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The Early Vineyards of the Champagne-- Their Produce esteemed by Popes and Kings, Courtiers and Prelates-- Controversy regarding the rival Merits of the Wines of Burgundy and the Champagne-- Dom Perignon's happy Discovery of Sparkling Wine-- Its Patrons under Louis Quatorze and the Regency-- The Ancient Church and Abbey of Hautvillers-- Farre and Co.'s Champagne Cellars-- The Abbey of St. Peter now a Farm-- Existing Remains of the Monastic Buildings-- The Tombs and Decorations of the Ancient Church-- The Last Resting-Place of Dom Perignon-- The Legend of the Holy Dove-- Good Champagne the Result of Labour, Skill, Minute Precaution, and Careful Observation 9

Ay, the Vineyard of Golden Plants-- Summoning the Vintagers by Beat of Drum-- Excitement in the Surrounding Villages-- The Pickers at Work-- Sorting the Grapes-- Grapes Gathered at Sunrise the Best-- Varieties of Vines in the Ay Vineyards-- Few of the Growers in the Champagne Crush their own Grapes-- Squeezing the Grapes in the "Pressoir" and Drawing off the Must-- Cheerful Glasses Round-- The Vintage at Mareuil-- Bringing in the Grapes on Mules and Donkeys-- The Vineyards of Avenay, Mutigny, and Cumi?res-- Damery and Adrienne Lecouvreur, Mar?chal de Saxe, and the obese Anna Iwanowna-- The Vineyards of the C?te d'Epernay-- Boursault and its Ch?teau-- Pierry and its Vineyard Cellars-- The Clos St. Pierre-- Moussy and Vinay-- A Hermit's Cave and a Miraculous Fountain-- Ablois St. Martin-- The C?te d'Avize-- The Grand Premier Cr? of Cramant-- Avize and its Wines-- The Vineyards of Oger and Le Mesnil-- The Old Town of Vertus and its Vine-clad Slopes-- Their Red Wine formerly celebrated 20

The Vines chiefly of the Pineau Variety-- The Plant dor? of Ay, the Plant vert dor?, the Plant gris, and the Epinette-- The Soil of the Vineyards-- Close Mode of Plantation-- The Operation of Provinage-- The Stems of the Vines never more than Three Years Old-- Fixing the Stakes to the Vines-- Manuring and General Cultivation-- Spring Frosts in the Champagne-- Various Modes of Protecting the Vines against them-- Dr. Guyot's System-- The Parasites that Prey upon the Vines 42

Treatment of Champagne after it comes from the Wine-Press-- Racking and Blending of the Wine-- Deficiency and Excess of Effervescence-- Strength and Form of Champagne Bottles-- The "Tirage" or Bottling of the Wine-- The Process of Gas-making commences-- Inevitable Breakage follows-- Wine Stacked in Piles-- Formation of Sediment-- Bottles placed "sur pointe" and Daily Shaken-- Effect of this occupation on those incessantly engaged in it-- "Claws" and "Masks"-- Champagne Cellars-- Their Construction and Aspect-- Transforming the "vin brut" into Champagne-- Disgorging and Liqueuring the Wine-- The Corking, Stringing, Wiring, and Amalgamating-- The Wine's Agitated Existence comes to an End-- The Bottles have their Toilettes made-- Champagne sets out on its beneficial Pilgrimage 48

Messrs. Werl? and Co., successors to the Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin-- Their Offices and Cellars on the site of a Former Commanderie of the Templars-- Origin of the Celebrity of Madame Clicquot's Wines-- M. Werl? and his Son-- The Forty-five Cellars of the Clicquot-Werl? Establishment-- Our Tour of Inspection-- Ingenious Liqueuring Machine-- An Explosion and its Consequences-- M. Werl?'s Gallery of Paintings-- Madame Clicquot's Renaissance House and its Picturesque Bas-reliefs-- The Werl? Vineyards and Vendangeoirs-- M. Louis Roederer's Establishment-- Heidsieck and Co. and their Famous "Monopole" Brand-- The Firm Founded in the Last Century-- Their various Establishments Inside and Outside Reims-- The Matured Wines Shipped by them 63

M. Ernest Irroy's Cellars, Vineyards, and Vendangeoirs-- Recognition by the Reims Agricultural Association of his Plantations of Vines-- His Wines and their Popularity at the best London Clubs-- Messrs. Binet fils and Co.'s Establishment-- Wines Sold by the Firm to Shippers-- Their Cellars-- Samples of Fine Still Ay and Bouzy-- Their Still Sillery, Vintage 1857, and their Creaming Vin Brut, Vintage 1865-- The Offices and Cellars of Messrs. Charles Farre and Co.-- Testing the Wine before Bottling-- A Promenade between Bottles in Piles and Racks-- Repute in which these Wines are held in England and on the Continent-- The New Establishment of Fisse, Thirion, and Co. in the Place de Betheny-- Its Construction exclusively in Stone, Brick, and Iron-- The Vast Celliers of Two Stories-- Bottling the Wine by the Aid of Machinery-- The Cool and Lofty Cellars-- Ingenious Method of Securing the Corks, rendering the Uncorking exceedingly simple-- The Wines Shipped by the Firm 86

