I 



rat'ion of the humidity, the hardnelsof fait. What' 

 Ariftotle fays of the wines of Arcadia,' expofed to the 

 fire and the fmoke, is yet more furprinng j Ita exfic- 

 caturm utribus, ut derafum bibatur; i.e. fo dried 

 m the bottles, that it is fcraped off to be drank. ' It 

 was fo folid, that they were forced to fcrape the flafks 

 to drink it, and could not drink it without dilnrincr 

 it with water. 



\ 



•- - - ' \ 



'4 



T["his lukewarm Wine had been very difagreeable td 

 drink, jf they had not cooled it with ice or fnow, 

 whether m mingling it with the wine, or fcttinrf 

 the bottles in ice. The moft luxurious mingled 

 fnow with the wnie, and paffed it through a fUver* 

 ftraincr, which Paulus, the jurifconfulr, calls Colum 

 Vinorum, ■ 



* 1 



V 



i* 



I ■ ^ 



The Romans prepared their wines after the followincr 

 manner: they took the muft that had run from' the 

 Grapes that had been trod; they put them into a wood- 

 en vat, of which the ftayes had been bound together 

 by hoops, or flexible bands. / 

 ■ After the wine had been ferrhented all the timc'ne- 



; ceffary for feparating the grolTeft impurities,' they 

 drew It but of the vat to put it into the cafks, \yhere 

 it continued to ferment; and to affift the Wpuration, 

 they mingled as much plafter, or c^alk; ^6r clay, or 

 powder of marble, or of pitch,' Wbf fait, or of re- 

 fm, or of lee of new wine, "(Sr"^ of fea^ water, or of 

 myrrh,^ or of aromatic herbs, ^ they judged necefla- 

 ry; every country having its particular mixture. And 

 this is what the Latins call Conditura Vinorum. * ; 

 They left the wine in the cafks until the fpring fol-' 

 lowing ; alfo many left them until the fecond or third 

 year, according to the nature of the wine, and the 

 country; afterwards they drew it out to put it into 

 earthen veflels, which they did over' on the infide 

 with melted pitch, arid marked on the "outfide the 



^ name of the place from whence the wine was made, 

 aqd that of the Roman cbnfuls, in wKbieconfulateit 

 was made. The Latins called this chanmng of the 

 wine from calks to earthen veflels, Diffufio Vinorum, 



' or Vina defundert. '' /'' " ■' -^ ••■'; ^"' - - 



They had two different forts of veflels •' the one the 



.j^^plibra^' and .: the other t&c cadus. ■ ' '' PanciroUus and 



oth.ers fay, the amphdra' Was of*V%aVe'or cubic 



" figure.^'* As to the contents authors are npt agreed, 



' But moft fuppofe they field about eighty pounds of 



: liquor. This veiTel was contrafted at the neck. Af- 



■ teritwas filled with wine, they flopped the mouth 



clofe with cork. The cade was of the figure of a 



Pine Apple, which is fuppofed to contain half as much 



more as the amphora^ Thefe veflTels being flopped, 



~%c're carried into a room expofed'to the fouth, fitu- 



atcd in^the higheft ftory of the country -houfe where 



t!ib wine'had Dcen prepared. This place was called 



apothec^. , ^ *: '.^-v-, .? 



It was to diflipate the fuperfluous hjjmidity of the 



wine, that they expofed thefe veflTels to the heat of 



the fun, and of that of the fire; and of the fmoke, 1 ■ 



which has given to this place the name of Fumanum, '' 



becaufe of the fmoke which was gatti^red by tfie fun- 



) 



-'> 



Of the^ method of planting vineyards in Orleans. 



Of the dijlance that fhould he given to the rows, and the 

 breadth of thepaths^ when a vineyard is planted. The 

 differ ejit kinds of plants: Of planting between^ and of 

 : i^Sl^ng «? old Vines, and planting again. ; 



The trenches ought not t9 be opened, till after the 

 ground that Is defigned to'te planted has been mark- 

 ed out, to the end that a length and breadth, pro- 

 portionable and uniform, may be given %o all the 

 rows and paths, as much as the ground to be plant- 

 ed will permit. ' And forafmuch as the Vine receives 

 its nouriflirhent.in the trench^^ it will be proper to give 

 it fome inches in breadth more than to the paths. : 

 The moft common prafticeis to allow five feet ia 

 breadth for the trench, and as much for the path, wheri 

 red wines are planted, efpecially the Auvernats, whofe 

 branches ought always to be trained pretty long. This 

 is the beft method for'' this fort of Vines, and the 

 plants ought to be planted two feet fix inches diftant 

 one from another. Some do not exaftly obferve this 

 diftance ; they allow but four feet and a half for a 

 trench, and the fame for a path. ' ./^^ . 



