1879 Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines

The Sparlcling Wines of Ai/,Stro-Hitngary, &c.

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fashion able summer watering-place of Baden, about twenty miles south of Vienna, Herr R. Schlumber ger, one of my col– leagues on the wine jury at the Vienna and Paris Exhibitions or 1873 and '8, makes a white sparkling Voslauer-introduced into England some years since-from the blue portuguese, the· burgundy (the pineau noir), the ruliinder (the ·pineau gris), and. the riesling varieties of grape. It is, however, at Graz, the capital of Styria, picturesquely,_situated on the river Mur, and surrounded by lofty mountains, where sparkling wines are made upon the largest scale and with the most success. By far the principal manufactory is that of Kleinoscheg Brothers, founded. in the year . 1850, at an epoch when the larger Styrian wine– growers were directing their attention to the general improve– ment of their vineyards. The firm gained their ' knowledge of sparkling wines by practical experience acquired in the Cham– pagne itself, and to-day they unquestionably produce some of the best sparkling wines that are made out of France. They possess extensive vineyards of their own, and are also large pur– chasers of wines from the best districts, including P ettau, Rad– kersburg, the Picherergebirge, and Luttenberg, the latter yield– ing the finest wine which Styria produces, vintaged from the mosler or furmint.:_that is, the Tokay variety of grape. White wine from the clevener grape, understood to be iden– tical with the pineau noir of Burgundy and the Champagne, and vintaged early in October, forms the basis of the spark– ling wines manufactured by Kleinoscheg Brothers. The pro– duce of several other grapes, however, enters in a limited degree into the blend, including the riesling, the ruliinder or pineau gris, and the portuguese, the gathering of which is usually delayed several weeks later, and is sometimes even deferred until the end of November. The first and second press– ings of the black grapes yield a white must as in the Champagne, while the third and fourth give a pink wine of which the firm make a speciality. The wines, which are treated precisely after the syst em pur– sued in the Champagne, are bottled during the months of J uly

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