1857 The Bordeaux wine and liquor dealers' guide

MANUFACTURING AND ADULTERATU~'G LIQUORS. 3

fuses over, after the stronger spirit has been drawn· off, and the receiver changed. It is used for com– mon drink, or mixed with other brandy. The ~' ea;u de vie a prewve d'Hollande" is of the specific gravity 9.420, the common strength at which it is retailed in France. The " eau de vie a preui:e d'lmil6" is the strongest brandy usually drank. Its specific gravity is 0.918. The "eau de vief&rf' is usually the distillation of common brandy, keeping the first portion sepa– rate. It answers to our spirits of wine. It is of dif– ferent strengths, dis~nguished by names exhibiting the quantity of water required to reduce the sam– ple to the "prewve d'Hollande." Specific gravity 0.839. The " esprit de vie" is brandy or spirits rectified at 0.890 and upwards. The general principles of distillation in France do not differ materially from the method in use here, in the distillation of grain or molasses. The material used being superior, produces a superior quality of spirits. The quality of brandy varies with that of the wine from which it is distilled. The soil, climate, and the different variety of the grape, possesses some peculiarity confined to itself; and this wine when distilled p:roduces a spirit possessing like distinctions. It is a general rule in France to

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