1879 Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines

· The Sparkling Wines of Ge?·many.

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faged pa.rtly in the vineyards that overspread the tall chalk hills which close in around the quaint old university town. The most famous of these vineyards are the Leist and the Stein, tbe first– named sloping downward towards the Main from the foot of tbe picturesque Marienberg fort, which, perched on the summit -0f a commanding height, dominates the city and forms so con– spicuous an object in all the views of it. The extensive buildings of the fort not only shield the vines from the winds, but r eflect the sun's rays upon them, thereby materially conducing to the perfect ripening of the grapes at a much earlier period than is ~ustomary. The Stein vineyard is situated on the opposite side of the Mn.in, and wh en viewed from the picturesque bridge, studded with incongruous colossal statues-such as J oseph and the Virgin Mary in close proximity to Charlemagne and Pepin– seems to rise up as an immense rampart b ehind the city. H ere the river acts as a r eflector, throwing back the sun's r ays on the l ower portions of the slope, where t he finest wine is naturally vintaged. An altogether inferior growth is produced on the hill to the north, known as the Middle Stein, and also in t he ;Elarfe vineyar d, situated in the rear of the latter. The prevalent vines in the Wi.irzbu;rg district are the riesling, the traminer, the elbling, and the rulitnder, or pineau gris. The first sparkling wine establishment at W iirzburg was founded in 1842 by H err Oppmann, the Royal cellar-master, who died in 1866. The position held by this individual was one of considerable importance, for t he King of Bavaria is the l ar gest wine-grower in his own dominions, and stores the produce of h is vineyards in the famous cellar s extending beneath one of the wings of the deserted Residenz, erected at an epoch when Wiirzburg was subject to episcopal rule. These cellars, vaulted in stone, are on a vast scale, and possibly unequalled in the world. You descend a broad flight of steps, flanked by orna- ·mental iron balustrades, and encounter half-way down a, minia– ·ture tun, gun.rded by the Ba.varian lions posted in a ni he in the wall. Following your guide with lighted canclies, you pass between rows upon rows of capacious casks filled with the wine last