La Prison de Bonne Semaine-- Mary Queen of Scots at Reims-- Messrs. Pommery and Greno's Offices-- A Fine Collection of Fa?ence-- The Rue des Anglais a former Refuge of English Catholics-- Remains of the Old University of Reims-- Ancient Roman Tower and Curious Grotto-- The handsome Castellated Pommery Establishment-- The Spacious Cellier and Huge Carved Cuv?e Tun-- The Descent to the Cellars-- Their Great Extent-- These Lofty Subterranean Chambers Originally Quarries-- Ancient Places of Refuge of the Early Christians and the Protestants-- Madame Pommery's Splendid Cuv?e of 1868-- Messrs. de St. Marceaux and Co.'s New Establishment in the Avenue de Sillery-- Its Garden-Court and Circular Shaft-- Animated Scene in the Large Packing Hall-- Lowering Bottled Wine to the Cellars-- Great Depth and Extent of these Cellars-- Messrs. de St. Marceaux and Co.'s Various Wines 93

The Establishment of Deutz and Geldermann-- Drawing off the Cuv?e-- Mode of Excavating Cellars in the Champagne-- The Firm's New Cellars, Vineyards, and Vendangeoir-- The old Ch?teau of Ay and its Terraced Garden-- The Gambling Propensities of Balthazar Constance Dang?-Dor?ay, a former Owner of the Ch?teau-- The Picturesque Situation and Aspect of Messrs. Ayala's Establishment-- A Promenade through their Cellars-- M. Duminy's Cellars and Wines-- His new Model Construction-- The House Founded in 1814-- Messrs. Bollinger's Establishment-- Their Vineyard of La Grange-- The Tirage in Progress-- The Fine Cellars of the Firm-- Messrs. Pfungst fr?res and Co.'s Cellars-- Their Dry Champagnes of 1868, '70, '72, and '74-- The Old Church of Ay and its Decorations of Grapes and Vineleaves-- The Vendangeoir of Henri Quatre-- The Montebello Establishment at Mareuil-- The Ch?teau formerly the Property of the Dukes of Orleans-- A Titled Champagne Firm-- The Brilliant Career of Marshal Lannes-- A Promenade through the Montebello Establishment-- The Press House, the Cuv?e Vat, the Packing-Room, the Offices, and the Cellars-- Portraits and Relics at the Ch?teau-- The Establishment of Bruch-Foucher and Co.-- The handsome Carved Gigantic Cuv?e Tun-- The Cellars and their Lofty Shafts-- The Wines of the Firm 117

Avize the Centre of the White Grape District-- Its Situation and Aspect-- The Establishment of Giesler and Co.-- The Tirage and the Cuv?e-- Vin Brut in Racks and on Tables-- The Packing-Hall, the Extensive Cellars, and the Disgorging Cellier-- Bottle Stores and Bottle-Washing Machines-- Messrs. Giesler's Wine-Presses at Avize and Vendangeoir at Bouzy-- Their Vineyards and their Purchases of Grapes-- Reputation of the Giesler Brand-- The Establishment of M. Charles de Cazanove-- A Tame Young Boar-- Boar-Hunting in the Champagne-- M. de Cazanove's Commodious Cellars and Carefully-Selected Wines-- Vineyards Owned by Him and His Family-- Reputation of his Wines in Paris and their Growing Popularity in England-- Interesting View from M. de Cazanove's Terraced Garden-- The Vintaging of the White Grapes in the Champagne-- Roper fr?res' Establishment at Rilly-la-Montague-- Their Cellars Penetrated by Roots of Trees-- Some Samples of Fine Old Champagnes-- The Principal Ch?lons Establishments-- Poem on Champagne by M. Amaury de Cazanove 129

The Sparkling Wines of the Loire often palmed off as Champagnes-- The Finer qualities Improve with Age-- Anjou the Cradle of the Plantagenet Kings-- Saumur and its Dominating Feudal Ch?teau und Antique H?tel de Ville-- Its Sinister Rue des Payens and Steep Tortuons Grande Rue-- The Vineyards of the Coteau of Saumur-- Abandoned Stone Quarries converted into Dwellings-- The Vintage in Progress-- Old-fashioned Pressoirs-- The Making of the Wine-- The Vouvray Vineyards-- Balzac's Picture of La Vall?e Coquette-- The Village of Vouvray and the Ch?teau of Moucontour-- Vernou with its Reminiscences of Sully and P?pin-le-Bref-- The Vineyards around Saumur-- Remarkable Ancient Dolmens-- Ackerman-Laurance's Establishment at Saint-Florent-- Their Extensive Cellars, Ancient and Modern-- Treatment of the Newly-Vintaged Wine-- The Cuv?e-- Proportions of Wine from Black and White Grapes-- The Bottling and Disgorging of the Wine and Finishing Operations-- The Ch?teau of Varrains and the Establishment of M. Louis Duvau a?n?-- His Cellars a succession of Gloomy Galleries-- The Disgorging of the Wine accomplished in a Melodramatic-looking Cave-- M. Duvau's Vineyard-- His Sparkling Saumur of Various Ages-- Marked Superiority of the more Matured Samples-- M. Alfred Ronsteaux's Establishments at Saint-Florent and Saint-Cyr-- His convenient Celliers and extensive Cellars-- Mingling of Wine from the Champagne with the finer Sparkling Saumur-- His Vineyard at La Perri?re-- M. E. Normandin's Sparkling Sauternes Manufactory at Ch?teauneuf-- Angoul?me and its Ancient Fortifications-- Vin de Colombar-- M. Normandin's Sparkling Sauternes Cuv?e-- His Cellars near Ch?teauneuf-- High recognition accorded to the Wine at the Concours R?gional d'Angoul?me 139

