1879 Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines

The Epernay Establishments.

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imposing Rue du Commerce at Epernay. On the left hand is a succession of fine chateaux, commencing with one belonging to M. Auban Moet, whose terraced gardens overlook the valley of the Marne, and command views of the vine-clad heights of Cumieres, Hautvillers, Ay, and Mareuil, and the more distant slopes of Ambonnay and Bouzy, while on the other side of the famous Epernay thoroughfare we encounter beyond the establishments -0f Messrs. Mo et and Chandon and P errier.:Jouet the ornate monu– mental fac;ade which the firm of Piper and Co.-of whom Messrs. Kunkelmann and Co. are to-day the successors-raised some years since above their extensive cellars. A little in the rear -0f the Rue du Commerce is the well-ordered establishment of Messrs. Roussillon and Co., the extension of whose business of late has necessitated their r emoval to these capacious premises. The wines of the firm enjoy a high r eputation in England, F rance, and Russia, and have secured favournble r ecognition at the Paris, Philadelphia, and other Exhibitions. Their stock includes con– siderable quantities of the older vintages, it being a rule of the house never to ship crude young ·wines. It is on their dry varieties that Messrs. Roussillon and Co. especially pride them– selves, and some of the fine wine of 1874 that was h ere shown to us was as remarkable for its delicacy as for its fragr ance. In a side street at the farther end of the Rue du Commerce stands a chateau of red brick, overloo1..'ing on the one side an extensive pleasure-garden, and on the other a spacious court- yard, bounded by celliers, stables, and bottle-sheds, all of modern construction and on a most ext ensive scale. These form the establishment of Messrs. Pol Roger and Co., settled for many years at Epernay, and known throughout the Champagne for their large purchases at the epoch of the vintage. From the knowledge they possess of the best crf1s, and their r elations with the leading vineyard proprietors, they are enabled when- ever the wine is good to acquire large stocks of it. Having bottled a considerable quantity of the fine wine of 1874, they resolved to profit by the exceptional quality of this vintage to commence shipping champagne to England, where their agents,

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