THE VINEYARDS OF THE WORLD. 19 



full of silicious stones of different sizes and 

 colour to a depth of from two to ten feet. 

 The subsoil varies a good deal, and is either 

 clay, chalk or stone, or formed of a hard 

 kind of very dark sand, known as alios, 

 which contains a ferrugineous matter called 

 " arene." There, again, we have a soil 

 absolutely unfit for any other culture but 

 that of the Vine, which grows there and 

 produces a wine the flavour and sweetness 

 of which more than compensates for the 

 usually small quantity of the yield. The 

 Graves district produces red as well as 

 white wines of very high repute, but the 

 brightest jewel in its vinous crown, and 

 one of which it is justly proud, is the 

 Chateau Haut Brion, which stands at the 

 very gates of Bordeaux. 



3. SAUTERNES. This is but a small dis- 

 trict, comprising Sauternes, Bommes and 

 Barsac, and dedicated almost entirely to 