There'are alfo fome that allow"but a foot and a half 

 diftance between "^ach plan^wKen the (rehch and 

 the path have no more breadth than that which I am 

 about to mention ; but the Vines planted fo clofe to- 

 gether ouglit,^ of rveceflity, to be twifted circularly; 

 and as their roots will in a few years run one into 

 another, the Vines will hot laft fo long ; befides, they 

 will require to be a little oftener and more plentifully 

 dunged, than thofe tliat have been planted at a great- 

 er diftance. , ■ - . • 



Others, on tlie contrary, allow near fix feet for the 

 breadth, arid fometimes more for the trench, and the 

 path, but this certainly is greater than is poflible to 

 dig or cultivate between the flocks, which is the beft 

 tnanner of performing this work. And when they 

 dig other ^vife, they will have at' great de^l . of frauble 

 , to work to the hiiddle of the trench, which neverthe- 



'--* 



cr. 



nel, through which the fmoke of ^the fire was carried 

 ofl^, when it was lighted below. , '■ ' ""' \' -. ^\ , 



Thefe wines could be Icept for two hundred years. 



r - 



■ L -* 



^ J 



and would, ash^s beenjajd 



of honcy^ during which, Adhuc Vina ducentis fere 



annis jam in ibecieni redafti mellis afpen ; etehim 

 hasc natura vim in vetyftate eft^ fays fhny, lib. xiv. 

 cap. 4. So that it is troublefome to drink this wine 

 becaufe of its thicknefs, and in order to render it 

 drinkable, they diluted it with warm water to giyeit 

 a fluidity, and afterwards they pafled it through a 

 ftrainef, and this they called Saccatio Vinorum, as 

 Martial fays, , 



1 J 



, \ 



I ' 



(^f fr-f: 





\.i 



.'■' Turbida folicito tranfmittere cascuba facco. - 



'' *-X 'i.'^i 'ii i. ^ 



p r 



( . 



■- 



It IS true^ they had other wines of the fame nature, 

 wTiich they did not pafs tlirough'a ftrainer, as the 

 Majncum, which'they only expofed during a night to 

 the air, to procure a fluidity and depuration, as Ho- 



-f\ 



% 



-r \ 



J 



w' »- *>* 



Mafljca fi ccelo fupponas yin.a fcreno, . 

 ■ Nodturna, fi quid crafli ^ft, tenuabituraura, 

 Et decedet odor nefvis inimicus": at ilia 

 IntcgrumperduntlinQ:yi{ia;?faDfir^ui, * 



• ^ 



- • 





lefs ought to be as we]l digged as the reft; ;X.^v 

 fiut the vignerons of ISurgundy do not die the whole 



, for wneri the diftances arc fo large, they con- 

 tent themfelves to touch but lightly the middle of 

 thefe trenches, and only dig about the rows of plants. 

 It is then advantageous for the citizens not to give fo 

 ;. much breadth to the trenches. " 



^ Thofe vignerons, that' purchafe or rent Vineyards 

 which have the trenches fo wide, pluck them up of- 

 . tentimes, that they may be able to plant others there, 

 where they allow much lefs breadth for the trenches, 

 and the diftance between the plants without concern- 

 ing themfelves about the Vines lafting the lefs while. 

 But the citizens ought tp follow a better method, 

 which is, to give five feet for the breadth of the 

 trench, and as much to the path, and two feet fix 

 inches for the'diftance Between eacTi plant, efpecially 

 when one plants VinejiqfAuyerfiaL^. becaufe thefe 



will furnifti layers, fb the trench muft neceflarily be 

 larger, and the plants at greater' diflarices the one 

 from the other, that they may find more noUriftimenr* 

 and that the ftioots of the Vines may be extended the 



better.; .;.,.;;. ^:., :;u \^ '\..,.:\ 



A vineyard planted after this manner will laft longer, 

 will defend itfelf better againft tlie winter's frofts, 

 will produce finer and better fruit, which will ripen 

 better^, j^d of confequence make better wine ; and 

 alfo the vignerons of Burgundy would find their ac- 

 count of planting their Vines in this manner, in tTiat 

 they wQuld have fewer Vines to tie, to prune, and to 

 dift^ranch, &c. becaufe there are a great many fewer 



. : plants 



