F A R iM E li S ' REGISTER 



465 



|il!intatioti. The poii of Cliamlieriin varies ex- 

 ireme.ly, even in ihe dit^taiice of 100 yards ; tjiai 

 neare.-i ilie road is of a hrown lo.uii ol' suffirierii 

 corisii-teiicy, but full of i,fr.ivel, atui coiise(|ue(illy 

 very I'riahle. The uravel corisisis of small tirukeri 

 pieces of ihe vvhiiish litnetiioiif, of ivliich ihe hill 

 is parity forineil. At the highest limii lo which 

 the irri)UM(i ha;j been tnokeii up, il is a iiiiht co- 

 lored clayish looUinif soil, wiih a subsoil ol' marl, 



without the wail, and the present extent of the 

 Clos Vougeot is iliereluie 43 hectares, 112^ Eng- 

 lish acres. 



I nifiitioned to the steward of iVl. Ouvrard, tny 

 (lis i|ipoi:)trneiit rcgardinirmy letters ot'iiiiroduclion 

 and my having resolved in ei'iiseqnence to irusl lo 

 the good iiauire of ilie prttjirielor of Clos Vuugeot 

 lor a friendly reception. He replied, very heartily, 

 that I had done well. He conducted me over ilie 



and ahijiKi.ini.e of small shell.--. J3olli of these soils j cellars where the wines are made, and subse- 

 etlervesced sironi,Hy with an aciti, but the lijjht j quently over those wh**re they are kept, explaining 

 colored evidenily contains a liir j^reaier proponion the whole process pursued in making the wine, 

 oriime. The soils of Bf-ze, anoi her first rale vine- and answering all my questions with great exact- 

 yard ot'the commune of Gevray, was exactly siini- ness. 'J'lie first cellar lortus a square, or rather 

 lar to that of the lower part of Chamhertin. A consists of four parallelograms, enclosing a square, 

 league further on, the middle part of the Clos | In each of the lour corners is a large square case, 

 Vouireot was as nearly as possible the same ; but or trough, about 12 feet in diameter; and above 



tht! lowest part of that vineyard is almost a pure 

 clay, of a dark yellow color, without any admixture 

 of calcareous matter whatever. From what I had 

 previously observed at Dijon on the one side, and 

 JBeaune on the other, I have no doubt that the 

 same character applies, with trifliiiir variations, to 

 the whole range oftheCoted'Or. Nearest the lop 

 the soil contains a larger proportion of lime, and 

 this in general yields the driest and best wine. On 

 descending, the clay begins to predominate, and 

 the wine gradually lalls off in qnaliiy till it be- 

 comes the u(/i ordmairc of the country. By dint 

 of Irequenl observations and repeated questions, I 

 conceive that I at last perfectly understand the 

 system ofprovignage. To make it plain, t-uppose 

 a small portion of ground to be annually planted 

 with vines. At the end of ten or a dozen years 

 a number oftiie plants, in the portion first planted, 

 become weak and worn out. These weak planis 

 are removed, and their places filled by provins 

 from their sironi;er neiixhbors; but iliese provins 

 are not mere layers which leave the stock exacily 

 as befire. The whole space of ground, generally 

 the breadth of two rows of planis, is dug out to 



this an immense lever, worked by a wooden screw, 

 similar lo those I had seen lor pressing the o'ives 

 in Spain. Along the walls, on each side, are 

 arranged the lermenting vats, which are each of 

 the capacity of 18 hoi/shcads. The vintage is, in 

 general, soon over, M. Ouvrard employing often 

 Irom 400 lo 450 vintajjers at the same time. For 

 Ihe red wine, (he grapes as they are brought in are 

 thrown into the large cases or troughs above de- 

 scribed, and there trodden by a number of men, 

 with large wooden shoes, till the grapes are nearly 

 all broken. They are then taken np in baskets, 

 with intersiices wide enough to allow the jriapes 

 to pass ihrough, v/hen a poriion of the stalk's, 

 L'enerally about two thirds, are taken out. If ihe 

 whole of ihe stalks were l:jkfn out, ihe quality of 

 Ihe wine, as has been repealeUly proved, would be 

 inlerior. The whole is then |)ui imo the v.ii into 

 which the must, as it ran Iroin the treading, had 

 been previously carried. With the number of 

 people emuloyed, it requires a very short period to 

 fill a vat. A space of ai)Out 12 inches is left unfilled 

 at Ihe top, and a sliding lid is then pui over, which 

 floats upon thesurlace. As soon as thefermeufa- 



ihe depth of about two feet ; the old stock is then i lion becomes violent, the swel iuir of the mass lilia 

 laid liat down in the bottom of the trench, and the the lid to the height ofsix inches above the moinli 

 branches, that is, the wood la^it produced, are j of ihe vat. As, however, the skins and the slalkss 



twisted and benl into the [)laces where the voids 

 are to be filled. The stock is thus converted into 

 the root of two or three difi'erent plants ; it throws 

 out fibres from every side, which henceforth yield 

 the nourishment to the planis, and the old root 

 dies olf. I observed some spots where all the 



had previously risen to the surliice, none of the 

 liquor escapes. A very smali space, lormed by 

 the looseness of the lid, is considered sufficient to 

 allow the gas to escape, until the rising of the lid 

 allows a greater space. And it is perhaps owing 

 to the confinement of the gas ilrai the lid is raised 



plants had been loo weak, and a colony of younir ^^ *'Jch a hoiirhi. If the weather had been very 

 plants, as it was called, had been iniroduced, which vvarm when the grapet3 were gathered, and still 

 would be employed in peopling iheirneiirhborhood continues warm, while the fermentaiion is troin^ 

 when they had acquired suffi/ienl strengih. The Ibrward, the wine is soon made. The fermenratiou 

 provigna<^e extends irreifularly over the whole is sometimes over in 30 hours; at other times it 

 vineyard, but most, or all, of ihe planis are thus i continues 10,12, and even 15 days. The best 

 buried, and renewed once in 12 or 14 years ; and wine is always produced from the most rapid ler- 

 iliusihe whole is in a constant state of t)earing, | mentation. When the fermentaiion slackens, the 



(the ()rovins yielding a ciup the first year,) and it 

 isseKiom necessary lo introduce young vines. All 

 of thesmall proprietors manure their vines with 

 strong stable dung; they make no distinction be- 

 tween that of horses and that of cows. 



After qiiitiin;; the vineyard of Chambertin. I 

 rejoined the cabriolet, and after recovering the 

 main road, proceeded to Clos Vougeot. This 

 vineyard formerly belonged to a convent, and the 

 buildings are therelbre raiher extensive. Whai 

 was the old vineyard is enclosed by a high stone 

 wall ; but JVI. Ouvrard, the present proprietor, has 



liquor liegins to subside, and when it is entirel\r 

 over, sinks within the top o\' the vat, but not so 

 lov/ as when the vat wr,s first filled ; lor the marc, 

 or, in other words, the stalks and skins, arc com- 

 pletely separated Irorn the liquor, and float upoa 

 the top. 



As soon as it is known, by the subsiding of (he 

 head, and by the taste and examination of the 

 wine, that ihe fernieniation has ceased, the wine 

 is drawn oil' into larire vats, which contain about 

 TOOirallons each. Every three or /our months it 

 is pumped, by means of the syphon and bellowa, 



also acquired a considerable portion of the land ' into another vat oi" the same dimension, when a 

 Vol. VIII.-59 



