vines on the 

 backfide, or of the plain, they cut them to the fe- 

 cond or to the firft knot, for thefe Vines put forrii too 

 many ftioots 5 but, as this is an art of which it will 

 be difficult to give the precepts, becaufe the manner 

 of cutting the Vines is different, according to the 

 ground, the nature of the Vine, its quality, expo- 

 fition, and nearnefs to the fun, I will go on with my 



«« 



peft of the hills of 

 the whole day, and in fetting behind the hills of 

 Beaune, parts its rays upon the mountains of the 

 f*ranche Comte, which lie oppofite to it, and there in 



When the Vine is cut, they place flakes or Vine 



props, to which, dt the height of half a foot above 

 the earth, they bind the branches of the Vines in a 

 horizontal manner, and afterwards, when the buds or 



going down, ripens very excellent wines, as thofe of eyes are opened, and have put forth fhoots in length 



• • 



known throughout Europ 



for their excellent qualities. 

 Before I begin to fpeak of the quality of the ^ 

 fieaunc, it wil^ be proper to give an account 

 manner in which they there cultivate their vii 



about afoot and a half, they bind them to the props 

 which fuftain the branches and produce the fruit. 

 Thefe props are of the height of three or four f^t, 

 and the thicknefs of two inches ; they are ftuck into 

 the ground withqut any arrangement or order, at the 



diftancc 