Sparkling Wines of the C?te d'Or at the Paris Exhibition-- Chambertin, Roman?e, and Vougeot-- Burgundy Wines and Vines formerly the Presents of Princes-- Vintaging Sparkling Burgundies-- Their After-Treatment in the Cellars-- Excess of Breakage-- Similarity of Proceeding to that followed in the Champagne-- Principal Manufacturers of Sparkling Burgundies-- Sparkling Wines of Tonnerre, the birthplace of the Chevalier d'Eon-- The Vin d'Arbanne of Bar-sur-Aube-- Death there of the Bastard de Bourbon-- Madame de la Motto's Ostentatious Display and Arrest there-- Sparkling Wines of the Beaujolais-- The Mont-Bronilly Vineyards-- Ancient Reputation of the Wines of the Jura-- The Vin Jaune of Arbois beloved of Henri Quatre-- Rhymes by him in its Honour-- Lons-le-Saulnier-- Vineyards yielding the Sparkling Jura Wines-- Their Vintaging and Subsequent Treatment-- Their High Alcoholic Strength and General Drawbacks 157

Origin of Sparkling Hock and Moselle-- Sparkling German Wines First Made on the Neckar-- Heilbronn, and G?tz von Berlichingen of the Iron Hand-- Lauteren of Mayence and Rambs of Tr?ves turn their attention to Sparkling Wines-- Change of late years in the Character of Sparkling Hocks and Moselles-- Difference between them and Moussirender Rheinwein-- Vintaging of Black and White Grapes for Sparkling Wine-- The Treatment which German Sparkling Wines Undergo-- Artificial Flavouring and Perfuming of Sparkling Moselles-- Fine Natural Bouquet of High-Class Sparkling Hocks-- Impetus given to the Manufacture of German Sparkling Wines during the Franco-German War-- Annual Production-- Deinhard and Co.'s Splendid New Cellars at Coblenz-- The Firm's Collection of Choice Rhine and Moselle Wines-- Their Trade in German Sparkling Wines-- Their Sources of Supply-- The Vintaging and After-Treatment of their Wines-- Characteristics of their Sparkling Hocks and Moselles 172

Sparkling Voslauer-- The Sparkling Wine Manufactories of Graz-- Establishment of Kleinoscheg Brothers-- Vintaging and Treatment of Styrian Champagnes-- Sparkling Red, Rose, and White Wines of Hungary-- The Establishment of Hubert and Habermann at Pressburg-- Sparkling Wines of Croatia, Galicia, Bohemia, Moravia, Dalmatia, the Tyrol, Transylvania, and the Banat-- Neuch?tel Champagne-- Sparkling Wine Factories at Vevay and Sion-- The Vevay Vineyards-- Establishment of De Riedmatten and De Quay-- Sparkling Muscatel, Malmsey, Brachetto, Castagnolo, and Lacryma Christi of Italy-- Sparkling Wines of Spain, Greece, Algeria, and Russia-- The Krimski and Donski Champagnes-- The Latter Chiefly Consumed at the Great Russian Fairs 196

Earliest Efforts at Wine-Making in America-- Failures to Acclimatise European Vines-- Wines Made by the Swiss Settlers and the Mission Fathers-- The Yield of the Mission Vineyards-- The Monster Vine of the Montecito Valley-- The Catawba Vine and its General Cultivation-- Mr. Longworth one of the Founders of American Viticulture-- Fresh Attempts to make Sparkling Wine at Cincinnati-- Existing Sparkling Wine Manufactures there-- Longfellow's Song in Praise of Catawba-- The Kelley Island Wine Company-- Vintaging and Treatment of their Sparkling Wines-- Decrease of Consumption-- The Vineyards of Hammondsport-- Varieties of Grapes used for Sparkling Wines-- The Vintage-- After Treatment of the Wines-- The Pleasant Valley and Urbana Wine Companies and their Various Brands-- Californian Sparkling Wines-- The Buena Vista Vinicultural Society of San Francisco-- Its Early Failures and Eventual Success in Manufacturing Sparkling Wines-- The Vintage in California-- Chinese Vintagers-- How the Wine is Made-- American Spurious Sparkling Wines 203

Dry and Sweet Champagnes-- Their Sparkling Properties-- Form of Champagne Glasses-- Style of Sparkling Wines Consumed in Different Countries-- The Colour and Alcoholic Strength of Champagne-- Champagne Approved of by the Faculty-- Its Use in Nervous Derangements-- The Icing of Champagne-- Scarcity of Grand Vintages in the Champagne-- The Quality of the Wine has little influence on the Price-- Prices realised by the Ay and Verzenay Cr?s in Grand Years-- Suggestions for laying down Champagnes of Grand Vintages-- The Improvement they Develop after a few Years-- The Wine of 1874-- The proper kind of Cellar to lay down Champagne in-- Advantages of Burrow's Patent Slider Wine Bins-- Increase in the Consumption of Champagne-- Tabular Statement of Stocks, Exports, and Home Consumption from 1844-5 to 1877-8-- When to Serve Champagne at a Dinner Party-- Charles Dickens's dictum that its proper place is at a Ball-- Advantageous Effect of Champagne at an Ordinary British Dinner Party-- Sparkling Wine Cups 212

THE PRINCIPAL SPARKLING WINE BRANDS 225

FACTS ABOUT CHAMPAGNE AND OTHER SPARKLING WINES.

