CLOS VOUGEOT. 



of the vat, but not so low as when the vat was first filled, 

 for the marc, or, in other words, the stalks and skins, are 

 completely separated from the liquor, and float upon the 

 top. 



As soon as it is known by the subsiding of the head, and 

 by the taste and examination of the wine, that the fermen- 

 tation has ceased, the wine is drawn off into large vats, 

 which contain about 700 gallons each. Every three or 

 four months it is pumped by means of the siphon and 

 bellows into another vat of the same dimension, when a 

 man enters by the small opening left in the end of the 

 vats, and washes out with a brush and cold water any lees 

 which may have been deposited. The Burgundy of the 

 Clos Vougeot receives no other preparation, and it is 

 treated in this manner as often as may be judged requi- 

 site, till it is disposed of. They commence selhng it when 

 three and four years old, but the wine of very favourable 

 seasons is retained by the proprietor till it is ten or a 

 dozen years old, when it is bottled, and sold at the rate 

 of six francs a bottle. The price of the wine of ordinary 

 vintages, from three to four years old, is from 500 to 600 

 francs the hogshead, but seasons occasionally occur when 

 the wine is not better than the Vin Ordinaire of the 

 country. The wine of 1824 was given to the labourers 

 as their ordinary drink, that of 1825 is now ripening in 

 the large vats, and will be worth, in three or four years 

 more, six francs a bottle. The wine has been found by 

 experience to be of better quahty, and to preserve its 

 perfume better, in these large vats than in casks. 



For making the white wine, the process here, as else- 

 where, is different. The grapes are pressed without being 

 trodden ; the micst, as it flows from the press, is conveyed 

 to the small casks, where it is left to ferment, the casks 



