462 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



plank across the vat. The duration of the fer- 

 mentation is very uncertain, depending upon the 

 state of the wentiier, and the ripeness of the 

 grapes. Messrs. Richard fernienithe finest (jrapes 

 in one vat, and those of an inferior quality in the 

 other. I tasted the wine of both vats of the last 

 vintai^e; the first was made of the best grapes, 

 which were also gathered in dry and warm 

 weather; the second (|uality was made from the 

 inferior grapes, and from others which had been 

 gathering during rain and cold weather. 



The fermentation of the first was over in five 

 (lays, and its present value is 300 francs the cask 

 of 210 litres, (that is, about as many bottles ;) the 

 other continued fermenting in the vat for twenty 

 days, and its present value is only 80 francs for the 

 same quantity. 



The finest clarets of Bourdeaux are mixed with 

 a portion of the finest red wine of Hermitage, and 

 four fifths of the quantity of the latter which is 

 produced are thus employed. The wines are 

 racked oft' the lees in spring, and sulphured. A 

 very small piece of sulphured match is burnt in 

 the casks intended fer the white wine ; the red 

 wine requires a greater portion. These matches 

 are purchased from persons who make a business 

 in preparing them. They are slips of paper, about 

 one inch and a half broad, and when coated on 

 both sides with sulphur, are about the thickness of 

 a sixpence. A piece of one inch and a half square 

 is sufficient for a cask of white wine containing 50 

 gallons. 



On returning from visiting the cellar of old wines, 

 which is under the other, 1 Ibund one of M. Rich- 

 ard's sons in the office, who had been 12 montlisin 

 England, and spoke English very correctly. He 

 took me to visit one ol' the largest proprietors of the 

 part ol'the hill of Hermitage, which produces the 

 best wines. We Ibund him at home, and walked 

 with him to two of his vineyards. The hill of 

 Hermitage is so called from an ancient hermitage 

 the ruins of which are still in existence near its to"p. 

 It was inhabited by hermits till within the last 100 

 years. The hill, though of considerable heiirht, is 

 not of great extent ; the whole front which looks 

 to the south may contain 300 acres, but of this, 

 though the whole is under vines, the lower part 

 is too rich to yield those of the best quality, and a 

 part near the top is too cold to bring its produce to 

 perfect maturity. Even of the middle region, the 

 whole extent does not produce the finest wines. 

 M. Machon, the gentleman whose property we 

 were traversing, pointed out to me the direction in 

 which a belt of calcareous soil crossed the ordinary 

 granitic soil of the mountain, and he said it re- 

 quires the grapes of these diiferent soils to be 

 naixed, in order to produce the finest quality of 

 Hermitage. I took home a portion of the soil 

 which he pointed out as calcareous, and the de- 

 gree of eft'ervescence which took place on my 

 pouring vinegar upon it, indicated the presence 

 ofa considerable portion of lime. It is probably to 

 this peculiarity that the wine of Hermitage owes 

 its superiority ; for to all appearance many of the 

 neighboring hills on both sides of the Rhone pre- 

 sent situations equally favorable, although the 

 wine produced even upon the best of them never 

 rises to above half the value of the former, and in 

 general not to the Iburlh ol iheir value. A good 

 deal may also be attributable to the selection of 

 plants. The best red wines of Hermitage are 



made exclusively from one variety, and the white 

 wines from two varieties ; but in the district gene- 

 rally a much greater number of varieties are culti- 

 vated. The red grape is named the Ciras.* The 

 while varieties are the Jiousette and the Marsan. 

 The former yields by itself a dry and spirituous 

 wine, which easily aliects the head ; the plant 

 produces indilferently. The latter yields a sweeter 

 wine. They are mixed together to produce the 

 best white Hermitage. 



The labor bestowed upon these vineyards is im- 

 mense. According to M. Machon, on their first 

 plantation, and every time the plantation is renew- 

 ed, the soil is dug to the depth of 4-^ or 5 feet. 

 In most places it is also supported by terraces. 

 This was the first place, in the course of my jour- 

 ney, ia which 1 observed any supports given tO' 

 the vines ; but these were simply a stake of about 

 five feet in height to each plant, and the shoots 

 were tied together at its top ; for from the care in- 

 dicated by the small trellis ofthe Medoc vineyards, 

 this part of the labor seemed to be performed in 

 the rudest possible manner. M. Machon informed 

 me that the vines require constant attention to 

 keep them in bearing, and whenever a vine is 

 observed to be weak, or to yield a poor crop, it ia 

 du2 out, and its place supplied by a pjoum from 

 the strongest vine in its neighborhood. I saw this 

 operation commenced and completed. A vine 

 which appeared weaker than the rest was dug out, 

 and a trench of about iwo or two and a half leet 

 deep was opened up between ii and the nearest 

 vine in the adjoining row. This vine bore three 

 vigorous shoots ; the stock was carefully bent 

 down till it was laid flat along the bottom of the 

 trench; a quantity of dung was next put over it, 

 and then some soil ; ofthe three shoots, the least 

 lavorable Irorn its inclination was cut oft', one of 

 the two remaining was bent back to the original 

 position ol'the stock, and there fixed by the cover- 

 ing in of the soil ; the other, in like manner, was 

 bent in the opposite direction to fill the place of 

 the plant which was dug out. It was evident that 

 this is a very difi'erent process from that ol filling a 

 vacant space by bending the shoot of an adjoining 

 vine into the ground till it issues at the place 

 where it is intended to grow, and afterwards, when 

 it has acquired sufficient strength, cutting off its 

 connexion with the original ; the stock actually 

 became the root of two distinct vines, and their 

 connexion is never destroyed. This process had 

 taken place with a considerable portion ofthe vines 

 this season, and a portion of them are annually 

 treated thus : Into each trench was put rather a 

 large basket full of stable dung, mixed with 

 soil. On my expressing great surprise that dung 

 should lie used at all in a vineyard of such reputa- 

 tion, as I had always understood, that though it 

 added to the quantity of the wine, it injured its 

 quality, and often gave it a bad flavor, the pro- 

 prietor said, that without frequent and strong ma- 

 nuring the vines would scarcely yield any thing ; 

 and that provided horse or sheep dung only was 

 used, there was no danger of its giving the wine 



*In the (Enolope Francaise, a very minute and cor- 

 rect account of the French vineynrds, published in 

 1826, the name of this grape is spelt Scyras ; and it is 

 stated that, according to the tradition of the neighbor- 

 hood, the plant was originally brought from Shiraz in 

 Persia, by one ofthe hermits of the mountain. 