The Early Vineyards of the Champagne-- Their Produce esteemed by Popes and Kings, Courtiers and Prelates-- Controversy regarding the rival Merits of the Wines of Burgundy and the Champagne-- Dom Perignon's happy Discovery of Sparkling Wine-- Its Patrons under Louis Quatorze and the Regency-- The Ancient Church and Abbey of Hautvillers-- Farre and Co.'s Champagne Cellars-- The Abbey of St. Peter now a Farm-- Existing Remains of the Monastic Buildings-- The Tombs and Decorations of the Ancient Church-- The Last Resting-Place of Dom Perignon--The Legend of the Holy Dove-- Good Champagne the Result of Labour, Skill, Minute Precaution, and Careful Observation.

"None but a clever dialectician Can hope to become a good physician, And that logic plays an important part In the mystery of the healing art,"

propounded the theory that the wines of Burgundy were preferable to those of the Champagne, and that the latter were irritating to the nerves and conducive to gout. The faculty of medicine at Reims naturally rose in arms at this insolent assertion. They seized their pens and poured forth a deluge of French and Latin in defence of the wines of their province, eulogising alike their purity, their brilliancy of colour, their exquisite flavour and perfume, their great keeping powers, and, in a word, their general superiority to the Burgundy growths. The partisans of the latter were equally prompt in rallying in their defence, and the faculty of medicine of Beaune, having put their learned periwigs together, enunciated their views and handled their opponents without mercy. The dispute spread to the entire medical profession, and the champions went on pelting each other with pamphlets in prose and tractates in verse, until in 1778--long after the bones of the original disputants were dust and their lancets rust--the faculty of Paris, to whom the matter was referred, gave a final and formal decision in favour of the wines of the Champagne.

Meanwhile an entirely new kind of wine, which was to carry the name of the province producing it to the uttermost corners of the earth, had been introduced. On the picturesque slopes of the Marne, about fifteen miles from Reims, and some four or five miles from Epernay, stands the little hamlet of Hautvillers, which, in pre-revolutionary days, was a mere dependency upon a spacious abbey dedicated to St. Peter. Here the worthy monks of the order of St. Benedict had lived in peace and prosperity for several hundred years, carefully cultivating the acres of vineland extending around the abbey, and religiously exacting a tithe of all the other wine pressed in their district. The revenue of the community thus depending in no small degree upon the vintage, it was natural that the post of "celerer" should be one of importance. It happened that about the year 1688 this office was conferred upon a worthy monk named Perignon. Poets and roasters, we know, are born, and not made; and the monk in question seems to have been a heaven-born cellarman, with a strong head and a discriminating palate. The wine exacted from the neighbouring cultivators was of all qualities--good, bad, and indifferent; and with the spirit of a true Benedictine, Dom Perignon hit upon the idea of "marrying" the produce of one vineyard with that of another. He had noted that one kind of soil imparted fragrance and another generosity, and discovered that a white wine could be made from the blackest grapes, which would keep good, instead of turning yellow and degenerating like the wine obtained from white ones. Moreover, the happy thought occurred to him that a piece of cork was a much more suitable stopper for a bottle than the flax dipped in oil which had heretofore served that purpose.

The white, or, as it was sometimes styled, the grey wine of the Champagne grew famous, and the manufacture spread throughout the province, but that of Hautvillers held the predominance. To Dom Perignon the abbey's well-stocked cellar was a far cheerfuller place than the cell. Nothing delighted him more than

"To come down among this brotherhood Dwelling for ever underground, Silent, contemplative, round and sound, Each one old and brown with mould, But filled to the lips with the ardour of youth, With the latent power and love of truth, And with virtues fervent and manifold."

Why the wine foamed and sparkled was a mystery even to the very makers themselves; for as yet Baume's aerometer was unknown, and the connection between sugar and carbonic acid undreamt of. The general belief was that the degree of effervescence depended upon the time of year at which the wine was bottled, and that the rising of the sap in the vine had everything to do with it. Certain wiseacres held that it was influenced by the age of the moon at the time of bottling; whilst others thought the effervescence could be best secured by the addition of spirit, alum, and various nastinesses. It was this belief in the use and efficacy of drugs that led to a temporary reaction against the wine about 1715, in which year Dom Perignon departed this life. In his latter days he had grown blind, but his discriminating taste enabled him to discharge his duties with unabated efficiency to the end. Many of the tall tapering glasses invented by him have been emptied to the memory of the old Benedictine, whose remains repose beneath a black marble slab in the chancel of the archaic abbey church of Hautvillers.

Time and the iconoclasts of the great Revolution have spared but little of the royal abbey of St. Peter where Dom Perignon lighted upon his happy discovery of the effervescent quality of champagne. The quaint old church, scraps of which date back to the 12th century, the remnants of the cloisters, and a couple of ancient gateways, marking the limits of the abbey precincts, are all that remain to testify to the grandeur of its past. It was the proud boast of the brotherhood that it had given nine archbishops to the see of Reims, and two-and-twenty abbots to various celebrated monasteries, but this pales beside the enduring fame it has acquired from having been the cradle of the sparkling vintage of the Champagne.

