162 THE CULTDRli! OF THE GRAPE. 



The Fenny Cjclopsedia says of the aspect : " On the 

 steep slopes of hills towards the south, and sheltered 

 from the northeast, the grapes attain the greatest matu- 

 rity, and the vintage is most certain. So great an ifiilu- 

 ence has a favorable exposure, that in the same vineyard 

 the greatest diflFerence exists between the wine made 

 from one part and that made from another, merely be- 

 cause there is a turn round the hill, and the aspect varies 

 a very few degrees. A change of soil produces a similar 

 effect. The famous Rhine wine, called Johannisbergh, 

 when made from the grapes which grow near the castle, 

 is worth twice as much as that made a i'ew hundred 

 yards farther off. Here both soil and aspect change. 

 The Clos de Yozi-geau, which produces the finest Bur- 

 gundy, is confined to a few acres ; beyond a certain wall, 

 the wine is a common Burgundy, good, but without ex- 

 traordinary merit." 



At Bourdeaux, a southeast exposure is preferred, and 

 in Germany, generally, a southwest ; in some places, a 

 northern exposure is thought best, as the danger from 

 late frosts is less. 



Chaptal is considered as the best French authority on 

 the vine. His :^bject, in his Treatise on the Grape, was 

 to promote the improvement of the quality of the wine, 

 and to discourage the use of manures, as one of the 

 main causes of this inferiority. The practical ideas of 

 this treatise are mostly attributed to the Abbe Hosier, of 

 whom it is said, "that, retiring to the home of his 

 fathers, he, for a long time, practised agriculture, not 

 only studying all previous systems of vine culture, but 

 comparing the old with his experience, the local practices 



