fame fide ; thefe at the extremities ferve to defcribe 
the lines which they ought to follow with their cut- 
ting [hovels in cutting the marc, the fubftance fqueez- 
ed on two lides ; after the cut is made, they lay up- 
on thefe poles and on the Grapes, planks of the fize 
of the prefs •, and upon thefe planks half beams of 
eight or nine inches fquare, which they call moyaux, 
at a foot diftance one from the other ; they put four 
or five rows of thefe moyaux acrofs, one upon another, 
which elevate it with the bag about four or five feet, 
and they let down upon the whole three or four 
great beams of an immenfe weight, which are placed 
in the middle of the prefs acrofs, and borne up at one 
end by two ftrong fide beams, which are funk fifteen 
or twenty feet in the ground, and which are fattened 
to the bates which crofs them ; at the other end there 
is a cage as they call it, or a wheel with a fcrew, to 
raife or lower thefe great beams upon the moyaux, 
and thus to prefs the Grapes •, then they presently 
raife, by the means of a fcrew, the end of the trees 
on the fide of the wheel, or of the cage, which lowers 
the other end of the cheeks or fide beams ; then they 
drive with a great mallet two or four wooden quoins 
between the notch, which is in the fide beams or 
cheeks-, and thefe beams are alfo lowered to keep 
them in their pofition, and to prevent them from 
rifing : and after this they lower the other end by the 
aid of the fcrew, which ferves alfo to raife it. 
They ufe in thefe preffes large fteel fhovels, about a 
foot in breadth, and one and a half in depth, very 
heavy, and fharp at the bottom, to cut the marc of 
the Grapes eafily at the four fides. 
The fir ft time they lower the great beams upon the 
Grapes, they call the wine that runs out, the wine of 
goute, becaufe it is the fineft and moft exquifite in 
the Grape. This wine is very thin, and has not body 
enough : fome call this firft prefling Fabaiflement ; 
this muft be done with a great deal of dexterity and 
brifknels, that the beams may be raifed immediately, 
to thruft back to the middle inftantly all the Grapes 
which are flipped to the fides of the prefs, that they 
may be brifkly prefifed the fecond or third time. They 
call thefe two other lowerings of the beams the firft 
and fecond cutting ; they muft be done in lefs than 
an hour, if you would have the wine very pale, be- 
caufe time is not to be given the Grapes to heat, nor 
the liquor to remain upon the marc. 
They ordinarily mix the wine of the abaiflfement, or 
firft lowering, with that of the firft and fecond cut ; 
and fometimes, but very rarely, according as the years 
are more or lefs hot ; and thence they call a wine of 
the firft prefling fine. 
Some referve one or two carteaux of the firft tafte, 
which is that of the firft lowering, by itfelf ; but it is 
too fmall or thin, and has not a fufficient body for 
keeping for tranfportation. 
There are fome fkilful perfons who pretend, that the 
firft lowerings of the wines ought not to be mixed 
but with thofe of the firft cut, becaufe that is much 
more delicate than that of the fecond or third and 
that befides there is time enough to mix them after- 
wards, if they are found to be too thin and pale 
enough and the rather becaufe there is no remedy, 
if it be done at the firft. 
At every cut they raife the great beams, and they 
take away all the moyaux with the planks, and the 
rods that are immediately on the Grapes, or upon 
the marc ; with thefe fteel cutting fhovels they cut 
the marc on four fides, and they call down with their 
wooden fhovels that which is cut, and fpread it even 
all over the fquare, to the end that it may not difperfe 
fo eafily, that is to fay, in thofe preffes which they 
call etiquets ; they take care, that the wheel which is 
upon the middle may be made to bear, efpecially up- 
on the rammer, over all the breadth, in fuch manner 
that the bag may be equal. 
