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diitance of a foot more or lefs one from the other, 

 according as the vineyard is more or Ms furniflied 



with Vines. 



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Ncverthelefs, the end of the fhoots which are there 

 bound horizontally, as one may fay, look all to the 

 fame fide. . , 



This manner of placing the props without order is 

 of great confequence, i. e. that one branch may not 

 be covered by the fhadow of another but as little 

 time as may be, and that if the roc comes to fome 

 Grapes, they may not be able to communicate it to 

 others. This manner is contrary to that of the Eng- 

 li(h, who plant their Vines in rows, and thence it is 

 that the one hinders the fun from Ihining upon the 

 other, and of confequence, that hinders the ripening 

 of the Grapes. ' ' \- -,: 



The moft dangerous feafon for the Vine is when there 

 has been a north wind, which has caufed a fmall white 

 froft. If the fun comes to appear in. the morning, it 

 dries and burns all the young leaves, the buds, and 

 the Grapes, after tfie fame mahrieras if fire had been 



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there. 



It is for this reafon that the friars in Burgundy have 

 recourfe to prayers at this time more than at any 

 other, and that after calm and cold nights, the fu- 

 perftitious peafants run to the churches, and ring the 

 bells with all their might. Whether it be that they 

 imagine that God has any regard to this work of re- 

 ligion, or that the agitation that they make in' the air 

 may, in fome fort, warm the air " again", or change 



the wind, but however it be, they do at this time rine: 

 the bells with fuch violence, that there is no fleep- 

 ing3 during which times the priefts and monks arc 

 bufy in reading in the churches the paffion of our Sa- 

 viour, according to the gofpel of St. John, and for 

 this occupation they make a colleftion amons; all the 

 preffes at the time when they make their wine, and 

 every vigneron is obliged to give them a certain quan- 

 tity of wine, and that by an order of parliament at 

 Dijon. 



"When the vineyard has efcaped the danger of the 

 froft, they dig it again, and this they call biner, or 

 the digging of the vineyard the fecond time ; after 

 which the Grapes foon begin to flower, which fpread 

 a fweet favour all over the cpuntry, and is the time 

 when all the wines which are in the tiins in the 

 vaults, though never fo deep, if they are upon their 

 lee, without having been drawn off or clarified, work, 

 ferment, grow thick, and cover their fuperficies with 

 fmdM white flowers like fnow -, a thing difficult to be 

 explained by philofophers, in this queftion in phyfics, 

 when they demand, Utrum detur aftip in diftans ? 

 It muft be obferved that all the Vines of the good 

 hills of Burgundy pafs from their flowers to the Grape, 

 that is to fay, that the flower of the Grapes changes 

 into berries in the fpace of twenty-four hours ; and if, 

 during that time, there happens a cold fog, oraxold 

 rain, their flowers, tnflead of turning to Grapes, fall, 

 and the fecond peril is no lefs dangerous than the firft, 

 when that happens. The term that they make ufe 

 of to exprefs it, is to fay the Vines are coulees, i. e. 



drop their Grapes. v :^ ' 



At the end of June, or the beginning of July, is the 

 timcf when the Vine changes from the flower to ber- 

 ries, after which the Vine has nothing to fear but the 

 hail, or a too great drought' 'As foori as ever the 

 vignerons fee the leaft cloud to rife upon the horizon, 

 and the air feems to threaten the leaft ftorm, they 

 have recourfe to their priefts, their bells, and their 

 pater nofters, which they would not recite, but for 

 fear that the people would rife againft them, if hail 

 ihould happen during that time that they were riot at 



their prayers. * . ' . 



The reafon that they are fo much afraid of the hail in 

 Burgundy is, becaufe the vintage is all the dependence 

 of the inhabitants, and that the Grapes being fmitten 

 by this fcourge, give to the wine, in fome meafure, 

 the fame tafte, and the fame fcent, which lightning 

 fpreads on the places where it falls, a fcent which is 

 impoflible to take away. 





