Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling WinesVizetelly, Henry
History
Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines
Vizetelly, Henry
Champagne (Wine); Sparkling wines; Wine and wine making
The Cour St. Jacques, where M. Duchâtel’s cellars are situated, may be
reached by passing through the church, the interior of which presents a
curious jumble of architectural styles from early Gothic to late
Renaissance. One noteworthy object of art which it contains is a
life-size crucifix carved by Pierre Jacques, a Remish sculptor of the
days of the Good King Henri, and from an anatomical point of view a
perfect _chef-d’œuvre_. The cellars we have come to inspect are two
stories deep, and comprise numerous ancient cavernous compartments, such
as are found in all the older quarters of Reims, and usually in the
vicinity of some church, convent, or clerical abode. It has been
suggested that they were either crypts for sacred retirement and prayer,
dungeons for the punishment of recreant brethren, or tombs for the dead;
but it is far more probable that in the majority of instances they
served then as now simply for the storage of the choice vintages of the
Marne, for we all know the monks of old were tipplers of no ordinary
capacity, who usually contrived to secure the best that the district
provided. These vaults of M. Duchâtel’s, in which a considerable stock
of the fine wine of 1874 is stored, are from two to three centuries old,
and probably belonged to the curés of St. Jacques. They are of
considerable extent, are well ventilated, and are walled and roofed with
stone. M. Duchâtel’s remaining stock reposes in some new
cellars--certain transformed chalk quarries outside the Porte
Dieu-Lumière, comprising broad lofty galleries and vast circular
chambers--fifty feet or so in height and well lighted from above.
At M. Duchâtel-Ohaus’s we tasted a variety of fine samples of his brand,
including a beautiful wine of 1868 and an almost equally good one of
1870, with some of the excellent vintage of 1874, which was then being
prepared for shipment.
[Illustration]
VIII.--THE REIMS ESTABLISHMENTS (_continued_).
M. Ernest Irroy’s Cellars, Vineyards, and Vendangeoirs-- Recognition
by the Reims Agricultural Association of his Plantations of Vines--
His Wines and their Popularity at the best London Clubs-- Messrs.
Binet fils and Co.’s Establishment-- Wines Sold by the Firm to
Shippers-- Their Cellars-- Samples of Fine Still Ay and Bouzy--
Their Still Sillery, Vintage 1857, and their Creaming Vin Brut,
Vintage 1865-- The Offices and Cellars of Messrs. Charles Farre and
Co.-- Testing the Wine before Bottling-- A Promenade between Bottles
in Piles and Racks-- Repute in which these Wines are held in England
and on the Continent-- The New Establishment of Fisse, Thirion, and
Co. in the Place de Betheny-- Its Construction exclusively in Stone,
Brick, and Iron-- The Vast Celliers of Two Stories-- Bottling the
Wine by the Aid of Machinery-- The Cool and Lofty Cellars--
Ingenious Method of Securing the Corks, rendering the Uncorking
exceedingly simple-- The Wines Shipped by the Firm.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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