The church of Hautvillers and the remains of the neighbouring abbey are situated at the farther extremity of the village, at the end of its one long street, named, pertinently enough, the Rue de Bacchus. Passing through an unpretentious gateway we find ourselves in a spacious courtyard, bounded by buildings somewhat complex in character. On our right rises the tower of the church with the remains of the old cloisters, now walled-in and lighted by small square windows, and propped up by heavy buttresses. To the left stands the residence of the bailiff, and beyond it an 18th-century ch?teau on the site of the abbot's house, the abbey precincts being bounded on this side by a picturesque gateway tower leading to the vineyards, and known as the "porte des pressoirs," from its contiguity to the existing wine-presses. Huge barn-like buildings, stables, and cart-sheds inclose the court on its remaining sides, and roaming about are numerous live stock, indicating that what remains of the once-famous royal abbey of St. Peter has degenerated into an ordinary farm. To-day the abbey buildings and certain of its lands are the property of Messrs. Mo?t and Chandon, the great champagne manufacturers of Epernay, who maintain them as a farm, keeping some six-and-thirty cows there with the object of securing the necessary manure for the numerous vineyards which they own hereabouts.

The dilapidated cloisters, littered with old casks, farm implements, and the like, preserve ample traces of their former architectural character, and the Louis Quatorze gateway on the northern side of the inclosure still displays above its arch a grandiose carved shield, with surrounding palm-branches and half-obliterated bearings. Vine-leaves and bunches of grapes decorate some of the more ancient columns inside the church, and grotesque mediaeval monsters, such as monkish architects habitually delighted in, entwine themselves around the capitals of others. The stalls of the choir are elaborately carved with cherubs' heads, medallions and figures of saints, cupids supporting shields, and free and graceful arabesques of the epoch of the Renaissance. In the chancel, close by the altar steps, are a couple of black marble slabs, with Latin inscriptions of dubious orthography, the one to Johannes Royer, who died in 1527, and the other setting forth the virtues and merits of Dom Petrus Perignon, the discoverer of champagne. In the central aisle a similar slab marks the resting-place of Dom Thedoricus Ruynart--obit 1709--an ancestor of the Reims Ruinarts, and little square stones interspersed among the tiles with which the side aisles of the church are paved record the deaths of other members of the Benedictine brotherhood during the 17th and 18th centuries. Several large pictures grace the walls of the church, the most interesting one representing St. Nivard, Bishop of Reims, and his friend, St. Berchier, designating to some mediaeval architect the site the contemplated abbey of St. Peter was to occupy. There was a monkish legend that about the middle of the 7th century this pair of saints set out in search of a suitable site for the future monastery. The way was long, the day was warm, and St. Nivard and St. Berchier as yet were simply mortal. Weary and faint, they sat them down to rest at a spot identified by tradition with a vineyard at Dizy, belonging to-day to the Messrs. Bollinger, but at that period forming part of the forest of the Marne. St. Nivard fell asleep with his head on his companion's lap, and the one in a dream, and the other with waking eyes, saw a snow-white dove--the same, firm believers in miracles suggested, which had brought down the holy oil for the anointment of Clovis at his coronation at Reims--flutter through the wood, and finally alight on the stump of a tree.

In those superstitious times such a significant omen was not to be disregarded, the site thus miraculously indicated was at once decided upon, the high altar of the abbey church being erected upon the precise spot where the tree stood on which the snow-white dove had alighted.

Ay, the Vineyard of Golden Plants-- Summoning the Vintagers by Beat of Drum-- Excitement in the Surrounding Villages-- The Pickers at Work-- Sorting the Grapes-- Grapes Gathered at Sunrise the Best-- Varieties of Vines in the Ay Vineyards-- Few of the Growers in the Champagne Crush their own Grapes-- Squeezing the Grapes in the "Pressoir" and Drawing off the Must-- Cheerful Glasses Round-- The Vintage at Mareuil-- Bringing in the Grapes on Mules and Donkeys-- The Vineyards of Avenay, Mutigny, and Cumi?res-- Damery and Adrienne Lecouvreur, Mar?chal de Saxe, and the obese Anna Iwanowna-- The Vineyards of the C?te d'Epernay-- Boursault and its Ch?teau-- Pierry and its Vineyard Cellars-- The Clos St. Pierre-- Moussy and Vinay-- A Hermit's Cave and a Miraculous Fountain-- Ablois St. Martin-- The C?te d'Avize-- The Grand Premier Cr? of Cramant-- Avize and its Wines-- The Vineyards of Oger and Le Mesnil-- The Old Town of Vertus and its Vine-clad Slopes-- Their Red Wine formerly celebrated.

With the exception of certain famous vineyards of the Rh?ne, the vinelands of the Champagne may, perhaps, be classed among the most picturesque of the more notable vine districts of France. Between Paris and Epernay even, the banks of the Marne present a series of scenes of quiet beauty. The undulating ground is everywhere cultivated like a garden. Handsome ch?teaux and charming country houses peep out from amid luxuriant foliage. Picturesque antiquated villages line the river's bank or climb the hill sides, and after leaving La Fert?-sous-Jouarre, the cradle of the Cond?s, all the more favoured situations commence to be covered with vines.

The vinelands in the vicinity of Epernay, and consequently near the Marne, are commonly known as the "Vineyards of the River," whilst those covering the slopes in the neighbourhood of Reims are termed the "Vineyards of the Mountain." The Vineyards of the River comprise three distinct divisions--first, those lining the right bank of the Marne and enjoying a southern and south-eastern aspect, among which are Ay, Hautvillers, Cumi?res, Dizy, and Mareuil; secondly, the C?te d'Epernay on the left bank of the river, of which Pierry, Moussy, and Vinay form part; and thirdly, the C?te d'Avize , which stretches towards the south-east, and includes the vinelands of Cramant, Avize, Oger, Le Mesnil, and Vertus. The entire vineyard area is upwards of 40,000 acres.

