1879 Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines

The R eims E s_tablislnnents.

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Baptiste Colbert, son of a Reims wool-merchant, and the famous minister who did so much to consolidate the finances which the royal voluptuary, masquerading at H.eims in Roman garb, after– wards made such dreadful havoc of. M. Gustave Gibert possesses pressing-hou_ses at Ay and Bouzy, and has moreover at both these places accmµ modation for large r eserve stocks of wine in wood. As all the wines which h e sends into the market are vintaged by himself, he can ensur e their being of uniform hi gh quality. His Vin du R oi is notable for perfume, delicacy; perfect effervescence, and that fine flavour of the grape which characterises the grand wines of the Champagne. It is a great favourite with the King of Sweden and Norway, and the labels on the bottles bear his name and arms. M. Gibert's brand has acquired a high r eputation in the North of Europe, and having of late years been introduced into England, is rapidly mal"ing its way there. The merits of the wines have b~en again and again publicly r ecognised, no less than · ten medals having been successively awarded M. Gibert at the Exhibitions of Toulouse in 1858, Bordeaux in 1859, Besanc;on in 1860, Metz and Nantes in 1861, London in 1862, Bayonne and Linz in 1864, and Oporto and Dublin in 1865. This long list of awards has led to the wines being placed "hors concours," never– theless M. Gibert continues to submit them .to competition whenever any E xhibition of importance t akes place. The wines are shipped to England, Germany, Russia, ai;i.d Northern Europe, Spain and Portugal, Calcutta, J ava, Melbourne, and Hong-Kong, besides being lar gely in r equest for the P aris market. · On quitting M. Gibert's central est ablishment we proceed along the winding, ill-paved Rue de Ma~·s, past the premises of :Messrs. Jules Mumm and Co., an offshoot from the once famous firm 0£ P.A. Mumm and Co., to the Place de l'Hotel de Ville, in one corner of which stands a massive and somewhat pretentious-looking house, dating back to the time of Louis Quatorze. H ere are the offices of Ruinart pere et fils, who claim to r ank as the olclest existing house in the Champagne. The head of the firm, the Vicomte de Brimont, is a collateral de-

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