CHAPTER XIII. 



OF BOTTLIKG. 



So long as the wine remains in the cask, it is slowly making alter- 

 ations for the better. There are some very superior , generous wines 

 that will stand the cask for three or four years, such as those of the 

 Clos Saint- Thierry, which unite the hue and the bouquet of Burgun- 

 dy, to the lightness and liveliness of Champagne ; such also are those 

 of the Clos- Vougeot ; but it is only in well corked bottles that wine 

 acquires all the finish of its properties. The more spirit, nerve or 

 raciness, and body that a wine has, the better it is for it to be bottled } 

 but light, delicate, tender wines do not bear it so well. Bottling will 

 not bear neghgence ; very good crops now and then are so injured 

 by bad bottling as not to be recognizable. It should be done 13 months 

 after the vintage ; the selection of bottles and corks, and the prepara- 

 tion of the pitch or wax to cover the cork should not be entrusted out 

 of the hands of the master. 



Bottles carelessly tempered, or of poor glass, change the wine ; 

 those that have been used are apt to take a bad taste from the cellar; 

 especially if they have been stowed away standing, and it is very hard 

 to clean them ; if not thoroughly cleansed they are sure to spoil the 

 wine. If not of regular sizes and dimensions, it is hard to arrange 

 them smoothly, and they are very subject to break in the pile. That 

 the bottles be of equal sizes, and from some manufactory of reputa- 

 tion, is the first requisite. The second is to rinse them twenty-four 

 hours before they are used, not with duck shot as some recommend, 

 which is a dangerous practice, but with gravel-stones, or a piece of 

 steel chain. They must be stood to drain on drilled boards ; and if they 

 are to be used for any weak wines, a little brandy should be poured 

 in them first ; this rinsing with brandy is not to be practised if they 

 are to hold fiine wines, the bouquet of which would be destroyed by 

 the brandy. 



Every bottle with a flaw, or coat of tartar, or the slightest musty 

 smell, should be rejected without fail. Bottles for Champagne should 

 be of very thick glass, well annealed, and from some known glass- 

 works, or the wine is risked \yith a dead certainty of loss. 



