282 



A VISIT TO THE BEST FRENCH VINEYARDS. 



great merriment; for upon a square wooden 

 trough stand four or five men, with bare 

 and juice-stained legs, dancing and tread- 

 ing out the grapes to the music of a violin; 

 the latter instrument forming an essential 

 part of every well ordered vineyard. As 

 these grapes are all purple, it is a very odd 

 sight to see these dancers performing a 

 fandango, or 'pas de quatre, stained as they 

 are from head to foot, in the blood of the 



grape. 



The next process is (with an instrument 

 called derapoir,) that of stripping the broken 

 skins and grapes from the stalk, and pour- 

 ing the juice into vats to ferment. The 

 skins rise to the top, and the wine, after 

 fermentation, is drawn off from below, in 

 the same way as in Grand Duke of Tus- 

 cany's dairy, near Florence, where the milk 

 is drawn away from beneath without the 

 cream knowing it, and not skimmed off 

 from above as with us. 



About 20 miles from Bordeaux we passed, 

 at a distance, the Chateau Margaux, — the 

 handsomest in Medoc. It is built some- 

 what like an Italian villa, and belongs to 

 the heirs of the banker, Aguado. It is un- 

 healthy, however, and rarely inhabited. 

 The Margaux Grape is small, and, to me, 

 its flavor is positively disagreeable. The 

 village of Margaux is a pretty, picturesque 

 little place, with its white villas, green 

 hedges, and trellised vines. 



After passing Blaye, where the Duchesse 

 DE Berri was confined in 1833, in an old cas- 

 tle, you come to Becheville, where there is 

 a nice chateau, belonging to M. Gues- 

 TiER, the greatest wine merchant in France. 

 Here commence and finish, within six miles, 

 the most celebrated vineyards of Medoc. 

 Chateau Leoville, (producing the best second 

 growth,) and also la Rose, the Chateau La- 

 tour, in the parish of St. Lambert, one and 

 a half miles off. This last estate or vine- i 



3^ard does not exceed 330 acres, and was 

 sold, not long since, for £60,000, ($300,000.) 



I think the next and last vineyard is Cha- 

 teau Lafitte, belonging to Sir Samuel Scott. 

 It is small, and makes from 300 to 400 

 hogsheads. All this is a very interesting 

 journey to one, curious in this most ancient 

 agricultural occupation, or fond of these 

 pure and excellent French wines. 



I think you would be struck with the 

 severe priming which the vines receive 

 every year, and the constant " stopping" 

 during the season. The vineyards them- 

 selves, partly from the very careful culture, 

 but also from the very poor soil, are entirely 

 free from weeds ; and you rarely see a 

 straggling or redundant vine. Indeed, they 

 are always full of women and children, who 

 pinch off a pushing shoot without the slight- 

 est compunction. 



I will add, before closing, a word on the 

 present degenerate state of the fruit mar' 

 kbt of Europe. I as.^ure you it is impossi- 

 ble to procure, on the continent, such a 

 display of fruit as you or I often have on 

 our tables at home. Mr. L (of Bos- 

 ton,) and myself have searched all the mar- 

 kets, as well as Yergs, Les trois Freres, 

 Cafe de Paris, etc.; but we find no pears, 

 except Duchesse d' Angouleme and Brown 

 Beurri, — magnificent, certainly, in size and 

 fairness, but deficient in flavor. There are 

 no grapes but Chasselas [de Fontainbleau;) 

 these only average, in size of bunch and 

 berry, the best of Underhill's Isabellas. 

 The climate being sufficiently mild to ad- 

 mit of these being grown out of doors, 

 nobody thinks of forced grapes. Even the 

 late king had not a vinery, now a compara- 

 tively common luxury in the United States. 

 Indeed, about Paris, one sees no forced 

 fruit. Everything is grown by field or gar- 

 den culture. Yours sincerely, H. W". S. 



Paris, 27th October, 1848. 



