1879 Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines

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Clwitnpagne wnd Other Sparlclmg Wines.

village of Ven;enay, ~verlooking a veritable sea of vines. Risin()' • t:> up in front of the old grey cottages, encompassed by orchards or gardens, are the white walls and long red roofs of the vendangeoirs belonging to the great champagne houses-Moet and Chandon, Clicguot, G. H. Mumm, Roederer, Deutz and Geldermann, and others-all teeming with bustle and excitement, and with the vines almost reaching to their very doors. Moet and Chandon have as many as eight presses in full work, and o'~n no less than 120 acres of vines on the neighbouring slopes, besides the Clos de Romont-in the direction of Sillery, and yielding a wine of the Sillery type- belonging to M. Moet Romont. At Messrs. G. H. Mumm's the newly-delivered grapes are either being weighed and emptied into one of the pressoirs, or else receiving their first gentle squeeze. Verzenay ranks as a prmnier cru, and for three years in succession-1872, 3, and 4-its wines fetched a higher price than either those of Ay or Bouzy. In 1873 the vin brut commanded the exceptionally large sum of 1,030 francs the hogshead of 44 gallons. All the inhabitants of Verzenay are vine proprietors, and several million francs are annually received by them for the produce of their vineyards from the manufacturers of champagne. The wine of Verze~ay, remarkable for its body and vinosity, has always been held in high repute, which is more than can be said for the probity of the inhabitants, for according to an old Cham– pagne saying-" Whenever at Verzenay ' Stop thief' is cried - every one takes to his :heels." Just over the mountain of Reims is the village of Verzy, the vineyards of which adjoin those of Verzenay, and are almost exclusively planted with white grapes, the only instance of the kind to be met with in the district. In the clos St. Basse, how– ever-taking its name from the abbey of St. Basle, of which the village was a dependency, and where Edward III. of England had his head-quarters .during the siege of Reims- black grapes alone are grown, and its produce is almost on a par with the wines of Ve.rzenay. Southwards of Verzy are the third-class crus of Villers-Marmery and Tr~pail.