1879 Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines

Champagne and Othe:r Sparlcling Wines.

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to the Marne canal, there ar e various interesting portraits, with .....Qne or two r elics of the distinguished founder of the Montebello family, notably Marshal Lannes's gold-embroidered velvet saddle trappings, bis portrait and that of Marshal Gerard, as well as one of Napoleon I., by David, with a handsome clock and candelabra of E gyptian design, a bust of Augustus Cresar, and a portrait of the Regent d'Orleans. Another champagne house of standing at Mareuil is that of Bruch-Foucher and Co., whose establishment is situated near the village mairie. Entering by a l ofty porte-cochere, we notice on the left hand a spacious packing-room, where men and women are expeditiously completing some shipping order, while beyond are the offices, looking on to a terraced garden whence a pleasant view is gained of the verdant valley of the l\farne. From the packing– room a broad staircase leads t o the cellars beneath, which can also be reached from a venerable range of buildings on the opposite side of the road, where young wines and old. cognac spirit, used in the preparation of the liqueur, are stored in the wood. In one of these ancient celliers is a vast tun, capable of con- taining nearly 5,000 gallons, carved o>er with an elaborate d evice of vineleaves and bunches of grapes entwined around overflowing cornucopia and bottles of champagne. This hand– some cask, in which the firm make their ciivee, is a worthy r ival of the sole antique ornamental tun that still r eposes in the Royal cellars at Wiirzburg. In Messrs. Bruch-Foucher and .Co.'s capacious cellars, faced and vaulted with stone, from eight to nine hundred thousand bottles of wine are stored. The cellars form a singl e story, and extend partly-under the adjacent vine– yard slopes, deriving light and ventilation from numerous shafts which ar e occasionally no less than 150 feet in height. Messrs. Bruch-Foucher and Co., who are owners of vineyards at Mareuil, ship three qualities of champagne, the finest being their Carte d'Or and their Monogram Carte Blanche. Their chief business is with Eno-land Germany, and the United States, where their t> ' brands enjoy considerable repute.