134 



The Grape Cnlturist. 



large vineyards, without reference 

 Avhatever to the amateur vines or 

 vine3'ard8 of small extent, he feels 

 that his estimate is one below rather 

 than above the actuality. Atad. 



[Our correspondent is right. Let us 

 have statistics, and tr}^ to ascertain 

 the importance of American grape 



growing. Please send them in to us, 

 kind I'eadcrs of the Grape Culturtst, 

 and we will sum them up at the end 

 of the year. Let us show to the 

 world, and especially to the import- 

 ers, that we have become a wine-pro- 

 ducing nation. We think the above 

 figures none too high. — Editor.] 



SPAEKLING WINES. 



i:y isinoR bush, ST. LOns, missoiri. 



This class of wines, which graces al- 

 most every festive board of the j^res- 

 ent day, and which — considering the 

 magnitude of its consumption and of 

 its value as a market article — stands 

 at the head of the whole liquor line, 

 was first manufactured in France, in 

 the province of Champagne (whence 

 its name ) about the middle of the last 

 century. 



Not that the wines of that 2:)rovince 

 are peculiarly or better adapted than 

 others ; on the contrary, they lack 

 bouquet and spirit. And from the 

 very fact that those wines were infe- 

 rior and could not be sold in compe- 

 tition with other French (still) wines, 

 the manufacture of sparkling wines 

 was resorted to. Sugar and cognac, 

 at first added to give these wines 

 more strength and life, naturally led 

 them to this invention : The manu- 

 facture of sparkling wine, in which 

 the vintners of the Champagne be- 

 came experts. And they carefully 

 kept it a secret for a long time, so 

 that most people thought the wines 

 of the Champagne were naturally so 

 sweet and sparkling, while in truth 

 they can no more or easier be manu- 



factured into sparkling wines than 

 any others. 



This product soon grew in favor 

 and enriched its producers. Eheims 

 and Epernay have gained a world- 

 wide famcj the rich widow Cliquot 

 became a name more known than 

 that of the chief heroines of ancient 

 and modern history; and nothing can 

 give a better idea of the magnitude 

 of trade in this jjroduct than the fol- 

 lowing figures taken from reliable 

 official data : During the last 25 j-ears 

 187,693,990 bottles of Champagne 

 have been shipped to foreign markets. 

 The tables of the Chamber of Com- 

 merce of Eheims show an ascendant 

 course froni 9,000,000 of bottles in 

 1844 to 22,000,000 in 1869. The home 

 consumption in France has been about 

 3,000,000 of bottles every year. 



We do not attempt to enter into a 

 detailed description of the process 

 how these sparkling wines are made; 

 but general brief outlines of the 

 mode of its manufacture may be of 

 interest to those who do not know it 

 already. 



Wine, about one year old and clear, 

 is brought into a new fermentation 



