OCR Text |
Show V iI Vi Vi In order to know the Colour, they caft former; whenceitis eafy to be comprehended, why the onehaslefs of the Quality than the fome of it againfta Wall; andaccording to other ; and asthis fecond is generally {pent in the Impreffion it makes, they judge of the Ef. fect it will produce. either fit for prefent drinking, or firm, or hard, according to the Occafion they havefor it, and the Quantity they are to provide. As to the Onefingle Puncheonof thatwill colourfix of the Country, they makeit all manner of Ways, White, and fometimes more, according as the Seafons are hot, and the Quantity of the Wine other, they don’t fail to make it, and often that the Vineyard hasyielded: ‘This Wine is not only good to drink, whenit is taken in fendit to Paris. All thefe Sorts of Grapes are not gather’d time, but it ferves for a Remedy againft the with the fame Care as the Red Auveriat, Dyfentery and other Maladies. Its Mareis which cannot bear the Water, neverthelefs good againft Rheumatifins. the Wineis the better, when the Grapes with This Plant has a Virtue that is not foundin which it is made are cut in a Seafon thatis any others, becaufe the longer it is kept the better it is: For it is better for drinking at rather hot and dry than cold and moift. We have in fome Places of this Vineyard- the End of twelve or fourteen Years, than one Plot three Sorts of Red Wines which bear the or two Years after it has been made. fame Name, whichneverthelefs they diftinguifh Some put it in Bottles, but it keeps equally the one from the other: ‘There is the tender as well in Casks, provided Care be taken to Samoireau, the hard, and the Fourchu, which keep them always full, and to obferve that the haveall three different Qualities. Casks don’t want Hoops; and it will beproper The tender Samoireau does very well in the to put on feveral Iron Hoops at each End. Lands of the Olivet, St. Me/min and Clery, The Wine, the Marc, and the Wood, or where it is more plentiful than anywhereelfe. rather the Afhes of this Plant, havealfo a great ‘They make of it a particular Wine which will many other Properties, which I hall not rekeep a long time, provided it have no Mixture, late. and that they give it but little of the Vat; The Time of gathering thefe two Species of this rendersit firm, and preventsit from grow- Samoireau comes much later than that of the ing ropy. firft; that ripens at the fame Time with the This Grape may be mingled with the Red Auvernat. Auvernat, becaufe they both ripen at the fame The Territory of Mardic is the moft proper time. ‘The Samoireau gives the Colour to the for thefe Plants, and that which producesthe Anvernat, it fuftains it, and caufes it to keep moft of it, (I mean of the hard and fourchy along time; but you muft put but a fmall Samoireau) ; there is of it at Bou and Checi, Quantity for fear of altering or entirely ab- and buta very little in any other Placesof this forbing the Quality of the Auvernat, which Vineyard Plot. after it has loft, it alfo lofes his Name, and is As the Fourchy never produces more Wine no moreregarded but asa good Vin de Lignage, than when it is a little old, many, eager to or one compos'dof all Sorts of Grapes, whichis enjoy the Fruit of their Labours and their Exvulgarly call’d Vignerons Auvernat, very dif- pences, have not Patience to wait fo long, and ferent from that of the Citizens, whichis in a therefore they pull up thofe of them they have, manner pure Auvernat. When one would and can't refolve to plant them whenthey have renderthis Vin de Lignage yet better, he may them not. put to it a fourth Part of good Melier. Neverthelefs this is a precious Plant, and The hard Samoireauis a little higher colour’d one may judgeof it by the Effects that it prothan the tender; whenit has but its proper De- duces, and by the Price which it bears, forit gree of the Vat, they may mix one ortwo Pun- is commonly fold for double the Price of the cheons of White, and a little lefs, when they tun beft Winesof this Country : And don’t know it; theyfhouldalfo, when it may bedone,takea but that thofe who deftroy them, andthofe Melier of a better Kind, for this Wine has not that don’t raife them, will repent it one time or much Fire. When it is pure, and it has pafs'd other. the Year, that Quality diminifheth ; it is then As there is not much to befaid of the Manproper to make ufe of Rapes, not of Chips or ner of making white Wine, and having Shavings, but of Corn, without putting Grapes taken Notice of at the Beginning of this to it, as fome do, for that renders it hard and Artilce, I fhall fay but little of it particudifagreeable to drink. Jarly. It is fufficient to put a third Part, or at Although there are many Kinds of white moft a half of the Seeds into a Puncheon 3 and Grapes, yet they make, as one mayfay, but after that theyfill the Wine up to the Bung. two Sorts of Wine of them; the one is the They make ufe of thefe Rapes to put off the moift, the other is dry Wine. , Grounds or Bottoms of Wine, and the weak The firft, fuch as the Mu/cat, or the Genas Wines,which they alfo mingle fometimes with of St. Mefinin, thofe of Marigny, of Rebrecthem; the third Kind of Szmoireau, of which bein, and other neighbouring Places, may be I fhall fpeak, renders them the better for look’d upon as the moft precious, in that they keeping. bring the Money into the Kingdom, rather Pee ee Rete is the beft of the than the dry Wines; for they fend them into sathe Stans nae propet to give the Colour : 85 2 uftain thofe that are weak. and to reftore thofe that have any Defect, Holland; Flanders, England, &c. To render this Wine the better, they don’t content themfelves