1879 Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines

. 57

Preparation of Champagne.

attempt is made to start it by tapping the part to which it adheres with a piece of iron, the result being frequently the sudden eA'}Jlosion of t he bottle. As a precaution, therefore, the workman protects his face with a wire-mask or gigantic wire spectacles, which give to him a ghoul-like aspect.

The cellars of the champagne manufacturers are very varied in character. The wine that has been grown on the chalky hills undergoes development in vaults burrowed out of the calcareous strata underlying the entire district. In excavating these cel– lars the sides and roofs are frequently worked smooth and regular as finished masonry. The larger ones are compoRed of a n umber of spacious and lofty galleries, ~ometimes parallel with f: