324 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



where the celebrated Clos Vougeot Vineyard, consisting 

 of 112 acres, advances considerably into the plain, and 

 faces the east, while those of Nuits and Beaune lie 

 towards the west. Its history will show how far a year 

 of slovenly culture, an injudicious pruning, or the sub- 

 stitution of new plants lor old, may for ever ruin the 

 reputation of a vineyard. It belonged formerly to the 

 monks of the Abbey of Citeaux, who being lovers of 

 good wine, were careful by the most diligent pruning to 

 uphold the sacred character of the vinum theologicum. 

 Flavour was the only quality required, and a vine might 

 be stunted and scraggy, denuded of foliage, and spare of 

 fruit : provided that its fruit was of the genuine flavour, 

 it pleaded not in vain with the tonsured pruner. What 

 they could not consume was reserved to confer obliga- 

 tion on the lords around, or to propitiate the favour of 

 crowned heads. These Cistercians were satisfied with 

 obtaining from 20 to 30 hogsheads of the finest quality 

 of wine ; but since it has fallen under lay supervision, 

 the original vines, supposed to have been some centuries 

 old, have disappeared, and the new ones, though yield- 

 ing about 300 hogsheads, produced a second-class 

 wine, which is very far from supporting the repute 

 of the wines of Vougeot. This vineyard has lately 

 been bought by Mr. Ouvrard for about £500 per 

 acre. 



Proceeding to Nuits we find the vineyards of Romance, 

 Richebourg, and La Tache, whose wines were prescribed 

 to restore the health of Louis XIV. 



At Beaune, owing its prosperity to the fact of its 

 being one of the main seats of the wine trade, we are 

 reminded of the insinuation of Petrarch, that the wine 

 of this neighbourhood did much towards prolonging the 

 residence of the Papal Court at Avignon. And having 

 just noticed the liberality of the Cistercians, of Citeaux, 

 there was probably a good foundation for the insinua- 

 tion. Amongst the events that marked the close of the 

 reign of Louis XIV. was a paper war, the matter of 

 contention being The V/ines of Burgundy ». The Wines 

 of Champagne. It was waged by a Student of Medicine 

 at Rheimsand a Collegiate Professor of Beaune, and was 

 decided in favour of the champagne wines by the 

 Faculty of Medicine of Paris. The Professor mentions 

 the produce of the Clos St. George, a neighbouring 

 vineyard, as a wine " qui rVa pas son pareil, et ne peut 

 etre asset prise." There are in this town about eighty 

 mercantile houses engaged in the trade, and the annual 

 exportation amounts to 40,000 butts. 



Continuing our route, we keep company with the 

 same chain of hills which overhangs the vineyards of 

 Cote d'Or, extending through the departments of the 

 Saone et Loire and the Beaujolais, towards the banks 

 of the Rhone, and presents along its base very favour- 

 able exposures for the growth of the vine; but from 

 some cause or other the culture is not successful, and 

 the wines produced, known as Macon, do not occupy a 

 high rank. 



Leaving the rails at Beaune, and travelling across a 

 charming country two and a-half leagues to the south- 

 east, we arrive at Poligny, where is produced at the 

 Mont Rachet vineyard the best of the ivkite wines of 



Burgundy — not inferior to the red, either in flavour or 

 aroma. 



We have now passed over the tract of country from 

 which the Dukes of Burgundy were designated " les 

 princes cles bon vins,"8i country whose richness caused 

 it to be a great bone of contention amongst the 

 kings. 



The vintage is a more simple affair than that practised 

 in Champagne. It does not occupy long. In con- 

 sequence of the populousness of the country between 

 Dijon and Beaune, the proprietors of the vineyards can 

 get over a large amount of work in a short time. Four 

 to five hundred of people will be engaged at once in 

 the various processes. Truly, a merry scene ! the 

 women gathering in their picturesque costumes; the 

 trains, with the tottering loads, wending their way to the 

 presses, where in many-coloured vestments, the much- 

 perspiring natives, their feet armed with wooden soles, 

 dance with exhilarating measure upon the luscious fruit, 

 bruising it to the cadence of some vintage song. This 

 pulp is passed through open-worked baskets, which 

 separates from it about two-thirds of the stalks, and is 

 then thrown into the vat, where the jnust has already 

 preceded it from the treading troughs. The vat is 

 covered by a lid, which floats upon the liquid, or rather 

 on the stalks and mare or husks (whose colouring 

 matter, dissolved by the alcohol eliminated in the 

 process of fermentation, give to the wine its hue), and 

 is gradually lifted up as the process of fermentation 

 is developed. As the chief excellence of these 

 wines consists in the fulness of their flavour and 

 perfume, it is obvious that fermentation should be con- 

 ducted only with a view to the most complete preserva- 

 tion of the aroma ; hence the lighter wines — Pomard 

 and Volnay, &c. — are allowed only to remain in vat 

 twenty or thirty hours. The best wine is always pro- 

 duced from the most rapid fermentation. As, however, 

 wine so rapidly fermented retains a portion of its sac- 

 charine and uncombined extractive matter, it is not safe 

 for it to be exported except in bottle. 



When the fermentation has ceased, the wine is drawn 

 ofi" in large casks, which contain about 70O gallons 

 each. Every three or four months it is pumped by 

 means of a syphon and bellows into another cask of 

 equal dimensions. The Burgundy of the Clos Vaugeot 

 receives no other preparation ; but it is treated to this 

 last operation, till sold, as frequently as seems desirable. 

 This wine is sometimes kept for ten or twelve years ; 

 but it is generally bottled and sold when three or four 

 years old. 



In England we are little accustomed to distinguish 

 amongst the delicate shades in this wine. 



The common vineyards, or those about Dijon, sell for 

 £63 19s. 2d. per acre. The produce of these is esti- 

 mated at about ^£"13 to £14 per acre. They pay, there- 

 fore, about 6 per cent. The best vineyards of Bourgogne 

 sell at ,£120 to £150 per acre. For the best vineyards 

 of the department Cote d'Or, such prices as £500 per 

 acre are not uncommon : the produce of such vine- 

 yards is about £46 to £50 per acre. At Baume the 

 price per acre is £163 16s. ; at Chagni, £40, with a 



