A History of Champagne, with Notes on the Other Sparkling Wines of FranceVizetelly, Henry
History
A History of Champagne, with Notes on the Other Sparkling Wines of France
Vizetelly, Henry
Champagne (Wine) -- History; Wine and wine making -- France
It is needless to particularise Messrs. Moët & Chandon's wines, which
are familiar to all drinkers of Champagne. Still it may be mentioned
that the great Epernay firm, with the view of meeting the requirements
of the time, have lately commenced shipping a high-class _vin brut_, or
natural Champagne, possessing great vinosity, combined with remarkable
delicacy of flavour. To this fine dry wine the name of 'Brut Impérial'
has been given by the house. Moët & Chandon's famous 'Star' brand is
known in all societies, figures equally at clubs and mess-tables, at
garden-parties and picnics, dinners and _soirées_, and has its place in
hotel _cartes_ all over the world. One of the best proofs of the wine's
universal popularity is found in the circumstance that as many as a
thousand visitors from all parts of the world come annually to Epernay
and make the tour of Messrs. Moët & Chandon's spacious cellars.
A little beyond Messrs. Moët & Chandon's, in the broad Rue du Commerce,
we encounter a heavy, ornate, pretentious-looking château, the
residence of the late M. Perrier-Jouët, presenting a striking contrast
to the almost mean-looking premises opposite, where the business of the
firm is carried on. On the left-hand side of a courtyard surrounded by
low buildings, which serve as celliers, store-houses, packing-rooms,
and the like, are the offices; and from an inner courtyard, where
piles of bottles are stacked under open sheds, the cellars themselves
are reached. Previous to descending into these we passed through the
various buildings, in one of which a party of men were engaged in
disgorging and preparing wine for shipment. In another we noticed one
of those heavy beam presses for pressing the grapes which the more
intelligent manufacturers regard as obsolete, while in a third was the
cuvée vat, holding no more than 2200 gallons. In making their cuvée
the firm commonly mix one part of old wine to three parts of new. An
indifferent vintage, however, necessitates the admixture of a larger
proportion of the older growth. The cellars, like all the more ancient
ones at Epernay, are somewhat straggling and irregular; still they are
remarkably cool, and on the lower floor remarkably damp as well. This,
however, would appear to be no disadvantage, as the breakage in them is
calculated never to exceed 2-1/2 per cent.
The firm have no less than five qualities of wine, and at one of the
recent Champagne competitions at London, where the experts engaged had
no means of identifying the brands submitted to their judgment, Messrs.
Perrier-Jouët's First Quality got classed below a cheaper wine of their
neighbours, Messrs. Pol Roger & Co., and very considerably below the
Extra Sec of Messrs. Périnet et fils, and inferior even to a wine of De
Venoge's, the great Epernay manufacturer of common-class Champagne.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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