114 GR^U'E CULTURE AND WINE-MAIvING. 



tion of the ■wine-consuming public. In some vineyards in this dis- 

 trict, however, white grapes are planted in preference to the black 

 ones, and it has been ascertained that if judiciously mixed (say one 

 eighth to one quarter of white, the balance of black grapes), the}'' 

 add to the excellence of the wine, made into sparkling Champagne. 



The grapes must be passed very rapidly through the wine- 

 press, to avoid all fermentation in the berries, and all coloring 

 of the must. The must is not immediately barreled, but left for 

 from twelve to twenty-four hours in vats, so that it may deposit 

 all its coarser dregs ; then it is drawn into scrupulously cleaned 

 and sulphured barrels. In these the wine generally ferments un- 

 til Christmas. If rich in sugar, this fermentation will progress 

 very slowly, and w'ill be the more rapid the less sugary particles 

 the must contains. In the second half of December the wine is 

 drawn off for the first time, without taking any notice of the par- 

 ticular state of the atmosphere. Now is the time to test the qual- 

 ity of the wines, and to mix the different qualities, or, in some 

 cases, wines of different vineyards and localities judiciously to- 

 gether, so. as to obtain the most perfect mixture. After this op- 

 eration the wine is cleared with gelatine, and then drawn off again 

 through a double sieve of hair and silk which is placed on the 

 funnel. By this the entrance of all foreign matter will be avoid- 

 ed. Generally, very little gelatine is used ; but in most cases 

 a little tannin in the liquid state is added to the wine as a pre- 

 servative against various maladies. In this condition the wine 

 remains till the month of April, when it is drawn off again for 

 the purpose of being manufactured into sparkling Champagne.* 



The white wines of Champagne are classified into the " Great 

 Sparkling Wine," Grand Mousseux ; the "Ordinary Sparkling 

 Wine," Mousseux ordinaire ; the " Half Sparkling Wine," Demi- 

 Mousseux^ or Gremant; the "Non-sparkling," or "dry" Cliam- 

 pagne, Non Mousseux ; and a very light, weak, sweet, and slightly 

 sparkling quality, called Tisane de Ghamixirjne. The sparkling 

 wines attain their full maturity in the third year after being bot- 

 tled, and will lose nothing of their sparkling quality within a 

 dozen years. The half sparkling wine, if of a good source, is con- 

 sidered by connoisseurs as the king of all white Champagne wines. 



In first-rate years the Champagne district will produce not less 

 than fifteen million bottles of white wine, and the average produc- 

 tion may be rated at seven millions per annum. This commerce 

 has been rapidly increasing for about forty years. The principal 

 markets for it are England, Germany, and Russia ; and the names 

 of the great manufacturers, Moet, Cliquot, Euinart, Roedcrer, 

 Piper, Perier, Dinot, are well known all over the world. 



Having completed our observations on the famous wine dis- 

 trict of Bordeaux, we prepared to take our departure for Spain. 



* A minute description of the modns operandi in the most renowned factories of 

 the Champagne district is given in another part of this work. 



