VI 



T 



- I 



• H 



+ 



always been accuilomed to have colour enough by 

 being tunned but a licde. 



Some pretend that one quart, or thereabouts of the 

 wine [DeTeint] of die tincture, or of [GrosNoir] the 

 large black, to a vat of fifteen puncheons of red Au- 

 vernar, will have a good effect:. 



I own that ic Will give it a fine colour, without ren- 

 dering it harfh, provided it be not tunned too long; 

 bur as this Teinr^ or this Gros Noir, have no quality 

 but that of giving it the colour, I am of opinion that 

 the Auvcrnat Teint, y;hich is very red, fubftantial, 

 and vinous, produces a better effect ; but it requires 

 only to put more of that of iheTeint,than of die Gros 



. Noir^ becaufe this Auvcrnat colours a great deal lefs 

 than thofe of the tv»?o other kinds of Grapes.. ....v?/ 



. 'The riper bodi die one and the other are, the more 

 wine they yield, and the more colour they have ; and 

 for this reafon they ou<;ht never to be o-athered, but 

 when they are in their perfect' maturity. 

 The Auvcrnat Teint ought not to be planted indiffe- 

 rently in all forts of land, becaufe it will not do well ' 

 in all ; and for this reafon, thofe who would have 

 them, oucrht ac firft to plant but a few, to fee if ihey 

 will fucceed in their lands. Alio care muil be taken 

 not to mix them with other in planting, that one may 

 . the better know what quantity we Ihould put into eve- 

 ry vat i which will be difficult to do, if they were 



, planted confufedly with other Ap/ern^ts, or, red 

 . plants, to make thence eood mixed wine. , ,. ,^ .,t/. 

 Although the Auvernat Teinc is a very good Grape 

 of itfelf, yet it muft be owned, that if too much of 

 it be put into the red Auvernat, it will alter the qua- 

 lity of it ; for the laft wine is never better, than when 

 ic is made without a^^y.mjxture of other Grapes •, and 

 it has ordinarily as much colour and ftrength as it 

 fnould have,'nor6nly to maintain itfelf by itfelf, but 

 alfo to put off other wines of an inferior quality^ .- 



[ But then I fuppofe,. that this red Auvernat grew up- 

 on good lands, for there are fome which of tlipm- 

 felves do not give enough to the wines that they pro- 

 duce ; in this caie it is good to plant the Auvernat 



Teinc. 



Ic.is,|:rue, that this wine being mixed, will not be fo 

 fine^ as if it were only the pure red Auvernat -, but 

 then afeain,' It will maintain itfelf better ; and when 

 one would make an Auvernat, which has a ftrong tart- 



: J A >-* 



■^ ^ 



nefs and a good flavour, without haying any colour, 

 you muft put to the red Auvernat^ ^ about the feventh 

 part of the Melier, or of good wliite Auvefna'r, fuch 

 as now grows in the vineyard of Blois ; but that one 

 may be able to make this mixture, it is neceffary that 

 this Melier, or white Auvernat, be ripe at the fame 



T<^^ f 



J ■ ^ -> ^ . 



time as the red Auvernat. . ,.^,.,,, 

 A wine made afier this manner, is fo excellent, andfo 

 difguifed, that is is made to pafs for pure Burgundy 

 wine J and is fold at" Paris and other places as .fuch,> 

 wickered bottles....; The bcft wine conners are there 



deceived every day. : ' ./ - , , .r 



The Auvernat, without diftinftion, is red; they alio 

 name it from its fkin, which is brown, becaufe its 

 colour is not of fo deep a red as that of the Auvernat 

 Teint, and becaufe it is deeper than the gray Auver- 

 nat, which is almoft quite white, and that too when 

 it has been tunned very much. This kind of red Au- 

 vernat is the moft common among the black Auver- 

 nats, and is one of the beft wines that grow in this plot 

 of vineyards. ^ - .;,.-, - y 



. The [AuvernatNoir] black Auvernat is very uncom- 

 mon in this country, and known by few perfons ; us 

 berry is rounder than the other Auvernats ; its Ikin 

 is as black as jet, and that is the only thing that it is 

 known by. There is alfo another fpecies of it, which 

 fome vianerons call the Auvernats of Tours ; it differs 

 nothing from the red, but in that its wood is very big 

 as well as its fruit. The Grape is lon^ and well filled ; 

 and it v/cre to be wiOied, that this kind was not fo 

 fcarce in this country ; for it is the fineft, and one of 



the beft that we have. . / . . - , 



The o^ray Auvcrnat is neither white, black, nor red, 



but of a o-ray or pearl colour, when at the greateft 



V I T 



maturitj'. But fome have made this obfcryation, that 

 in certain lands this colour becomes black in about 

 twelve or fifteen years after the planting of thefe 

 Vines, but nevcrthelefs without lofing their quality. 

