OCR Text |
Show ae Vi V iI en s put into a Bucket, with two or three Pound put of Ice; the Cork fhould be opened, and in again lightly ; which, if it be not done, the Wine will break the Bottle, or will not Byall the Obfervations which have been made on whatis practis'd in this Province, in would evaporate itfelf, if it remain’d quite open. Whenthe Bottle has been half a Quar- and from Vaults to Cellars, it will be-found that even Perfons of good 'Tafte, in the Pro- grow cool if it were not unftopped, and it ter of an Hour in this Ice, it muft be taken cultivating and ordering the Vines, and in fining off the Wines, in. bottling and carrying them: up and downinto Cellars and Vaults, vinces of Burgundy, Berry, Languedoc and out, becaufe the Ice would otherwife chill it too much, and makeit lofe its Brisknefs.. This Provence, who are yet very curious and deljcate in making Wines, efpecially for their own Tables, know not fo well how to bring it to d ous Flavour, whenit has beena little affecte bythe Ice, but great Care muft be ufed, that it maynot be either too much or too little. Perfe@tion as thofe who are accuftom’d to make it in this Province; for though their Winewill be excellently good, and of a delici- Asthefe Wines, efpecially thofe of the fame Year, work continually in the Vaults and Cel- lars, and ftill more in Bottles than in the Pieces, according to the different Seafons, and the divers Impreffions of the Air, it ought not to be farprifing, if the fame Wine, efpe cialiy the new, oftentimes appears different in Tafte We find a Wine potable in Fanuary Wines have not the Tartnefs of thofe of Champaign, yet they are able to make them more clear, fine, andlight. They might therefore try if they would not be preferv’d better in drawing them off from their Lee, than in letting them lie on it, according to their ufual Cuftom, which fome are of Opinion is abfo- lutely wrong. ‘They fhould chufe.and pick, in the Frefh of the Morning, theirfineit black There ought to be a very great Attention to keep the Wine continually in cool Places; nothing does it more Hurt than Heat: It is therefore of the greate{t Importance to have good Cellars and excellent Vaults, No Part of the World has fo good Vaults as thofe in Grapes, and thofe whofe Berries adhere the leaft together, becaufe they are the ripeft ; and they fhould obferve to leave as little Stalk to them as may be; and withregard to Preffing, which they are ufuallyfaulty in, they fhould immediately, as foon as carry d, trample every Load of Grapes fucceffivelyas theyare brought in ; andcollecting the firft, muft put it in new Casks of a lefs Size: and whenthey have finifh’d treading the Remainderof each Carriage, they fhould put them into the common Vats; but let them not remain therefo many days as they are generally us'd to do, that fo their common Wines maybe thinner, and lefs ftrong. By this Management, they might make four, five, or fix Pieces of fine Wine, more or lef, according as they fhall find it good; and then theyfhould take the fame Care as has been faid thofe of Champaign do: and if they would be content now with a lefs Produce, they would have a far greater uantity the following Years, and would be continually bringing it to a ftill greater Per- thofe of this Province. Thofé who would lay up a Stock of Wine, and are able to keep it two or three Years, or whofe Bufinefsit isto fend it into other far diftant Provinces, or to foreign Countries, ought to chufe the Mountain Wine; for as it has more can conveniently have Preffes, they fhould make them. Their Winesfhould be more delicate, more light, and lef colour’d bythis Attention, and with half the Fining, would be better for Tranfportation, in drawing them from the Lec, thofe of the River; and befides, the Eugli/h, the Flemings, the Dutch, the Danes, and the Swedes defire thefe ftrong Wines, that can bear the Tranfportation, and hold good for two or three Years, which the River Wines will not do. There are fome Diftriéts or Cantons in the and February, which will feem hard in March and April, becaufe of the rifing of the Sap, which agitates it more ; the fame Wine in Fune and Fuly will appear entirely foft, and in Auguft and September we fhall find it hard again, which one fhall not be able to perceive any thing’ of during the preceding Months, becaufe the rifing of the Sap of Augu/t will put the Parts in a great Motion. ‘This Effect Motion will have on the River Wines of the Year ; but oftentimes the Wines of two Years from the Mountains will appear more mellow, more or lefs exquifite, more or lefs forward, according to the different Motions it has received by the different Impreffions of the Air, which will vary more fenfibly in the different Seafons of the Year. Champaign, which is the Reafonit is fo diffi- fe&tion, as they improved more and more in cult to find any where elfe fo good Wines as Experience. In thofe Countries were they Body, it will better bear Tranfportation than and efpecially if they are put into Bottles. South Provinces of the Kingdom, wherethe Earth is very fine, which would produce exquifire Wine: It would not, indeed, havethe "Tartnefs as thofe of Champaign have, but then it would have anothervery pleafing Flavour The moft noble River Wines are thofe of that thofe have not. All thefe Obfervations which we have made Auvillers, Ay, Epernay, Pierry, Cumieres: who Thofe of the Mountain are, of Silery, Ver- will be of great Ufe to thofe Perfons drink zenay, Taiffy, Mailly ; and above all, thofe would improve their Wines, or defire to reof St. Thierry have the moft Reputation. The delicious Liquor. But fuch Perfons muft ftudy laft has for a long time had the greateft Name, member, that they ought above all this to which are and been the moft call’d for, and one may to have good Vaults; and thofe the venture to fay, that it comes nothing behind cooleft in the Summer, and warmeft in Winter, are ever the beft. Be the beft Wines of Champaign. 