1911 Beverages de luxe

of wine in France, as it was a Bénédictine Monk who invented Champagne, termed by the French "Vin Mousseux." There are five arrondissements of tlie Department of Champagne, where Champagne grapes are grown: Chalons sur Marne, Eperney, Kheims, Sainte-Mene Hould and Vitry-le-Francois, but the right to the nanie of genuine French Champagne is now limited to the wine made from the grapes of Rheiins and Eperney. In gênerai parlance, when the wine of the Champagne dis- trict is referred to, the sparkling wine is meant, y et, in this same district, still wines are made that are claimed by some to be the best in France. At one time there was quite a contro- versy as to whether the still wines from Champagne or Bur- gundy wines were the better. Of the red wines grown at Rheims, the two finest are the Killy and Bouzy. The Sauterne district comprises a portion of the Depart- ment of Gironde and part of the Medoc, and is called in France the Graves. The soil here consists of sand and gravel, mixed with more or less clay, so that one would hardly expect to have such luxuriant vines as produce the popular Sauterne wines. It is from another part of the Gironde, where, likewise, the soil would appear to be almost worthless, that the Medoc wines, or Clarets, as we know them, are produced. Tlie most famous red wines of France are those from the Burgundy district, and known by this naine. The vines are grown on the Cote d' Or, which is a chain of hills averaging from 800 to 1,000 feet in height. For thirty miles the vineyards extend in one continuons row on the sides of thèse hills. The soil is of yellowish red, accountiDg for the name of the district, and Burgundy is probably tlie oldest wine-producing district in entire Europe. One authority gives his views of the best Bur- gundy wine in the following language: "In richness of flavor, and in perfume, and ail the more délicate qualifies of the grape, they unquestionably rank as the finest in the world." The Department of the Pyrénées Orientales is another where vineyards in full leaf and ail their beauty may be seen stretching out mile after mile, both on the level land and on the hillsides. Here, the very driest and, likewise, the sweetest of Avinés are made in the same neighborhood. The dry wine, known as Grenache wine, which, through a peculiar process of manufacture, partakes more of the nature of a liqueur, is laid away in cellars for many years before it is said to be really fit for use. From the same neighborhood cornes Muscat wine, which is very sweet, and for the first year is like a syrup, but, after the second year, becomes clear and acquires the bouquet which has given it its réputation. Maccabeo and Malvoysie are two more liqueur wines made in this vicinity, and a large num- ber of other wines, also grown in this department, are classified under the name of Rousillion wines. According to an old narrative, on the left border of the