 The change of die colour does not come univerfally. 

 I have feen vineyards very old, that did produce the 

 Auvernat of this quality. 



When this gray Auvernat 'has been made offhand, 

 or when it has been tunned but a very little while, 

 and it is once gone from this vineyard plot, and is 

 denominated by a borrowed name, ic is an eafy mat- 

 ter to make it pafs for fuch a wine as is defired, whe- 

 ther it be fold as it is, or whether ic be mingled with 



But this mixture muft be 



others of a higher colour. 



made in fuch a manner, that the quantity of the gray 

 Auvcrnat be not abforbed by the red that is mixed 

 with it. . . ., 



1 * 



« t 





the vat: when 



i 



....; .- -; Of making wines in Orleans,', /, ;. .' . . 



. The Grapes being cut, and carried from the vine- 

 yard to theprefs, they tread them either in a fcuctle, 

 which tliey place there, or in a vat, when the gather- 

 ing of the vintage Is fihiflicd ; or, in fine, they caft 



.. them into a trough of a wine prefs to be bruifed, 

 Alfo fometTmes they carry them directly to the prefs i 

 but this is when they would make wine fit for pr,e- 

 fent drinkinp^, and that ic is noc fermented in the vac 

 at all. . 



Thofe who make ufe of a fcuttle to bruife their Grapes, 

 cannot pofiibly tread the Grapes well, or at Icafc they 

 will be a long time in doing it, and have agreat deal 



, moretrouble, in that^they arej?bligedjo raife.up, with 

 all their ftrength, the puncheons in which they tread 

 the Grapes, to call them into the vat with the marc, 

 in order to work it all together. :•. 

 The manner of bruifing the Grapes in 

 it is filled, is rriiich worfe than the"^ firft; in that, 

 notwithftanding all the precaution that can be taken, 

 and whatever time is allowed to endeavour to do 



^ this work well, it is abfolucely impofiible it fhould 

 fucceed i for when the wine has been tunned as much 

 as It ought, and they have put it on the prefs with 

 its marc, there will be a part of the Grapes that 

 have not been half bruifed, and this caufesthe marc 

 to yield lefs wine, and there is not all the colour that 

 »it might have; and therefore the Grapes ought never 



. to be bruifed this way, when it can be done other wife, 



^^But if this is alofs to the citizens, not to draw from 



"'-the marc all the wine which it oughc to yield, if all 

 the Grapes Had bee*n well'bfuifed, yet* it affords an 

 advantage to the vigneron, in that his drink will be 

 fo much the better. , _ .. . 



As thei^eis an inconvenience in treading the Grapes, 

 either in a fcuttle, or a vat, as I ftiall make it appear, 

 it will be better to make ufe of a wine prefs ; that is, 

 without contradididn,'the beft way to bruife the 



' - 



^1 • ti-f'- 1 



\ 



Grapes. 



And befides, a wine prefs will ferve for four Gaflcets, 

 when the other will not ferve for two, if they make 

 ufe of a fcuttle ; for according to the meaftire that 

 the Grapes are bruifed in the wine prefs, the wine 

 falling into the vat, does not rife aboVe the Grape \ 

 by which it may be more eafily known, when the 

 Grapes have been well or " ill trod before the marc is 

 turned into the vat ; or it is a great deal more eafy to 

 pufli it with the foot, when the trap door of the trough 





Is lifted up, than to lift up the whole with bodily 

 ftrength^ as they are obliged to do w^iien they tread 

 in a fcutde. _, . \ . 



The trough of the prefs ought to be fet in a kind of 

 litter, and placed upon, or over the vat ; but when 

 the covering of the ftrufture, where the prefs is, is 

 low, it muft be placed 6veVl:he' middle of the prefs 

 without a litter ; then there will be a litde more trou- 

 ble, becaufe it muft be emptied into the vat with a 

 bucket or fcuttle ; but this is no great matter, there 

 are hands enough to do this w'ork. 



:fi 



>/f 



The Grapes having been trodden as before, the marc 

 ' may be thrown into the vac, cithcr'wiih the Grape 



■ . '• and 



