Choice of a Situation for a Vineyard. 7 



grow in them with great vigor, but that very vigor in- 

 jures the quality of the grapes, which then contain an 

 insufficient proportion of the saccharine principle, and 

 consequently yield but a light wine, without aroma. — 

 Nevertheless, while taking into account all these objec- 

 tions, it may be said that all soils, suitably exposed and 

 in a favorable climate, are adapted to this cultivation, 

 whatever their composition may be in other respects. 

 A glance at the different soils which produce the best 

 wines of France will prove this. 



Silico-argillaceous soils mixed with a considerable por- 

 tion of gravel and silicious stones : such as the vine- 

 yards on the banks of the Rhine, the hills of Reims, of 

 Romanee-Conti (Burgundy). 



Sand^ more or less pure, mixed with round stones of 

 various sizes, so much so as even at times to give the 

 ground the appearance of the dried-up bed of a torrent : 

 vineyards of Bordeaux and .Medoc. 



Limestone soils : vineyards of Champagne, Pierry, 

 Ay, £pernay, Avize and Grammont j vineyards of 

 Xeres in Andalusia. 



Clay-slate soils : vineyards of Malaga, Granada, Ar- 

 agon and Anjou. 



Other celebrated vineyards are located upon granitic 

 lands, such as those of Mas, of Condrieu, of I'Ermit- 

 age, of Saint Peray, as also a few of the vineyards of 

 Burgundy. 



Although volcanic lands are rarely used as vineyards, 

 they nevertheless deserve to be mentioned. The vine- 

 yard of Roquemaure in Vivarais, some of those on the 

 banks of the Rhine, those of Vesuvius and jEtna, are 

 located on soils Of this description. 



