144 THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



Johannisberg, when made from the grapes which grow near 

 the castle, is worth twice as much as that made a few hundred 

 yards farther off. Here both soil and aspect change. The 

 Clos de Vougeau, which produces the finest Burgundy, is 

 confined to a few acres ; beyond a certain wall, the Avine is a 

 common Burgundy, good, but without extraordinary merit." 



At Bourdeaux, a southeast exposure is preferred, and in 

 Germany, generally, a southwest ; in some places, a northern 

 exposure is thought best, as the danger from late frosts is less. 



Chaptal is considered as the best French authority on the 

 vine. His object, in his Treatise on the Grape, was to pro- 

 mote the improvement of the quality of the wine, and to dis- 

 courage the use of manures, as one of ihe main causes of this 

 inferiority. The practical ideas of this treatise are mostly at- 

 tributed to the Abbe Rosier, of whom it is said, " that, retir- 

 ing to the home of his fathers, he, for a long time, practised 

 agriculture, not only studying all previous systems of vine 

 culture, but comparing the old with his experience, the local 

 practices with the laws of natural philosophy, to bring the 

 culture of the vine to its highest state of perfection was his 

 particular object." In the introduction, he asks, " Why is it, 

 that so large a number of the wines of France, formerly cel- 

 ebrated, are now fallen into discredit ? Why, these wines 

 should be of so ordinary a quality, whilst those of another 

 district have acquired and preserved a merited reputation ? 

 On reflection, we cannot attribute the difference entirely to 

 the situation, the chmate, or the soil. Is it not, then, to the 

 little care of the cultivators, to the following of a blind rou- 

 tine, or to the ignorance of the laws of nature, or to the 

 preference that is given to vines that abound in juice of a 

 gross nature, above those which produce wines of a better 

 quality ?" Page 6. 



" The laws of vegetation, regarding the vine, will show you 

 that a rich soil will produce the most vigorous shoots, but 

 that the sap thus communicated from the vine to the grape 

 would not be sufficiently elaborated ; the wine would be in- 



