1879 Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines

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Oh(J/fnpagne and Other Sparkling W'ines-.

undergo the customary minute examination by the eplucheuses> and all unripe, damaged, and rotten berries being thrown aside,. the fruit is conveyed with due care to the press-houses in the· large baskets known as paniers mannequins. The pressing takeSo place under exactly the same conditions as the pressing of the– black grapes ; the must, too, is drawn off into hogsheads to fer– ment, and by the end of the year, when the active fermentation_ has terminated, the wine is usually clear and limpid. At Rilly-la-Montagne, on the line of railway between Reims. and Epernay, Roper freres & Cie., late of Epernay, now have. their e~tablishment. Starting from the latter place we pass Ay and Avenay, and then the little village of Germaine in the midst of the forest, and nigh the summit of the mountain. of Reims, with its "Rendezvous des Chasseurs" in immediate– proximity to the station. Finally we arrive at Rilly, which> spite of its isolated situation, has about it that aspect of pros– perity common to the more favourable wine districts of France. This is scarcely surprising when the quality of its wines is taken into consideration. The still r ed wine of Rilly has lono- o enjoyed a high local reputation, and to-day the Rilly growths. are much sought after for conversi9n into champagne. White wine of 1874 from black grapes fetched, we were informed, as much as from 600 to 700 francs the piece, while the finer quali– ties from white grapes r ealised from 300 to 400 francs. Messrs. Roper freres & Cie. are the owners of some productive vine– yards situated on the high road to Chigny and Ludes. The establishment of Roper freres is adj acent to a handsome modern house standing back: from the road in a large and pleasant garden, bounded by -vipeyards on two of its side~. In the celliers all the conveniences pertaining to a modern ch am– pagne establishment are to be found, while extending b eneath the garden are the extensive cellars of the firm, comprising · two stories of long and spacious galleries excavated in the chalk, their walls and roofs being supported whenever necessary by masonry. A curious feature about these cellars is that the roots. of the larger trees in the garden above have penetrated through