Inftead of the preflfes, a cage, or teifions, as the 
beams bear more upon the fide of the wheel, than on 
the corners, there muft needs be more of the marc 
when the bag is placed Hoping toward the wheel than 
V I T 
toward the fide of the quoins, it will be eafily com- 
prehended by viewing the deferiptions of the diffe- 
rent preflfes. It is alfo to be obferved, that every 
time they cut the Grapes, or the marc, they raife up 
the bag, becaufe it has always a certain elevation, in 
fuch fort, that it is one third lefs at bottom than at 
the top. 
The fecond cut is more plentiful than the firft lower- 
ing, and the firft cut ; becaufe the Grapes begin to 
be well bruifed, and they do not flip fo much to the 
fides. 
The wine ftrains from the prefs into a puncheon hav- 
ing the head ftaved out, or fome other large veffel 
prepared for the purpofe, and funk into the ground 
on the forefide to receive it it appears at firft draw- 
ing to be a little upon the red, but it lofes this little 
of its colour according as it is boiled, and as it clari- 
fies itfelf in the tun ; and it becomes perfe&ly white, 
efpecially when they have prefled the two firft cuts 
with much difpatch ; but principally when they have 
gathered the Grapes during the dew, or in a flhady 
time. Although thefe wines are white, they call 
them gray, becaufe they are made only of black 
Grapes. 
If the year be hot, and the wine of the third cut has 
a colour, it muft be mingled not with that of the 
foregoing, but with that of the fourth ; and fome- 
times, t’no’ very rarely, with that of the fifth. They 
are not in fo much hafte for thefe cuts as for the firft 
they make an interval of a good half hour between 
the one and the other. The wine that comes thence 
has more of colour than this, which they call the par- 
tridge’s eye, or the wine of the cut it is a ftrong 
wine, pleafant, fine, good for an ordinary, but is 
better when it is old. 
When the wine of the fourth cut is too deep, they 
do not mingle it with wine of the firft or fecond cut, 
but they obferve to mingle it with wine of the fifth, 
fixth, or feventh cut, which they call wine of the 
prefs, which is of a deep red, pretty hard, but fit for 
houfhold drinking ; but when they are not in hafte, 
they leave an interval of an hour and a half between 
every one the three laft cuts ; as much to give time 
to the wine to ftrain infenfibly, as to give the preffers 
time to deep or reft themfelves, for the fatigue is 
very great, they being obliged to carry it on night 
and day for about three weeks. The preffers of 
Champaign prefs the Grapes fo hard, that after they 
have done, the marc is as hard as a ftone ; they put 
this marc into old calks with the heads out, and they 
fell it to people who draw from it an aqua vitas of a 
very bad tafte, which they call aqua vitas of Aixne j 
but it is good for a great many purpofes. 
Thofe who have many vineyards alfo make two, three, 
or four firft prefiings of the fine wine, by chufing al- 
ways the moft delicate and ripeft Grapes for their 
firfts ; thefe are always much fuperior the one to the 
other for goodnefs and price, fo that if the wine of 
one of the firft prefiings fells for fix hundred livres a 
queue, that of the fecond will not fell for above four 
hundred and fifty, and that of the third two hundred 
and fifty, although all the Vines are of one and the 
fame vineyard. 
In every firft preffing there are ordinarily two thirds 
of fine wine, one half third of wine of the cut, and 
one half third of the wine of the prefs ; thus one cu- 
vee of five or fix pieces of wine, will confift of nine 
or ten of fine, three or four of the taille, and two or 
three of the prefs. 
Of the common black Grapes, which remain after the 
firft, fecond, or third cuvee, they make one with 
thofe that are not very ripe, and which they call ver- 
derons, they make of the whole a wine pretty high- 
coloured, which they fell to the country people, or 
that ferves for their domeftics ; they alfo leave thefe 
Grapes two whole days in a great tub before they 
prefs them, to the end that the wine may be the red- 
der •, and they mix all that comes from the different 
tallies of this vintage together. 
r 
The 
