V I T 
They obferve attentively every moment, in a clear 
glafs, if the win© be neat ; and when they perceive 
but the ieaft thicknefs, without waiting till it appears 
foul, they ftop the fountain, and take it away im- 
mediately, and turn out into a bucket that little 
wine that remains in the piece. That clear wane that 
has drained out of the fountain, they put into the 
calk that they have been filling they ufe for this 
purpofe a funnel of tin, the tail of which is about 
a foot long, to the end that the wine that paffes 
thro ugh it, "may not caufeany agitation in that of the 
piece ; and that there may not any filth pafs into the 
wine, there is, toward the bottom of the funnel, a 
tin plate pierced through with fmall holes, which 
prevents any thing grofs from palling through into 
the piece. 
They put together into a feparate calk, all the re- 
mainders of the empty pieces ; prefently after they 
have emptied one, which they do in lefs than half an 
hour, they wafn it with a bucket of water, let it Hand 
to drain fome moments, and then fill it with another 
that is to be drawn off. 
After the wine has been emptied out of one veffel into 
another the firft time, they draw it off a fecond time, 
at the time we have before mentioned ; fometimes 
they are obliged to do it a third time, to give it a live- 
ly colour, if it has it not already •, but four days be- 
fore they change the calk, they give it a frizure, as 
they call it, and put in it one third part of the ordi- 
nary quantity of ifinglafs. 
The molt experienced perfons Ihift their fine wines 
out of one veffel into another, as often as they change 
the vault or its place, as well when they carry it down 
into the vault, as up into the cellar, according to 
the different feafons : I have known when, in four 
years time, they have drawn it off twelve or thirteen 
times •, and they pretend, that this preferves and fuf- 
tains the wine, and that it has been the finer and more 
delicate. 
Their opinion is, that the wine is continually forming 
a fine lee, which gives it the colour; and that topre- 
ferve it of a good white, it mult be often Ibifted out 
of one veffel into another, if it be not put into bottles •, 
and that there is no reafon to fear, that the wine will 
be weakened by this means, becaufe the oftener it is 
removed, the oftener you give it new vigour, and the 
oftener it is drawn off, the more lively and brilliant is 
the colour. 
And although I have faid they fhould not brimftone 
their calks, they do not fail to ufe a match of brim- 
llone the firft time they change their veffels ; they 
mingle a piece of thick linen cloth in the melted 
brimfione, and they cut off a bit for each calk of 
fine wine about the bignefs of One’s little finger, and 
one as big again for every piece of common wine ; 
they light it, and put it under the bung of the piece 
they empty, before they have recourfe to the bellows •, 
according as the wine defcends, it draws along with 
it a fmall fcent of the brimftone, which is not very 
ftrong fo as to make it perceivable, and that only 
leaves what will give it a livelineis of colour; the 
fame may be done the fecond time, when they change 
the calk, if it has not taken the fcent the firft time, 
otherwife it ought to be drawn off the fecond time 
without a match, to caufe it to lofe the fcent of the 
brimftone, which it ought never to have. 
The wines that are thus clear and fine, keep very 
well in the calk for two or three years, and hold their 
goodnefs in the vaults and cellars, but efpecially the 
mountain wines that have a good body; thole of the 
river lofe their quality in wood, and they ought to be 
drank in the firft and fecond year, or elfe they mull 
be put into bottles. This wine will keep very well 
four, five, or fix years in glafs bottles. 
The ufe of round bottles is very common in Cham- 
paign ; they having plenty of wood in the province, 
have there let up very good glafs-houfes, which they 
feldom make ufe of but in making thefe bottles, which 
are about fix inches high, and four or five in the neck. 
Thefe bottles contain ordinarily a Paris pint, or half 
V I T 
a glafs lefs. They fell them commonly for twelve of 
fifteen franks a hundred. They have a certain quan- 
tity in every houfe. Before they enter upon a piece 
of wine to drink, they put it into bottles well walked 
and drained, in order to have the wine of one piece 
equally good. 
When they have a mind to draw off a piece of wine 
into bottles, they put a little fiphon of metal into the 
calk, which is bent downwards, to ftrain it into the 
bottle, under which there is a tub or bucket to catch 
the wine that fhall run over. They ftop up every 
bottle carefully with a good well chofen cork that is 
not worm eaten, but that is folid and dole. Thefe 
forts of fine corks coft fifty or fixty fols a hundred. 
There cannot be too much care taken in the chufing 
corks, left the wine fpoii in fome of the bottles, when 
the corks are defective ; therefore great care fhould 
be taken in the chufing them, when you would draw 
off fine wines into bottles, whether it be for keeping, 
or to be fent abroad. 
When bottles are ufed that have been made ufe of be- 
fore, they fhould be walked with leaden fhot, and a 
little water to fetch out the filth that fhall remain on 
the bottom of the bottles ; but it is much better in 
the room of them to ufe fmall nails, becaufe they oer- 
feclly take off all that which fticks to the glafs. 
When all the bottles that fuffice to empty one calk 
are filled, they tie the mouth of the bottle over to 
the neck with a ftrong packthread ; and if it be a fine 
wine they commonly feal it with Spanifh wax, that 
the wine may not be changed, nor the bottles by the 
domeftics ; and fome perfons have their coats of arms 
made on the bottles, which does not enhance the price 
above thirty fols per cent. 
When all the bottles are well flopped, tied down, 
and fealed, they ought to be fet in a vault or cellar, 
upon fand two or three fingers depth, and laid Tide- 
ways, leaning againft one another ; when they are fet 
upright, they form a white flower upon the wine at 
the top, in the fmall empty fpace that is between 
the top of the mouth of the bottle and the wine ; 
for the bottles ought never to be be filled up to the 
top, but there muft be left a fmall empty fpace of 
about half an inch, between the wine and the end of 
the cork. 
If this was not done, the wine would fet a working 
in the different feafons of the year, and break a great 
number of bottles ; and it does, notwithftanding* 
break a great many, in fpite of all the caution that 
can be taken, and more efpecially when the wine has 
a great deal of heat, or is a little tart. 
In fome years the wine grows ropy in the bottles even 
in the vaults, fo as to rope when it is poured out as if 
it had oil, fo that it cannot be drank. This is a ma- 
lady that feizes the wine, that has flood feveral months 
without being removed from one place to another. If 
it be fet in the air, it will lofe more of its ropinefs than 
it will if left in the vault. It will recover itfelf, if fet 
in a very airy granary, better than it will oftentimes 
do in fix months in a vault- 
When one is obliged to drink a ropy wine, if he fhake 
the bottle ftrongly for the fpace of half a quarter of 
an hour, and then uncork it immediately after he has 
done fhaking it, the bottle being a little inclined on the 
fide, will caft out prefently half a glafs of froth or 
fcum, and the reft of the wine will be drinkable, where- 
as otherwife it would not be fo. 
For about forty years laft paft, the tafte of the French 
has been determined for a frothy wine ; and this they 
ufed to love, as one may fay, even to diftradion. 
They have begun a little to come off from that for 
fome years paft. Their fentiments are much divided 
as to the opinion of this kind of wine ; fome believe 
that it proceeds from the force of the drugs they put 
in it, which makes it froth fo ftrongly ; others attri- 
bute it to the tartnefs of the wines, becaufe the great- 
eft part that do froth are extremely tart ; others attri- 
bute this effed to the moon, according to the times 
in which thefe wines are bottled. 
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