V 



1 



\tls fufricient: to put a third part, or at iricfl: a half, 

 of the grains into the puncheons, and after that they 

 fill the wine up to the bung. They niake ufc of 



thcfe 



rapes to put oIt the grounds or botrotris ot 



V 



It is true, that thofc w! 



gather 



have a 



thole who tarry (o long before tlicy 

 great deal lefs wine than the others, 

 but then at the fame time it is much better, and lells 

 a great deal dearer, fo that I believe it comes much 



wine, and rhe weak ones, wluch they alfo mix fome- to the fame, or very near the matter. 



times with them. The third kind of Sam.oireau, of 

 V/hich I fliall fpeak, renders them the better for 

 k 



eeping. 



The Samoireau Fourchu is the bed of the three kind ; 

 this is proper to give th.e colour to the others, and to 

 fuftain thofe that are weak, and to reftore thofe that 



have any defedt. 



In order to know the colour, they cafl: fome of it 

 againft a wall, and according to the imprefTion it 

 makes, they judge of the effect it will produce. 

 One Tingle puncheon of that will colour fix of white, 

 and fometimes more, according as the feafons are hot, 

 and the quantity of the wine that the vineyard has 

 yielded; this wine is not only good to drink, when it 

 is taken in time, but it ferves for a remedy againft 

 the dvfenterv and other maladies : its marc is e-ood 

 ao-ainll rheumatifms. 



I'his fort has a virtue that is not found in any others, 

 bccaufe the longer it is kept the better it is ; for it 

 is better for di inking at the end of twelve or four- 

 teen years, than one or two years after it has been 

 made. 



Some put it in bottles, but it keeps equally as well in 

 cafks, provided care be taken to keep them always 

 full, and to obferve that the caiks do not want hoops, 

 and it will be proper to put on feveral iron hoops at 

 each end. 



The wine, the marc, and the wood, or rather the 

 afhes of this plant, have alfo a great many other pro- 

 perties which 1 fhall not relate. 



The time of gathering thefe two fpecies of Samoireau 

 comes much later than thofe of the firft, which ripens 

 at the fame time v/ith the Auvernat. 

 The territory of Mardic is the moft proper for thefe 

 plants, and that which produces the moft of it, (I 

 mean of the hard and Fourchii Samoireau ;) there is 

 of it at Boil and Checi, ahd but a very little in any 

 -6ther places of this vineyard plot. 

 As the Fourchu never produces more wine than when 

 the plants are 'a little old, many eager to enjoy the fruit 

 • of their labours, arid their djcpences, have riot patience 

 to wait fo long, and therefore they pull up thofe' of 

 'them they had, and cannot refolve to plant them 

 when they have them not, 



Neverthelefs this is a precious plant, and one may 

 judge of it by the effefts that it produces, and by the 

 price which it bears, for it is commonly fold for dou- 

 ble the price of the beft wines of this country ; and I 

 do not know, ' but that thofe who deftroy them, and 

 thofe that do not raife them, will repent it one time 



or other. ^ .. . .. ' . ./ ^■'■V ■ - 



As tliei^ IS not much to be faid of the manner of 



making white wine, and 



The wanes of which I am fpeaking, akhoutrh fvvectof 

 themfelves, have, neverthelefs, not alway^ the fame 

 degree of liquor ; this depends upon the condition of 

 the feafon, that is to fay, by how much the fuaimcr 

 and autumn are the hotter, the wine has the more H- 

 quor, and it has a great deal lefs when the feafoa is 

 the contrary. 



What I fay is fo true, that the feafon having been very 

 hot in the year 1719, the fweet wines themfelves had 

 abundance more liquor than ordinary, and kept o-ood 

 more than a year ^ alfo the dry wines of many pTaces 

 were fweet and clear. 



Some red wines were alfo very foft (which is very 

 rare,) and held good till the m.onth of February in the 

 year 1721. It is true they were thick, and that they 

 did not become clear till the time that they loft their 

 fweetnefs, which altered their ftrength. 

