1914 Beverages de luxe

five arrondissementa of tlie Department of Champagne, where Champagne grapes are grown : Chalons sur Marne, Eperney, Rheims, Sainte-Mene Hould and Vitry-le-Francois, but the right to the name of genuine French Champagne is now limited to the wine made from the grapes of Rheims and Eperney. In general parlance, when the wine of the Champagne dis- trict is referred to, the sparkling wine is meant, yet, 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- ver.sy as to whether the still wines fi m Champagne or Bur- gundy wines were the better. Of the red wines grown at Rheims, the two finest are the Rilly and Bouzy. The Sauterne district comprises a portion of the Depart- ment of Gironde and jiart 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. The most famous red wines of France ai'e those from the Burgundy district, and known by this name. 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 continuous row on the sides of these hills. The soil is of yellowish red, accounting for the name of the district, and Burgundy is probably the 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 all the more delicate qualities of the grape, they unquestionably rank as the finest in the world." The Department of the Pyrenees Orientales is another where vineyards in full leaf and all their beauty may be seen stretching out mile after mile, both on the level land and on the hillsides. Here, the very drie.st and, likewise, the sweetest of wines 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 comes Muscat wine, which is very sweet, and for the first year is like a syrup, Init, after the second year, becomes clear and acquires the bouquet which has given it its reputation. 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 Rhone, in the commune of Tain, one of the Queen's courtiers,