THE BORDEAUX WINE DISTRICT. 107 



tub and fermented, after water has been poured upon it. This 

 latter wine forms the drink of the workmen of the establishment. 

 There are about 400 barrels made per annum. 



We visited one more domain, Chateau Rauzan, with its vine- 

 yards, presses, etc. It was about the same thing as the former, with 

 the exception that the tanks were not in such good order, and 

 that the slatted tables were over the fermenting-tubs instead of 

 on the tanks. The grapes arc thrown upon the tables by shov- 

 els. When rubbed from the stems then fall into the fermenting- 

 tubs, where they arc stamped by men. The rest of the wine- 

 making establishments are conducted in nearly the same way. 



I was really astonished how they could make any wine at all, 

 the vines were so much affected by disease. Sulphuring must be 

 very costly. Many vineyards will not makfe a single barrel of 

 wine this year for the reason which I have already stated, that 

 the frost killed faearly all the vines in the beginning of spring. 

 The whole district of Cognac will not this year produce ten bar- 

 rels. The proprietors, however, take it very coolly^ saying that 

 they will make it all up next year. 



The land lying between Chateau Margaux and Bordeaux is in 

 many parts sandy, and large tracts lay idle, not even producing 

 grain. Other parts of these sandy tracts are planted with pitch 

 pine. The older parts of these plantations yield turpentine. We 

 returned in the evening much fatigued. 



The following extract from Victor Eendu's Am^elogra'pliie Fran- 

 gaise will give a more correct idea to the reader of the country 

 and its wines ; 



THE WINES OF BORDEAUX. 



The wines bearing the general appellation of Bordeaux wines, 

 because they grow in the country surrounding this celebrated em- 

 porium, and are shipped to all parts of the world from its harbor, 

 are divided into four principal classes : 



1. Vms de Medoc. — Wines of the Medoc district. Of these we 

 shall treat in detail hereafter. 



2. Vins de Grave. — Wines growing on the gravelly soil in the 

 immediate neighborhood of Bordeaux, and on both sides of the 

 rivers Dordogne and Garonne, within a certain distance of their 

 confluence.* 



* Of the red wines grown on this soil the most renowned are those of Chateau 

 Haut-Brion. Of much less note are the wines of Merignac, Carbonnieux, and Leo- 

 gnan. Among the white wines the most popular are the Sauternes, the Barsae, the 

 Preignac, and the Bommes. Again, among these, the most superior is the white 

 wine of Chateau Iquem, in the parish of Sauterne, which has been sold up to 1200 

 francs per tun. 



