THE VINE AND CIVILISATION. 39 
care and pains taken in the cultivation of the vine, the gather- 
ing and pressing of the grapes, and in the after management 
of the wine. The wines of Medoc are the product of numer- 
ous vineyards: Leoville, St. Julien, La Rose, St. Estephe, 
Pontet, Cantenac, and many others partaking more or less of 
the qualities of the Three Kings. 
‘‘The white wines of the arrondissement of Bordeaux come 
next in celebrity to the clarets. Sauterne and Barsac are the 
best known white wines of esteemed quality and aroma. Her- 
mitage, the finest of all white wines, is produced on the Rhone ; 
the vines are said to have originated from cuttings formerly 
brought from Shiraz, in Persia; there is also red Hermitage. 
‘* Burgundy, of which Dijon was formerly the capitol, pro- 
duces wines that have a high character for flavour and bouquet. 
Chambertin, Romanee, Conti and Clos Vougeot stand first for 
superior delicacy. Volnay, Nuits, Baune and Pomard stand 
next in rank. Nothing is more unaccountable than the dif- 
ference of production in these fine wine districts of the Cote 
ad’Or. The most delicious of the Burgundy wines are some- 
times grown on one little spot only, in the midst of vineyards, 
which produce no other than the ordinary quality. The finest, 
as Chambertin, Clos Vougeot and some others, are stored at 
the vineyards, and sold only in bottles. The product of some 
of the ordinary Burgundies is nearly a thousand gallons per 
acre. 
‘Champagne Wines. Those wines that effervesce (Vins 
mousseux) are impregnated deeply with carbonic acid gas, 
from their being drawn off before fermentation is complete. 
The wines for which the ancient province of Champagne is 
celebrated have from a remote period, ranked first in excel- 
lence among the wines of ——* It is said that the French 
King, Francis I, Pope Leo X, Charles V, of Spain, and Henry 
