1879 Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines

Champagne and Other Spa1·lcling Wines.

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first should comprise a more or less powerful dash of the finer growths both of the Mountain of Reims and of the River, while, as regards the latter, one or other of the delicate vintages of the Cote d'Avize is essential to the perfect cuvee. The a im is t o combine and develop the special qualities of the r espective crus, body and vinosity being secured by the red vintages of Bouzy and Verzenay, softness and roundness by those of Ay and Dizy, and lightness, delicacy, and effervescence by the white growths of · Avize and Cramant. The proportions are never absolute , but vary according to the manufacturer's style of wine and the t aste of the countries which form bis principal markets. The wine at this period being imperfectly fermented and crude, the reader may imagine- the delicacy and di scriminatjon of palate requisite to judge of the flavour, finesse, and bouquet which the cuvee is likely eventually t o develop. These, however, are not the only matter s to be considered. There is, above every thing, the effervescence, which depends upon . the quantity of carbonic acid gas the wine contains, and this, in turn, upon the amount of its natural saccharine. If the gas be present in excess, ther e will be a shattering of bottles and a flooding of cellars ; and if there be a paucity the corks will r efu se t o pop, and the wine to sparkle aright in the glass. Ther efore the amount of saccharine in the cuvee has to be accurat ely ascer– t ained by means of a glucometer; and if it fails t o reach the required standard, t pe deficiency is made up by the addition of the purest sugar-candy. If, on the other hand, there be an excess of saccharine, the only thing to be done is t o defer the final blending and bottling until the superfluous saccharine matter has been absorbed by fermentation in the. cask . The cuvee complet ed, the blended wine, now resembling in taste and colour an ordinary acrid: white wine, and giving t o the uninitiat ed palate no promise of the exquisite delicacy and aroma it is destined to develop, is drawn off again into c~sks / for further treatment. This cumprises fining with some gelatindus subst ance, and, as a precaution against ropiness and other mala– dies, liquid t annin is at the same time frequently added t o supply