Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/425

 FRANCE (WINES OF) 413 tion to the latter than do those of Saone-et- Loire. This restricts the production of genuine Burgundy wines to the department of Cote d'Or, literally the "golden side," so called from a series of low hills, about 36 miles in length, which stretch from the neighborhood of Chalon- sur-Saone, through the heart of the department, to Dijon. Along the slopes of this ridge, which has a general S. S. E. exposure, lie the vine- yards and estates, frequently extending a mile or two on the plain beneath, which produce the famous growths of Burgundy. These may be divided into two classes, of which the finer includes Chambertin, the favorite wine of Napoleon I., Richebourg, Corton, Tache, Ro- manee de St. Vivant, Romance Conti, and Clos de Yougeot, all of superlative excellence and enormous price, and some of them of very limited supply. The Clos de Vougeot vine- yard, one of the largest, contains not above 120 acres, some of which is poor land, while the Chambertin contains less than 12, and the Romance Conti only 6 acres. With so limited an area of production, the choice growths of Burgundy are necessarily rarely met with. Next to these come the wines of Nuits, Vol- nay, Pommard, Beaune, Vosne, Chambolle, and a number of other vineyards, which are little inferior to those of the first class. These wines are all red and are distinguished by suavity of taste and spirituous bouquet. They possess more body than the wines of the Bor- delais, and are more heating ; but the popular objections to them, that they cause gout and will not bear transportation, are not entirely sustained. Good Burgundy is exported to many parts of the world, and everywhere is held in equal esteem with the best Bordeaux wines, although in the opinion of experts it can only be drunk in absolute perfection in or near the district in which it is produced. This may account for the fact that it is much less fre- quently found in America than the wines of Bordeaux. As to its effects upon the physical system, it may suffice to say that the proportion of gouty persons is no greater in Burgundy, where the wine is universally drunk, than in parts of Europe where it is comparatively unknown. A marked peculiarity of the C6te d'Or is that it produces not only some of the best wines in the world, but some of the worst. Owing to rude and primitive and often filthy processes of promoting the fermentation of the grape juice, which are in a measure common to all the vineyards of the department, a large proportion of the wine has a harsh, disagree- able taste, and will not keep; and it is said that there is not an inn or hotel along the C6te in which a bottle of Burgundy fit for travellers to drink can be obtained. An improvement in the making of the wine may not materially increase the production of the first growths, but it would greatly aid the reputation of the lower grades. The white wines of Burgundy are less numerous than the red, and less known outside of France. The purest is the Mon- trachet, produced in the Cote d'Or, which is noted for its combination of body and strength with an exquisite bouquet ; after which rank the products of the vineyards of La Perriere, La Combotte, and La Goutte d'Or at Meursault. In the department of Yonne is produced an extensive class of white wines, bearing the general name of Chablis, of various degrees of excellence and generally of agreeable flavor. They are much exported to England and America, and are often described as a species of Burgundy. They can, however, lay no bet- ter claim to this title than the wines of the Ma- connais or even of the Beaujolais. Of all the wines of France, the products of the Champagne country are the most popular and widely dis- tributed, although, in consequence of their cost- liness, they are perhaps not so generally con- sumed as the wines of Gironde. As early as A. D. 280 the district was noted for its red and white wines, but it was not until the close of the 17th century that the effervescent pro- duct known as mousseux, the typical cham- pagne of the present day, was discovered. Since that time the productiveness of the dis- trict has enormously increased, and the pro- cesses of manufacture have reached a high degree of perfection. The old province of Champagne is now distributed among several departments and portions of departments, all wine-producing ; but in only one of them, that of Marne, is the champagne of commerce made. The wines of the other departments have for the most part a local reputation, and are con- sumed in the immediate neighborhood. Marne is subdivided into "five arrondissements, two of which, Rheims and Epernay, are the true seats of the champagne wine manufacture. The vineyards of Rheims are situated around the slopes of a wooded mountain, called the ~bois et montagne de Rheims, and comprise the famous growths of Yerzenay, Bouzy, Ay, Verzy, Ambonay, Trepail, Mailly, and some others. Those of Epernay lie south of the Marne and occupy an undulating plain extending to the for- est of Vertus. Of this district the town of Eper- nay is the centre. Hence the champagne pro- duct of Marne may be divided into two classes, the vins de la montagne, or mountain wines, and the vins de la riviere, or river wines. The total vintage of Marne is about 80,000,000 bot- tles, somewhat more than one fourth part of which is champagne wine made in Rheims and Epernay. The champagne vintage begins in the latter part of September and extends into October. The grapes, after careful selection, are subjected to three or four pressings, of which only the first three are employed to make wine of good quality. The process must be performed with rapidity, or the must will become colored. The must obtained by the first three drawings is put into large vats, where during the next 12 or 18 hours it develops a froth on the top and deposits a mucous matter at the bottom. Having been freed from both of these impurities, it is drawn into barrels