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As to drought it is not only to the bells, or to the 

 priefts that thcj have recourfe, but to one or two 

 ftone bufts in two villages about fcven or eio;ht miles 

 from the town of Beaune, one of which^ idols is 

 known and worfhipped under the name of St. Reve- 

 reen, and the other under the nam.e of St. Margue- 

 rite ; they aflemble together, and go in proceflion to 

 fearchin triumph for this ftone, which they carry fo- 

 lemnly to a church in the town. ' All the priefts go 

 in proceflion, followed by the parifliioners of which 

 they are curees, aad theyofftr their incenfe and pray- 

 ers, rub their books and their chaplets acrainft thefe 

 extraordinary- figures, and oftentimes it happens to 

 rain in this conjundure, which does not a little con- 

 tribute to keep up this fuperftition of the people. ; 

 It'is in July that they dig the vineyard the third time ; 

 this they call thirdling. There are many years in 

 which they dig their vineyards the fourth time, and 

 this is in the month of Auguft that they give it this 

 fourth digging, but they take great care to dig the 

 fourth time when the feafon is not too hot and dry, 

 or on the contrary, to defend the Grapes from th^ 

 heat of the fun, they let the Grafs grow in the vine- 

 yards •, thisftiades them, and hinders the vapours of 

 the earth from burning the Grape. . :..:; . ^ . ;. ; 

 A month before the vintage, the magiftrates of 

 Beaune, accompanied with many experienced judges, 

 and perfons of probity, make three vilits to examine 

 the maturity of the Grapes, and at this third vifit and 

 examination they decide the day of gathering the vin- 

 tage. No private perfon dares to cut in his own 

 vineyard one fingle balket of Grapes, upon pain 

 of confifcation, and a confiderable fine ; for, if it 

 were permitted to each particular perfon to' gather his 

 vintage according to his own fancy, and his particular 

 opinion, and according to his tafte, there would be 

 wines too green fent abroad into other countries, to 



the.diftionour of Burgundy, and. to the difcredit of 

 ,the wines. .^ - - ■ . . .:/ . '* 



And alfo for fear that any vapour fliould fpread itfelf 

 over the vineyards, for fifteen days before the vin- 

 tage, they take care not to burn any ftraw or Hemp 

 •ftalks in the ftreets, left the fmoke fliould give any 

 bad tafte to the Grapes. 



The Grapes being come to maturity, the magiftrates 

 give notice a few days before by a trumpet to the 

 ; town, of the time they have appointed and fixed for 

 gathering the vintage.' Volnet begins Brft,' a day be- 

 fore Pomard, 'and afterwards all the little hills Mther 

 their vintage indifferently-, for after the town of 

 Beaune has gathered their vintage one firigle day, the 

 vintage is opened for all the other vineyards on the 

 . fide of Burgundy.'^ It will be feen by and by why 

 Beaune decides the vintage of Volnet and Pornard. 

 It will fcarce be believed that all the hills from Cham- 

 berry to Chagny fliould have their vintage gathered in 

 the fpace of four or five days, and alfo it is fcafce 

 credible, what a vaft number of mountaineers from 

 every part come to labour in this work,:r,-;: ?. 

 They gather the vintage perhaps (and my conjeflure 

 is founded upon more than twenty-five vintages which 

 1 have feen made) more than two thoufand (queues) 

 tuns of wine upon thefe hills, and the aueue, which 

 is always divided into two puncheons, iometimes in- 

 to four fuellettes, and very rarely into eight cabil- 

 Ions, contains five hundred botdcs of wine, or, to 

 fpeak more exactly, four hundred and forty pints Pa- 

 ris meafure. ■.;■■. '^ h ^'^■' • ■ i 

 It will be proper here to obfcrve, that in this great 



extent the vineyards produce but one kind of Grapes, 

 which they call Noirons; the berries of which are 

 black when they are ripe, and quite round. The plain 

 and the backfides produce only a fort of Grape, of 

 which the berries are bigger and a little longer, which 

 they call Garnet. 



Thofe who would make excellent wines, never cut the 

 Grapes till after the fun has dried up the dew which • 

 has fallen in the night time ; for this moiftnefs, al- 

 though it be but a rarefied air, cools the Grapes, 

 which, being caft into the firft vat, fufpends, and 



14 F ofccn- 



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