Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/54

14 progress to maturity, and in giving to the wine an inferior character to that of the middle of a hill, which escapes the effects of these agents, or is exposed to them in a limited degree.

The disadvantages of the base, are of a different nature; there the plant flourishes more vigorously in a better soil, but its fruit contains less saccharine matter, and less flavour than in the middle region. The air being more charged with humidity, and the earth with moisture, the grape is more enlarged by the abundance of sap or common fluid furnished to the plant, but its peculiar principles are imperfectly elaborated. When the wine, at the summit of the Clos Vougeot, one of the most celebrated vineyards of Burgundy, sells for 600 francs, that of the middle brings 900, and that of the base only 300.

The exposure, most favourable for the vine is between the east and south. Hills sloping to the south, produce, in general, excellent wines, and when they rise, by a gentle elevation from a plain, present the most favourable situation for a vineyard. A flat soil, and one with too great a slope, have each their disadvantages; a gentle inclination presents the most favourable disposition for the water to spread itself, and filter through the whole soil, without losing itself too fast, or being detained too long.