^ 



THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 161 



The superior quality of wines from celebrated vineyards, 

 where, it is said, no manure is ever used, is, in some measure, 

 owing to the limiting of the amount of fruit which a vine is 

 allowed to mature, and to the great care bestowed in the cul- 

 tivation, — as pruning, and keeping the soil constantly worked 

 and loose, and in harvesting the grapes, being careful not to 

 gather any but what are perfectly ripe, and never allowing 

 any defective berries to be put in the press (which, in com- 

 mon wine-maldng, usually receives but little attention, all 

 sound and defective often going in to the press together). 

 At Johannisberg, the vineyard is surrounded by a stone wall 

 ten feet high, thus promoting the ripening of the fruit. 



" Some local influences produce effects which are ahke in- 

 explicable and inimitable. These, though generally attributed 

 to the soil, are not always or solely owing to its composition 

 and qualities. In.^ome instances, the soil is the main cause 

 oLdifference, as seen in the Constantia of the Cape. The 

 climate there is most favorable to the growth of the vine ; 

 yet, in one small space only, is a tolerable wine produced ; 

 the two contiguous farms of the great and little Constantia 

 yielding, the former the red sweet wine, the latter the Wliite 

 Constantia : the soil on which they grow is decomposed sand- 

 stone." — Penny Cyclopcedia. 



" The Montillado, of Spain, is the produce of a white soil, 

 containing seventy per cent, of carbonate of lime, with alumi- 

 na, silica, and a little magnesia, while the Mandanilla is the 

 produce of the red and sandy earths ; yet the wines do not 

 greatly differ in taste or flavor. More importance is attached 

 to the soil than it deserves ; its physical properties are of 

 more importance than its chemical. Chaptal was clearly of 

 this opinion, for he maintains that, provided it is porous, free, 

 and light, its component parts are of little consequence. 



" Where some peculiar strong-smelling substance exists in 



the soil, an odor is communicated to the Avine which renders 



it unpleasant. This is the case when stinkstein (a variety of 



sub-carbonate of Hme, called pierre puante,) is present. 



21 



