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
In close proximity to the Rue Vauthier le Noir is the Rue des Anglais,
so named from the English Catholic refugees who, flying from the
persecutions of our so-called Good Queen Bess, here took up their abode
and established a college and a seminary. They rapidly acquired great
influence in Reims, and one of their number, William Gifford, was even
elected archbishop. At the end of this street, nigh to Madame Pommery’s,
there stands an old house with a corner tower and rather handsome
Renaissance window, which formerly belonged to some of the clergy of the
cathedral, and subsequently became the “Bureau Général de la Loterie de
France,” abolished by the National Convention in 1793.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The Rue des Anglais conducts into the Rue de l’Université, where a few
remnants of the old University, founded by Cardinal Charles de Lorraine
(1538-74), attract attention, notably a conical-capped corner tower, the
sculptured ornaments at the base of which have crumbled into dust
beneath the corroding tooth of Time. From the Rue de l’Université our
way lies along the Boulevard du Temple to the Porte Gerbert, about a
mile beyond which there rises up the curious castellated structure in
which the Pommery establishment is installed, and whose tall towers
command a view of the whole of Reims and its environs. As we drive up
the Avenue Gerbert we espy on the right an isolated crumbling Roman
tower, a remnant of the days when Reims disputed with Trèves the honour
of being the capital of Belgic Gaul. Close at hand, and almost under the
walls of the old fortifications, is a grotto to which an ancient origin
is likewise ascribed. In another minute we reach the open iron gates of
Messrs. Pommery’s establishment, flanked by a picturesque porter’s
lodge, and proceeding up a broad drive alight under a Gothic portico at
the entrance to the spacious and lofty cellier. Iron columns support the
roof of this vast hall, at one end of which is the office and
tasting-room, provided with a telegraphic apparatus by means of which
communication is carried on with the Reims bureaux. Stacked up on every
side of the cellier, and when empty often in eight tiers, are rows upon
rows of casks, 4,000 of which contain wine of the last vintage,
sufficient for a million bottles of champagne. The temperature of this
hall is carefully regulated; the windows are high up near the roof, the
sun’s rays are rigidly excluded, so that a pleasant coolness pervades
the apartment. On the left-hand side stands the huge tun, capable of
containing 5,500 gallons of wine, in which the firm make their _cuvée_,
with the monogram P and G, surmounting the arms of Reims, carved on its
head. A platform, access to which is gained by a staircase in a side
aisle, runs round this tonneau; and boys stand here when the wine is
being blended, and by means of a handle protruding above the cask work
the paddle-wheels placed inside, thereby securing the complete
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