to fee that the Grapes have their perfect Maturity, NITY Maturity, and be half rotten ; they wait the green Melier contribute very much; the oftentimes till the Froft has taken them, to have the Wine which they call Bouru, and in fome Years they defer the Vintage until the xsth or 20th of November, and itis then fome- times fo cold that the Ificles hang upon thofe Grapes that perifhed, fo that they are obliged to carry Fires into the Vineyardsin great Pans, to warm the Gatherers. It is true, that thofe who tarry fo long before they gather, havea great deal lefs Wine than others, but then at the fame Time it is muchbetter, and fells a great deal dearer ; fo that I believe it comes much to the fame, or very near the Matter. The Wines of which I am fpeaking, altho’ fweet of themfelves, they have neverthelefs not always the fame Degree of Liquor; this depends upon the Condition of the Seafon, that is to fay, by how much the Summer and Autuiin is the hotter, the Wine has the more Liquor, and it has a great deal lefs when the Seafonis the contrary. What I fay is fo true, that the Seafon having been very hot in the Year 1719, the fweet Wines themfelyes had abundance more Liquor than ordinary, and kept good more than a Year; alio the dry Wines of many Places were {weet and clear. Some Red Wines were alfo very foft, (which is very rare) and held good ’till the Month of February in the Year 1721. It is true, they were thick, and that they did not become elear till the Time that theyloft their Sweetnefs, which altered their Strength. The Softnefs of the white Wines being over, they were neverthelefs good ; but as there remains a certain Flavour, which pleafes the Palate of moft Perfons, it is beft to fell them, and {pend them as foon as maybe. One may know by Experience, that good Grapes almoft always make good Wine. Among the white Grapes, without Contradiction, the beft are the Melier and the white Auveruat of the Low Countries ; as the white Formentes or Bourguignons, the Maledeueaux, the Framboifes, the white Gois, &c. make a Wine which is better to throw away than to drink; yet Vineyards of the Vignerons are ftuft with thefe wretched Vines, becaufe they yield more Wine, and for the moft Part, better refift thofe Accidents that happen to a Vine- laft hinders the Wine from being ropy, and the firft makes it clear ; and for this Reafonit is good to plant of ir with the Melier, becaufe at\the Time of Gathering they may be both mitgled together, and make a Wine without any Fault. One ought to endeavour not to gather the white but when the Weather is fair ; a rainy Seafonis not fo favourable ; for one ought never to mingle Water with the Wine that one makes, tho’ fome’are not over {crupulous as to this Point ; it is true, the Inconvenience is not fo great in refpect to the Auvernats ; but that fhould not hinder one from always endeavouting to make good Wine; and for this Reafon it is beft to gather the Vintage in a dry, hot Time. As the white Wine is not tunn’d, when they bring the Grapes in Panniers from the Vineyards, they empty them direétly on the Middle of the Prefs, where they trample them with their wooden Shoes ; the broadeft and {mootheft are the moft proper for this work. The Grapes ought to be trod immediately, that is to fay, every Pannier as they bring themfrom the Vineyard, otherwife the Wine would be yellow, and this Colouris difagreeable to the Sight, and {till more to the Palate, and confequently gives the Wine a bad Quality. According as the Grapes are preffed on the Middle, and that the Pipe fills, they empty it tofill the Puncheons or the Quarter Puncheons toa Pail-full, or thereabouts, according to the Largenefs of the Casks wherein “tis put ; to make it boil, theyfill them up to the Hole of the Bung with the Wine which comes from the two firft Preffings, and that which remained in the Pipe before they gave the two firft Squeezings, and that which the others yield ferves to put into the Wine when the firft Boiling begins to be diminifhed. One ought always togive tothe Marc, w hether it be white or red, four Preffings, without taking in the Lowering of the Beam, that is to fay, that it ought to be cut four ‘Times. Somegive it the third Working, with an Iron Gripple in the Middle of the Marc, and yard ; for thefe People have no Regardto any in they leave all round about half a Foot ; Breadth, to keep in that which is wrought not give it any bad 'Tafte ; but when ie is be- the is the more thick, and has lef Fire than for Auvernat ; it does not dry fo prefently, thing but the Quantity, whichis the Reafon that they do not ordinarily fell their Wines to that Advantage as the Citizens do. ‘The white Grapes cannot be gathered too ripe, becaufe the riper they are, the more Wine they produce, and their Rottennets does gun before they come to their full Ripened(s, they are {ubje&to grow yellow ; yet Regard is to be had to thofe Lands of which the Wine is fubject to growropy.For this Reafon, when they are gathered, it is good that the Grape has a little Greennefs, to the End that the Wine that comes from them maybe able to keep dry, to which the white Auvernat of the Low Countries, and andat the fourth Preffing they cut the Border that theyleft, and put ic back upon the other. Theypretend that a Marc fo ordered yields the more Wine. Asthe Marcof white Wine this Reafon there ought to be longer Times between thefe Squeezings. They give them thefe commonly in the the Night time, becaufe they do not lower Beam, but when the Day’s Work is finifh’d, when the Men whoare to work the Marc have fupped. : When the white Wine is cold, it muft be always full, ft kept and fil'd up and bung’d, ca |