444 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



her war indemnity of 1870 — and partly owing to the wave of Imperial 

 patriotism," both of which have lately combined to make the opportunity 

 for the wines of Greater Britain. 



" Turning now to the exhibits of Champagne, if a special prominence 

 Is given in description and comment, it is not only because sparkling 

 wines stand first in point of money value per bottle distributed, but that 

 the whole process of production from beginning to end is of a most 

 interesting and instructive character, approaching almost a fine art. 

 Given suitable soil, climate and storage, the industrial experience and 

 patient minuteness in necessary details, which last is so characteristic of 

 the French nation, we do not see why some of our Colonies should not, 

 within a not very long period of years, produce a sparkling wine which 

 will make a name for itself. It is, however, absurd to attempt to put a 

 wine upon the market merely because it can, like all natural wines, be 

 made to sparkle. Some European wine-growing countries outside France 

 have endeavoured to do so without careful investigation of the fitness of 

 the wine to become a sparkling beverage, or of the storage capacity which 

 exists. 



One very interesting point about the production of Champagne is that, 

 though a pale white wine, it is produced, as to a very large proportion of 

 the whole, from the black grape, which, under ordinary conditions, would 

 produce a red wine. The juice for producing Champagne is not fermented 

 upon the grape-skins, as in the case of Claret, Burgundy, and other red 

 wines. The grape is lightly pressed and the juice runs off from the 

 skins before fermentation has to any appreciable extent set in. It is 

 necessary to explain that it is the effect of the alcohol, as it is produced 

 by fermentation upon the skins, which liberates the rosy pigment and 

 colours the wine. There are very fine red wines, almost unknown here, 

 but of repute locally — for instance, in Belgium — manufactured from the 

 very same grapes which, otherwise treated, would have become the straw- 

 coloured ^^dne known to us as Champagne. 



The exhibit at Paris, in which all the principal shippers were repre- 

 sented, illustrates the various stages of the production of Champagne 

 from grape to goblet. 



One stood in a building apparently surrounded by a forest of grape- 

 stocks stretching far into the distance, and under its roof was collected 

 a microcosm of the whole procedure in appliance and manipulation. 



It may here be stated that not only is Champagne naturally fitted to 

 stand without a rival in its own category, but the geological formation 

 underneath the surface in the Champagne district admits of ^ast 

 cavernous cellars being easily burrowed in the grey chalk, thus forming 

 an ideal storage for the wine during the various operations which bring 

 it to perfection for the market. In the cellars of Eeims and Epernay — 

 to name only the two chief headquarters of the Champagne trade — lie 

 many millions of bottles in preparation for shipment, and at times 

 millions of gallons in cuves, or vats — the word explaining the term cuvee, 

 so familiar to Champagne buyers, which, translated, simply means ''a 

 vatting." 



These ctivees — speaking now generally of the usage — are blends of 

 wines .selected from various districts of the Champagne region, no one of 



