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CHAPTER XXL 



VINEYARD AT CASTLE COCH, CARDIFF, 

 SOUTH WALES. 



'HE Vineyard at Castle Coch was planted in the spring of 1875, 

 on the French system, as practised in the neighbourhood of 

 Paris, Burgundy, and in the Champagne district. The Vine- 

 yard lies to the south of the Castle, at a somewhat lower level, 

 with a gentle slope to the south, and from the nature of the ground, 

 it requires no artificial drainage. The soil, two feet deep, is a light 

 fibrous loam, resting on limestone rock. The Vines are planted in 

 rows from north to south, three feet apart, and the plants are three 

 feet apart in the rows, and trained to stakes four feet high, and pruned 

 to within three buds of the previous year's growth every year. 



The first wine was made in 1877. The crop was not a heavy one, 

 but sufficient to make about forty gallons of wine. In 1878 the crop 

 of Grapes was better, but in the two following years it was a complete 

 failure, owing to the cold, wet and sunless summer of 1879, in which 

 the canes did not ripen. There was a good crop in 1881, the wine was 

 of the best quality, and pronounced by the Fruit Committee of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society to resemble a first-class still champagne. 

 The whole of the vintage (except a few dozen) was sold readily at 60*. 

 per dozen. The years 1882 and 1883 were complete failures, in which 

 no wine was made ; but since 1884 more or less wine has been made 

 every year. 



In the Jubilee year (1887) the vintage produced nine hogsheads of 

 excellent wine ; the crop was the largest and best ripened since the 

 Vines were planted. Lord Bute is so far satisfied with the results of 

 the experiment, that he has begun planting a large Vineyard on his 

 estate at Swanbridge, and a smaller one at St. Quentin's, near 

 Cowbridge, with the idea of further experimenting upon the soil and 

 situation best adapted for the cultivation of the Vine in the open air 

 in South Wales. The variety found to prove the sturdiest and to 

 answer best is named Gamay Noir, a variety which is grown largely 

 in the south of France for wine making. 



