Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines | Page 5

Krimski
and Donski Champagnes-- The Latter Chiefly Consumed at the Great
Russian Fairs 196
XIX.--THE SPARKLING WINES OF THE UNITED STATES.
Earliest Efforts at Wine-Making in America-- Failures to Acclimatise
European Vines-- Wines Made by the Swiss Settlers and the Mission
Fathers-- The Yield of the Mission Vineyards-- The Monster Vine of
the Montecito Valley-- The Catawba Vine and its General Cultivation--
Mr. Longworth one of the Founders of American Viticulture-- Fresh
Attempts to make Sparkling Wine at Cincinnati-- Existing Sparkling
Wine Manufactures there-- Longfellow's Song in Praise of Catawba--
The Kelley Island Wine Company-- Vintaging and Treatment of their
Sparkling Wines-- Decrease of Consumption-- The Vineyards of
Hammondsport-- Varieties of Grapes used for Sparkling Wines-- The
Vintage-- After Treatment of the Wines-- The Pleasant Valley and
Urbana Wine Companies and their Various Brands-- Californian

Sparkling Wines-- The Buena Vista Vinicultural Society of San
Francisco-- Its Early Failures and Eventual Success in Manufacturing
Sparkling Wines-- The Vintage in California-- Chinese Vintagers--
How the Wine is Made-- American Spurious Sparkling Wines 203
XX.--CONCLUDING FACTS AND HINTS.
Dry and Sweet Champagnes-- Their Sparkling Properties-- Form of
Champagne Glasses-- Style of Sparkling Wines Consumed in Different
Countries-- The Colour and Alcoholic Strength of Champagne--
Champagne Approved of by the Faculty-- Its Use in Nervous
Derangements-- The Icing of Champagne-- Scarcity of Grand Vintages
in the Champagne-- The Quality of the Wine has little influence on the
Price-- Prices realised by the Ay and Verzenay Crûs in Grand Years--
Suggestions for laying down Champagnes of Grand Vintages-- The
Improvement they Develop after a few Years-- The Wine of 1874-- The
proper kind of Cellar to lay down Champagne in-- Advantages of
Burrow's Patent Slider Wine Bins-- Increase in the Consumption of
Champagne-- Tabular Statement of Stocks, Exports, and Home
Consumption from 1844-5 to 1877-8-- When to Serve Champagne at a
Dinner Party-- Charles Dickens's dictum that its proper place is at a
Ball-- Advantageous Effect of Champagne at an Ordinary British
Dinner Party-- Sparkling Wine Cups 212
THE PRINCIPAL SPARKLING WINE BRANDS 225

[Illustrated Text:]
FACTS ABOUT CHAMPAGNE AND OTHER SPARKLING
WINES.

I.--THE ORIGIN OF CHAMPAGNE.
The Early Vineyards of the Champagne-- Their Produce esteemed by
Popes and Kings, Courtiers and Prelates-- Controversy regarding the

rival Merits of the Wines of Burgundy and the Champagne-- Dom
Perignon's happy Discovery of Sparkling Wine-- Its Patrons under
Louis Quatorze and the Regency-- The Ancient Church and Abbey of
Hautvillers-- Farre and Co.'s Champagne Cellars-- The Abbey of St.
Peter now a Farm-- Existing Remains of the Monastic Buildings-- The
Tombs and Decorations of the Ancient Church-- The Last
Resting-Place of Dom Perignon--The Legend of the Holy Dove-- Good
Champagne the Result of Labour, Skill, Minute Precaution, and Careful
Observation.
Strong men, we know, lived before Agamemnon; and strong wine was
made in the fair province of Champagne long before the days of the
sagacious Dom Perignon, to whom we are indebted for the sparkling
vintage known under the now familiar name. The chalky slopes that
border the Marne were early recognised as offering special advantages
for the culture of the vine. The priests and monks, whose vows of
sobriety certainly did not lessen their appreciation of the good things of
this life, and the produce of whose vineyards usually enjoyed a higher
reputation than that of their lay neighbours, were clever enough to seize
upon the most eligible sites, and quick to spread abroad the fame of
their wines. St. Remi, baptiser of Clovis, the first Christian king in
France, at the end of the fifth century left by will, to various churches,
the vineyards which he owned at Reims and Laon, together with the
"vilains" employed in their cultivation. Some three and a half centuries
later we find worthy Bishop Pardulus of Laon imitating Paul's advice to
Timothy, and urging Archbishop Hincmar to drink of the wines of
Epernay and Reims for his stomach's sake. The crusade-preaching Pope,
Urban II., who was born among the vineyards of the Champagne,
dearly loved the wine of Ay; and his energetic appeals to the princes of
Europe to take up arms for the deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre may
have owed some of their eloquence to his favourite beverage.
The red wine of the Champagne sparkled on the boards of monarchs in
the Middle Ages when they sat at meat amidst their mailclad chivalry,
and quaffed mighty beakers to the confusion of the Paynim. Henry of
Andely has sung in his fabliau of the "Bataille des Vins," how, when
stout Philip Augustus and his chaplain constituted themselves the

earliest known wine-jury, the crûs of Espernai, Auviler, Chaalons, and
Reims were amongst those which found most favour in their eyes,
though nearly a couple of centuries elapsed before Eustace Deschamps
recorded in verse the rival merits of those of Cumières