3 It may feem to many Perfons in this Coun- try, that we have been too prolix in the Account we have given ; but thefe Obfervations are not defign’« thofe who acquainted with the Practice already ; but for fuch Per- fons as are wholly ignorant of thefe things, and who are fo far from taking any Pains ‘in the ordering their Wines, that it is a Pain to them to conceive the greateft Part of thofe things which I have taken notice of, to be neceflary ;. and who cannot be perfwaded but’ that they obferve every thing requifite to the proper Management of Wines as exactly as thofe of Champaign do. x Nothingis fo aftonifhing as the Indifference there is in the remote Provinces, where Wine is fo abundant, both in the Culture of the Vineyards and the Choice of the Vines, asalfo in the Manner of Making and the Management of the Wines. The Want of Preffes. ought not to be allow’d as a juft Excufefor their not making their Wines intirely white. But of this anon. ing in Champaign which may not be perf imitated in other Places; the drawing off the Wines, the Manner of fining them, and putting them in Bottles, &8e. The Warmth of the Climate will not per- mit Wines to be made perfe@tly white with black Grapes ; they will have a little Colour. and they will not thence be lefs exquifite than thofe they have made thefefifty Years in Cham- and, in the main, are b in Tafte, and better for Health thgn thofe Wines that are perfeétly white, which cannot be us’d but after Dinner. The whole of my Intention in publifhing this Collection of my Remarks, is to oblige thofe who defire to be able to give a greater Agree ablenefg to the Wines that they make for their owndrinking, and to animate thofe who have hitherto thought that a greater Excellence cannot be given to the Wines in their Diftriéts or Cantons, to take more Pains to bring them to Perfe€tion; which will contribu eatly to raife the Value of the Commerce of Winesin the remote Provinces. A Dissertation of the Situation gundy, and the Wines that it prod Mr. Arnoux. The Town of Beaune is the Center of Upper Burgundy; it is fituate in a Territory the moft is all equally poffible; and alfo eafy. Many Perfons might enrich themfelves, if they would fertile and ferene in France ; it is all round in- Obfervations, and of thofe they might make themfelves to bring their Wines to Perfection ; and inftead of felling them for one or two Sols per Pot, as they ordinarily do, they might {cll them for upwards ofeight or ten. They would have the Satisfaction of augmenting their Income, and fee their Wines fought after, and they would be able to fell them not only at Capital of the Dutchyof B Fea de Laune, Vi Si Jon on the Saone, wy le Duc, Saulieu avigny and Semeur. Beauneis plac’d almoft in the Middle of thefe Towns, which are not above eight, nine, twelve, twenty-one, or twenty-four Miles at the fartheft, to be, as it were, a Nurfe to them all, in diftributing plentifully amongft them the Liquors which it produces. All the Learned are agreed unanimoufly, that it is the antient Bibracfe of which Mention is made in Ce/ar’s Commentaries, in thefe Terms; Poftridie ejus Diei, &c. Cefar not having above two Days Provifion for his Army, and being not above thirteen: fet themfelves about it, with the Help ofthefe Home, but alfo to tranfport them into foreign Countries; becaufe their Situation is more vourable to fend thembySea thanthat of the Champaignois, who are oblig’d to tranfporttheirs upon Waggons and by Rivers, into Germany, and the fartheft Parts of the North. Perhaps fome Criticks will object the Dif- ference of Climates, which will not permit the fame Culture of the fame Plants, which bytheir different Qualities do require particular Manage‘ments. "This Way of Reafoning might have Place, if I had pretendedto fpeak to a People who ftudied to order their Vines with great Attention, and to give them a Finenefs ; but T have it chiefly in View, as I have hadin collecting thefe different Obfervations, to inftruct thofe People who are intirely ignorant of the Method us’d in thofe Countries where they are accuftom’d to make excellent Wines, as well by reafon of the Goodnef$ of the Lands, and the Warmthof the Climate, as by the Induftry of thofe who inhabit them. _ In Champaign, where their Grapes do not ripen but with Difficulty, becaufe their Country is cold, they make the Pale Wines, and the White, the Wines truly Grey, which are a little colour’d, and the Velvet Wines ; Why can’t they make all thefe Sorts 6f Wines in fo in Burgundy, in Languedoc, in Provence, Re, compafs’d with Cities, among whichis the antient Capital of the Gauls; Di the biggeft, Miles at the moft from Bib: richeft, and moft fertile City of the Heiuaus, thought proper to march thither to provide Provifion for his Troops, and that is the Reafon he quitted his Wayto Switzerland, and came to Bibratte, Com. Caf. Lib. de Bel. Gal. Cefar fays, in another Place, That Bibracte among the Celti of Heduans, is the largeft and moft fruitful City of the Gav/s, and that which , has the greateft Authority among the Heduans in which he call’d a Council of War, iffued Laws, and where he paf'd the Winter with his Troops. He fays alfo, That this Townis is not fituate at the Foot of a Hill, and that it far from the Town ofAvian. All this appears Country true, as well from the Fertility of the 4s its Situation and its Diftance from dutun, which is not above twenty-four Miles. the Neverthelefs, Bibratfe having been been "Theatre of many Wars, and having ruined by feveral Sieges, Beanue has been buile of upon its Ruins, and has taken its Name Bellona x |