The Champagne vineyards most widely celebrated abroad are those of Ay and Sillery, although the last-named are really the smallest in the Champagne district. Ay, distant only a few minutes by rail from Epernay, is in the immediate centre of the vinelands of the river, having Mareuil and Avenay on the east, and Dizy, Hautvillers, and Cumi?res on the west. Sillery, on the other hand, lies at the foot of the so-called Mountain of Reims, and within an hour's drive of the old cathedral city.

The pleasantest season of the year to visit the Champagne is certainly during the vintage. When this is about to commence, the vintagers--some of whom come from Sainte Menehould, forty miles distant, while others hail from as far as Lorraine--are summoned at daybreak by beat of drum in the market-places of the villages adjacent to the vineyards, and then and there a price is made for the day's labour. This is generally either a franc and a half, with food consisting of three meals, or two francs and a half without food, children being paid a franc and a half. The rate of wage satisfactorily arranged, the gangs start off to the vineyards, headed by their overseers.

On leaving Dizy the road runs immediately at the base of the vine-clad slopes, broken up by an occasional conical peak detaching itself from the mass, and tinted from base to summit with richly-variegated hues, in which deep purple, yellow, green, grey, and crimson by turns predominate. Dotting these slopes like a swarm of huge ants are a crowd of men, women, and children, intent on stripping the vines of their luscious-looking fruit. The men are mostly in blue blouses, and the women in closely-fitting neat white caps, or wearing old-fashioned unbleached straw-bonnets of the contemned coal-scuttle type. They detach the grapes with scissors or hooked knives, technically termed "serpettes," and in some vineyards proceed to remove all damaged, decayed, or unripe fruit from the bunches before placing them in the baskets hanging on their arms, the contents of which are from time to time emptied into a larger basket resembling a deep clothes-basket in shape, numbers of these being dispersed about the vineyard for the purpose, and invariably in the shade. When filled they are carried by a couple of men to the roadside, along which dwarf stones carved with initials, and indicating the boundaries of the respective properties, are encountered every eight or ten yards, into such narrow strips are the vineyards divided. Large carts with railed open sides are continually passing backwards and forwards to pick these baskets up, and when one of them has secured its load it is driven slowly--in order that the grapes may not be shaken--to the neighbouring pressoir, so extreme is the care observed throughout every stage of the process of champagne manufacture.

In many of the vineyards the grapes are inspected in bulk instead of in detail before being sent to the wine-press. The hand-baskets, when filled, are all brought to a particular spot, where their contents are minutely examined by some half-dozen men and women, who pluck off all the bruised, rotten, and unripe berries, and fling them aside into a separate basket. In one vineyard we came upon a party of girls, congregated round a wicker sieve perched on the top of a large tub by the roadside, who were busy sorting the grapes, pruning away the diseased stalks, and picking off all the doubtful berries, and letting the latter fall through the interstices of the sieve, the sound fruit being deposited in large baskets standing by their side, which, as soon as filled, were conveyed to the pressoir.

The picking ordinarily commences with daylight, and the vintagers assert that the grapes gathered at sunrise always produce the lightest and most limpid wine. Moreover by plucking the grapes when the early morning sun is upon them they are believed to yield a fourth more juice. Later on in the day, too, spite of all precautions, it is impossible to prevent some of the detached grapes from partially fermenting, which frequently suffices to give a slight excess of colour to the must, a thing especially to be avoided--no matter how rich and ripe the fruit may be--in a high-class champagne. When the grapes have to be transported in open baskets for some distance to the press-house, jolting along the road either in carts or on the backs of mules, and exposed to the torrid rays of a bright autumnal sun, the juice expressed from the fruit, however gently the latter may be squeezed, is occasionally of a positive purple tinge, and consequently useless for conversion into champagne.

Carts laden with grapes were continually arriving at the pressoir, and after discharging their loads, and having them weighed, kept driving off for fresh ones. Four powerful presses of recent invention, each worked by a large fly-wheel requiring four sturdy men to turn it, were in operation. The grapes were spread over the floor of the press in a compact mass, and on being subjected to pressure--again and again repeated, the first squeeze only giving a high-class wine--the must filtered through a wicker basket into the reservoir beneath, whence, after remaining a certain time to allow of its ridding itself of the grosser lees, it is pumped through a gutta-percha tube into the casks. The wooden stoppers of the bungholes, instead of being fixed tightly in the apertures, are simply laid over them, and after the lapse of ten or twelve days fermentation usually commences, and during its progress the must, which is originally of a pale pink tint, fades to a light straw colour. The wine usually remains undisturbed until Christmas, when it is drawn off into fresh casks, and delivered to the purchaser.

On our way from Ay to Mareuil, along the lengthy Rue de Ch?lons, we looked in at the little auberge at the corner of the Boulevard du Sud, where we found a crowd of coopers and others connected in some way with the vintage taking their cheerful glasses round. The walls of the room were appropriately enough decorated with capering bacchanals squeezing bunches of purple grapes and flourishing their thyrsi about in a very tipsy fashion. All the talk--and there was an abundance of it--had reference to the yield of this particular vintage and the high rate the Ay wine had realised. Eight hundred francs the pi?ce of two hundred litres, equal to forty-four gallons, appeared to be the price fixed by the agents of the great champagne houses, and at this figure the bulk of the vintage was disposed of before a single grape passed through the wine-press.