 The foftnefs of the wliite wines being over, they 

 were neverthelefs good, but as there remains a cer- 

 tain flavour, which pleafes the palate of moft perfons, 

 it is beft to " ' 



may be. 



fell them, or fpend them as foon as 



One may know by experience that good Grapes almoft 

 always make good wine. Among the white Grapes, 

 without contradi6lion, the beft are Melier, and the 

 white Auvernat of the Low Countries. As the white 

 ^ Formentes or Bourgignons, the Maledeueaux, the 

 Tramboifes, the white Gois, &c. make a wine which 

 is better to throw av/ay than to drink, yet vineyards 

 of the vignerons are ftufFed with thefe wretched Vines, 

 becaufe they yield m.ore wine, and for the moft part, 

 better refift thofe accidents that happen to a vineyard ; 



■ for thefe people have no regard to any thing but the 

 quantity, which is the realon that they do not ordi- 

 narily fell their wines to that advantages as the citi- 

 zens do. 



The white Grapes cannot be gathered too ripe, be- 

 caufe the riper they are, the more w;ine they produce, 



■ and their jottenhefs does "Hoc give It any bad tafte ; 



,^buj whenTris^^^^^ they Vome to their full 



'-"npenefs, ttiey^are fubjedt to grow yellow, yet recrard 

 is to be had to thofe lands of which the wine is fubjeft 

 to grow ropy. 



For this reafon, when they are gathered, it is good 

 that the Grape has a little grcennefs, to the end^hat 

 the wine that comes from them may be able to keep 

 dry, to which the white Auvernat of the Lov/ Coun- 

 tries, and the green Melier, contribute very much-,. 

 the laft hinders the wine from being ropy, and the firft 

 , makes it clear, and for this reafon it is oood to pfant 



Melier 



» f 



i^ ■ r ? ^ ^: > 



• ing, they may be both mingled together, and make 



.T- 



the beginning of this article, I fliall fay but little of 

 It plarticularly. ' ^^ ' ■■ ■ 



Although there are fiiariy kinds of white Grapes, 

 yet they iiiake, as one may fay, but two forts of wine 



notice of it at 1 a wine without any fault. 



» - 





Oneoughtto endeavour not togather the whiteGrapcs 

 but when the weather is fair ; a rainy feafon is not fo fa- 

 vourable, for one ought never to mingle water with 

 the wine that one makes, tho' fome are not over fcru^ 

 of them, tlie one the mbift, and the other the dry I . DuTous as to this point. It is true, the inconvenience 

 wines. '. —\ . ■■ ■ :r.\ " '••■■;: . .- _ .; ; IS not fo great m refpeft to the Auver.nats. but that 



* t 



: The firft, fuch" as the Mufcat or the Gendin of St. 

 :' Mefmin, thofe of Mariguy, of Rebrechein, and other 

 ' heighbouring places, may be looked upon as the moft 

 ' precious, in that they bring the money into the king- 

 dom, rather than the dry wines, for they fend them 

 '^into Holland, Flanders, England, &c. To render 

 '-^■' this wine the better, they do not content themfelves 

 '■ to fee that the Grapes have their perfedt maturity, 

 ^ and be half rotten ; they wait oftentimes till the froft 



, has taken them, to have the wine which they call 

 '^Bourou ; and in fome years they defer fhe vintage un- 

 "^ til the fifteenth or twentieth of November, and it is 

 • then fometimes fo cold, that the icicles hang upon 

 ;- thcfe Grapes that areperiftied,fo that theyare obliged 

 '''to carry fires into the vineyards in great pans, to warm 



the gatherers;' - . ■ - 



is not fo great in refpeft to the Auvemats. 

 fhould not hinder one from always endeavouring to 

 make good wine; and for this real< * * ' "*' 

 ther the vintage in a dry hot time. 



ft 



y 



^r -* 



hen they bring the 

 Grapes in panniers from the vineyards, they empty 

 them direftly on the middle of the pr^fs, where they 

 trample them with their wooden ftioes ; the broadeft 

 and fmootheft are the moft proper for this work. 

 The Grapes ought to be trod immediately, that is to 

 fay, every pannier as they bring them from the vine- 

 yard, otherwife the wine would be yellow ; and this 

 colour is difagreeable to the fight, and ftill more to 

 the palate, and confequently gives the wine a bad 

 quality. 



According as the Grapes are prefixed on the middle, 

 and that the pipb fills, they empty it to fill the pun- 



■ clieons. 



- « 



r" 



■ / 



^ I 



