WINE MAKING. 465 



terests. Thus it is that pure Champagne is not 

 made for general exportation ; much of the cost 

 and care consequent upon making it is rendered 

 unnecessary, and the excellence for which it was 

 praised has been lost under the mask of sweets 

 spirits, and flavorings. Under the circum. 

 stances, still wines of tolerable quality, and 

 without offensive odor or taste, are just as 

 good as those possessing the richest qualities, 

 since the effervescence, which has come to be 

 regarded as the chief consideration, is not made 

 to depend upon the natural sugar of the grape, 

 but solely upon that added in the operation 

 called "working," and the wines are hence 

 called " worked wines." This " working," which 

 consists in the addition of prepared liquor, 

 (chiefly alcohol and sugar,) generally aver- 

 aging from twenty to thirty per cent, enables 

 the makers to keep their wines at nearly the 

 same quality, irrespective of the seasons. In 

 other words, the grape has much less to do 

 with it than skillful confection. 



The most recent apparatus for adding this 

 liquor in exact quantity is one of the most elabo- 

 rate and complicated pieces of mechanism used in 

 champagne making. It must take a partly 

 filled bottle, add just so much liquor, and leave 



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