The vineyards of the C?te d'Epernay, south of the Marne, extend eastward from beyond Boursault, on whose wooded height Madame Clicquot built her fine ch?teau, in which her granddaughter, the Comtesse de Mortemart, to-day resides. They then follow the course of the river, and after winding round behind Epernay diverge towards the south-west. The vines produce only black grapes, and many of the vineyards are of great antiquity, one at Epernay, known as the Closet, having been bequeathed under that name six and a half centuries ago to a neighbouring Abbey of St. Martin. A short drive along the high road leading from Epernay to Troyes brings us to the village of Pierry cosily nestling amongst groves of poplars in the valley of the Cubry, with some half-score of ch?teaux of the last century belonging to well-to-do wine-growers of the neighbourhood, screened from the road by umbrageous gardens. Vines mount the slopes that rise around, the higher summits being crowned with forest, while here and there some pleasant village shelters itself under the brow of a lofty hill. Near Pierry many cellars have been excavated in the chalky soil, to the flints prevalent in which the village is said to owe its name.

The entrances to these cellars are closed by iron gateways, and on the skirts of the vineyards we come upon whole rows of them picturesquely overgrown with ivy. Early in the last century the wine vintaged in the Clos St. Pierre, belonging to an abbey of this name at Ch?lons, acquired a high reputation through the care bestowed upon it by Brother Jean Oudart, whose renown almost rivalled that of Dom Perignon himself, and to-day the Pierry vineyards, producing exclusively black grapes, hold a high rank among the second-class cr?s of the Marne.

Crossing the Sourdon, a little stream which, bubbling up in the midst of huge rocks in the forest of Epernay, rushes down the hills and mingles its waters with that of the Cubry, we soon reach Moussy, where the vineyards, spite of their long pedigree and southern aspect, also rank as a second cr?. Still skirting the vine-clad slopes we come to Vinay, noted for an ancient grotto--the comfortless abode of some rheumatic anchorite--and a pretended miraculous spring to which fever-stricken pilgrims to-day credulously resort. The water may possibly merit its renown, but the wine here produced is very inferior, due no doubt to the class of vines, the meunier being the leading variety cultivated. At Ablois St. Martin, picturesquely perched partway up a slope in the midst of hills covered with vines and crowned with forest trees, the C?te d'Epernay ends, and the produce becomes of a choicer character.

The smallest of the Champagne vineyards are those of Sillery, and yet no wine of the Marne enjoys a greater renown, due originally to the intelligence and energy of the Mar?chale d'Estr?es, the clever daughter of a Jew financier, who brought the wine of Sillery prominently into notice during the latter half of the seventeenth century. She had vineyards at Mailly, Verzy, and Verzenay, as well as at Sillery, and concentrated their produce in the capacious cellars of her ch?teau, afterwards sending it forth with her own guarantee, under the general name of Sillery, which, like Aaron's serpent, thus swallowed up the others. The Mar?chale's social position enabled her to secure for her wines the recognition they really merited, added to which she was a keen woman of business. She also possessed much taste, and whenever she gave one of her rare entertainments nothing could be more exquisite or more magnificent. At the same time, she was so sordid that when her daughter, who was covered with jewels, fell down at a ball, her first cry was, not like Shylock's, "my daughter," but "my diamonds," as rushing forward she strove to pick up, not the fallen dancer, but her scattered gems.

The drive from Reims to Sillery has nothing attractive about it. A long, straight, level road bordered by trees intersects a broad tract of open country, skirted on the right by the Petite Montagne of Reims, with antiquated villages nestled among the dense woodland. After crossing the Ch?lons line of railway--near where one of the new forts constructed for the defence of Reims rises up behind the villages and vineyards of Cernay and Nogent l'Abbesse--the country becomes more undulating. Poplars border the broad Marne canal, and a low fringe of foliage marks the course of the languid river Vesle, on the banks of which is Taissy, famous in the old days for its wines, great favourites with Sully, and which almost lured Henri Quatre from his allegiance to the vintages of Ay and Arbois that he loved so well.

The wine known as Sillery sec is a full, dry, pleasant-flavoured, and somewhat spirituous amber-coloured wine. Very little of it is made now-a-days, and most that is comes from the adjacent vineyards of Verzenay and Mailly, and is principally reserved by the growers for their own consumption. One of these candidly admitted to me that the old reputation of the wine had exploded, and that better white Bordeaux and Burgundy wines were to be obtained for less money. In making dry Sillery, which locally is esteemed as a valuable tonic, it is essential that the grapes should be subjected to only slight pressure, while to have it in perfection it is equally essential that the wine should be kept for ten years in the wood according to some, and eight years in bottle according to others, to which circumstance its high price is in all probability to be attributed. In course of time it forms a deposit, and has the disadvantage common to all the finer still wines of the Champagne district of not travelling well.

On leaving Reims on our excursion to the vineyards of Bouzy we pass the quaint old church of St. Remi, one of the sights of the Champagne capital, and notable among other things for its magnificent ancient stained-glass windows, and the handsome modern tomb of the popular Remois saint. It was here in the middle ages that that piece of priestly mummery, the procession of the herrings, used to take place at dusk on the Wednesday before Easter. Preceded by a cross the canons of the church marched in double file up the aisles, each trailing a cord after him, with a herring attached. Every one's object was to tread on the herring in front of him, and prevent his own herring from being trodden upon by the canon who followed behind--a difficult enough proceeding which, if it did not edify, certainly afforded much amusement to the lookers-on.

