THE BURGUNDY WINE DISTRICT. 45 



nished witii one solid oak slide, which is pushed toward the farther 

 end by a couple of iron screws fastened in the planks on the one 

 end. The other end has a cast-iron wheel, and each of the screws 

 is furnished with one also, which in turn is driven by a still small- 

 er wheel, on an iron bar which is attached to a fly-wheel worked 

 by hand. When this is moved it starts the close-fitting solid slide 

 of the box, and this presses the substance against the three open- 

 work sides with such force as to extract every particle of juice 

 from the stems and seeds deposited there for that purpose. The 

 wine so pressed is carried in tubs to the cellar, and disjDoscd of as 

 before described. 



Five days is generally sufiicient for the fermenting of wine in 

 this part, unless it is cold weather, when the overseer sends his 

 men in a couple of times more in their costume d VAdam to cre- 

 ate the necessary warmth. The wine of this vineyard sells from 

 600 to 1500 francs, according to the excellency of the vintage. 



We then went to examine the Gamai vineyards. We found 

 that in color, size, and form the fruit very much resembled the 

 Pineau grape ; but the bunches are much larger, and the vines 

 bear three times as much as the Pineau. I was told that a tract 

 of land originally planted with the Pineau, which made an ex- 

 cellent wine, was replanted with the Gamai vine, which produced 

 in this celebrated situation much less, and inferior wine to the 

 vineyards of the first class Gamai in the plain. If this be a fact, 

 it shows that the quality of wine depends greatly upon the grape, 

 and not entirely on the soil. However, I will examine this the- 

 ory more thoroughly, and compare it with the practical knowl- 

 edge acquired by persons who have tried the same experiment. 



After seeing every thing here, we returned to the village, dis- 

 charged our driver, and took the cars for Dijon, where we arrived 

 at six o'clock, very tired and hungry. However, we partook of 

 white wine that evening, as the process through which the red 

 wine goes did not serve to increase our longing for the ruby-col- 

 ored liquid. 



August 11. — This morning we started with M. Ladrey for 

 Beaune, where the Professor L. is well acquainted. We were 

 not very fortunate in our time, as it was Sunday, and almost 

 every one was out. However, we at last found a clerk of a large 

 commercial house which buys up the produce of the neighbor- 

 hood. This gentleman took us into the vaults or cellars of his 

 establishment. These cellars are the casemates of the ancient 



