166 GKAPE CULTURE AND WINE-MAKING. 



cultivated in these mountain sites is called the Orleans or Ilart- 

 hengst : these differ from all the native grapes of the Rhine. 

 They are very large in size and exceedingly aromatic, and in fa- 

 vorable seasons they become extremely sweet. This accounts 

 amply for the fact that, in the year 1822, four thousand Rhenish 

 florins were paid for one pipe (about 280 gallons) of Riidesheimer 

 wine — about $l-i 28 per gallon. In the year 1815, 1200 such 

 pipes of wine were raised in Riidesheim, and 14:00 pipes in the 

 year 1819. This wine is appreciated for its strength and pleasant 

 flavor. It differs from the mountain wines made from the Or- 

 leans grape, of which the average yearly product is fully 150 

 pipes. The Oberfelder and Riesling grape also produce from 400 

 to 500 pipes, and Hinterhaus yields annually from 10 to 12 pipes. 

 In the year 1809, the price of a pipe of these wines was 3000 

 Rhenish florins in Riidesheim ; in 1800, 1800 florins ; in 1804, 

 750 to 900 florins. 



Almost equally esteemed are, first, the wines of Steinberg and 

 Johannisberg ; next, those of Rothenberg ; next, Geisenheim ; 

 fourthly, those of Markobruun and Griifenberg, near Kiederich. 

 All these wines are produced from a grape called the Riesling. 

 This grape is inferior to none in bouquet, fineness, and sweetness. 

 One pipe of the Steinberg vintage was, in the year 1822, sold 

 for the sum of 5000 florins ($7 14 the gallon). The vineyard 

 belongs to the estate of the Duke of Nassau. All these wines 

 have, as we mentioned before, obtained, from their remarkable 

 spiciness and odor, their exquisite flavor and piquancy, an espe- 

 cial public preference, so that the wine-growers will readily make 

 an outlay of thousands of dollars in a vineyard of this descrip- 

 tion. 



The best fruit for the production of this wine is grown in the 

 upper regions of the mountains, where it is protected by the cha- 

 teau. The next in quality of this wine is produced from the 

 grapes cultivated in the central parts of the mountain heights. 

 The most inferior kinds are produced from vineyards at their 

 base. The soil consists of slate. 



During the process of the vinous fermentation, the bung-hole 

 of the cask is covered with a patch of paper, upon which is placed 

 a brick. After the fermentation has ceased, the barrel is replen- 

 ished, and a bung with a valve is put on, so that, in case of a sec- 

 ond fermentation occurring, the carbonic acid gas evolved by that 

 process can readily escape. 



During the first year the wine is drawn off three times; in the 

 course of the second year once or twice, so as to clarify it suffi- 

 ciently ; and it is only after a period of four or five years that the 

 wine becomes sufficiently ripened for the final operation of bot- 

 tling off, after which it can be kept for a period of twenty-five 

 years or oven more. To prevent any sediment, the wine has, in 

 the first place, to be cleared. When the wine is drawn off, it is 