At one vendangeoir we visited at Mailly between 350 and 400 pi?ces of wine were being made at the rate of some thirty pi?ces during the long day of twenty hours, five men being engaged in working the old-fashioned press, closely resembling a cyder press, and applying its pressure longitudinally. The must was emptied into large vats, holding about 450 gallons, and remained there for two or three days before being drawn off into casks. Of the above thirty pi?ces, twenty resulting from the first pressure were of the finest quality, four produced by the second pressure were partly reserved to replace what the first might lose during fermentation, the residue serving for second-class champagne. The six pi?ces which came from the final pressure, after being mixed with common wine of the district, were converted into champagne of inferior quality.

We now cross the mountain, sight Ville-en-Selve--the village in the wood--among the distant trees, and eventually reach Louvois, whence the Grand Monarque's domineering war minister derived his marquisate, and where his ch?teau, a plain but capacious edifice, may still be seen nestled in a picturesque and fertile valley, and surrounded by lordly pleasure grounds. Soon afterwards the vineyards of Bouzy appear in sight, with the prosperous-looking little village rising out of the plain at the foot of the vine-clad slopes stretching to Ambonnay, and the glittering Marne streaking the hazy distance. The commodious new church was indebted for its spire, we were told, to the lucky gainer--who chanced to be a native of Bouzy--of the great gold ingot lottery prize, value ?16,000, drawn some years ago. The Bouzy vineyards occupy a series of gentle inclines, and have the advantage of a full southern aspect. The soil, which is of the customary calcareous formation, has a marked ruddy tinge, indicative of the presence of iron, to which the wine is in some degree indebted for its distinguishing characteristics--its delicacy, spirituousness, and pleasant bouquet. Vintagers are passing slowly in between the vines, and carts laden with grapes come rolling over the dusty roads. The mountain which rises behind is scored up its sides and fringed with foliage at its summit, and a small stone bridge crosses the deep ravine formed by the swift descending winter torrents.

The small quantity of still red Bouzy wine made by M. Werl? at the same vendangeoir only claims to be regarded as a wine of especial mark in good years. The grapes before being placed beneath the press are allowed to remain in a vat for as many as eight days. The must undergoes a long fermentation, and after being drawn off into casks is left undisturbed for a couple of years. In bottle, where, by the way, it invariably deposits a sediment, which is indeed the case with all the wines of the Champagne, still or sparkling, it will outlive, we were told, any Burgundy.

From Bouzy it was only a short distance along the base of the vine slopes to Ambonnay, where there are merely two or three hundred acres of vines, and where we found the vintage almost over. The village is girt with fir trees, and surrounded by rising ground fringed with solid belts or slender strips of foliage. An occasional windmill cuts against the horizon, which is bounded here and there by scattered trees. Inquiring for the largest vine proprietor we were directed to an open porte-coch?re, and on entering the large court encountered half-a-dozen labouring men engaged in various farm occupations. Addressing one whom we took to be the foreman, he referred us to a wiry little old man, in shirt-sleeves and sabots, absorbed in the refreshing pursuit of turning over a big heap of rich manure with a fork. He proved to be M. Oury, the owner of I forget how many acres of vines, and a remarkably intelligent peasant, considering what dunderheads the French peasants as a rule are, who had raised himself to the position of a large vine proprietor. Doffing his sabots and donning a clean blouse, he conducted us into his little salon, a freshly-painted apartment about eight feet square, of which the huge fireplace occupied fully one-third, and submitted patiently to our catechizing.

At Ambonnay, as at Bouzy, they had that year, M. Oury said, only half an average crop; the caque of grapes had, moreover, sold for exactly the same price at both places, and the wine had realised about 800 francs the pi?ce. Each hectare of vines had yielded 45 caques of grapes, weighing some 2 3/4 tons, which produced 6 1/2 pi?ces, equal to 286 gallons of wine, or at the rate of 110 gallons per acre. Here the grapes were pressed four times, the yield from the second pressure being used principally to make good the loss which the first sustained during its fermentation. As the squeezes given were powerful ones, all the best qualities of the grapes were by this time extracted, and the yield from the third and fourth pressures would not command more than 80 francs the pi?ce. The vintagers who came from a distance received either a franc and a half per day and their food, consisting of three meals, or two francs and a half without food, the children being paid thirty sous. M. Oury further informed us that every year vineyards came into the market, and found ready purchasers at from fifteen to twenty thousand francs the hectare, equal to an average price of ?300 the acre. Owing to the properties being divided into such infinitesimal portions, they were rarely bought up by the large champagne houses, who preferred not to be embarrassed with the cultivation of such tiny plots, but to buy the produce from their owners.

There are other vineyards of lesser note in the neighbourhood of Reims producing very fair wines which enter more or less into the composition of champagne. Noticeable among these are Ville-Dommange and Sacy, south-west of Reims, and Hermonville and St. Thierry--where the Black Prince took up his quarters during the siege of Reims--north-west of the city. The still red wine of St. Thierry, which recalls the growths of the M?doc by its tannin, and those of the C?te d'Or by its vinosity, is to-day almost a thing of the past, it being found here as elsewhere more profitable to press the grapes for sparkling in preference to still wine.

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