1916 Jack's Manual by J A Grohusko (4th edition)

weather sets jn, the wine becomes clear and is the lees remaining in the cask. The wine-producing district of Champagne may be divided into three regions. First, the mountain country of Rheims, where the grapes possess the distinctive qualities of vinosity and freshness; second the Avize district, notable for wines made from white grapes, which are. of great delicacy; and third, the Valley of the Marne, where the wines are char- acterized by an excellent bouquet. Wines made solely from grapes of any one district would be found disappointing. One must unite the freshness and strength of Verzenay with the mellowness of Bouzy, the softness of Cramant, and the bouquet of Ay, in order to blend into a champagne all the delightful qualities which a connoisseur expects to find. During January and February the wine-maker mixes in im- mense casks the wines from different vineyards. Wines want character, bouquet, vinosity and delicacy, and these qualities can only be secured by the mixture of wines possess- ing these elements individually. To make a fine champagne one must know thoroughly the characteristics of the wine of each vineyard, and this requires a keen sense of smell and taste, and great skill and experience. By this system, it is possible for the shipper to keep up a uniform excellence of his wines, and to duplicate each ship- ment despite a succession of bad vintages. There are other districts surrounding where good wines are grown. The pale, delicate Manzanilla is grown around the little town of San Lucas de Barrameda, about fifteen miles from Jerez, and Puerto de Santa Maria yields, somewhat inferior wines to the neighboring districts mentioned. Champagne, as everybody knows, takes its name from the French province in which it is produced, but everybody does not know that Sparkling Champagne was the discovery of a monk belonging to the royal monastery of St. Pierre at Hautvilliers. His name was Father Perignon, and he died in 1715. The chief depots of Champagne are at Ay, Epernay, and Rheims, where the quantity kept in stock is exceedingly large. The sparkle or "mousse" as the French term is, which characterizes Champagne, is produced by the^ development of carbonic acid gas from the saccharine constituents of the grape juice, and is sometimes assisted in bad years by the addition of sugar to the fermenting wine. Afterwards when the wine has fermented in the cask until the Spring, it is bot- tled. In the bottle, slight fermentation continues, and a sedi- ment is formed, which is adroitly thrown out shortly before the wine is required for the market, and this process is termed "disgorging." The wine then receives a certain quantity of liqueur, composed of the finest cane sugar dis- solved in old still wine. Champagne merchants have each their own views as to the quantity of liqueur which ought to be used. drawn off,

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