Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines Part 7

[Ill.u.s.tration: DOORWAY OF AVIZE CHURCH.]

XII.--CHAMPAGNE ESTABLISHMENTS AT AVIZE AND RILLY.

Avize the Centre of the White Grape District-- Its Situation and Aspect-- The Establishment of Giesler and Co.-- The Tirage and the Cuvee-- Vin Brut in Racks and on Tables-- The Packing-Hall, the Extensive Cellars, and the Disgorging Cellier-- Bottle Stores and Bottle-Washing Machines-- Messrs. Giesler's Wine-Presses at Avize and Vendangeoir at Bouzy-- Their Vineyards and their Purchases of Grapes-- Reputation of the Giesler Brand-- The Establishment of M. Charles de Cazanove-- A Tame Young Boar-- Boar-Hunting in the Champagne-- M. de Cazanove's Commodious Cellars and Carefully-Selected Wines-- Vineyards Owned by Him and His Family-- Reputation of his Wines in Paris and their Growing Popularity in England-- Interesting View from M. de Cazanove's Terraced Garden-- The Vintaging of the White Grapes in the Champagne-- Roper freres'

Establishment at Rilly-la-Montagne-- Their Cellars Penetrated by Roots of Trees-- Some Samples of Fine Old Champagnes-- The Princ.i.p.al Chalons Establishments-- Poem on Champagne by M. Amaury de Cazanove.

Avize, situated in the heart of the Champagne white grape district, may be reached from Epernay by road through Pierry and Cramant or by the Chalons Railway to Oiry Junction, between which station and Romilly there runs a local line, jocularly termed the _chemin de fer de famille_, from the general disregard displayed by the officials for anything approaching to punctuality. Avize can scarcely be styled a town, and yet its growing proportions are beyond those of an ordinary village. It lies pleasantly nestled among the vines, sheltered by bold ridges on the north-west, with the monotonous plains of La Champagne pouilleuse, unsuited to the cultivation of the vine, stretching away eastward in the direction of Chalons. Avize cannot pretend to the same antiquity as its neighbour Vertus, and lacks the many picturesque vestiges of which the latter can boast. Its church dates back only to the 15th century, although the princ.i.p.al doorway in the Romanesque style evidently belongs to a much earlier epoch. There is a general air of trim prosperity about the place, and the villagers have that well-to-do appearance common to the inhabitants of the French wine districts. Only at vintage time, however, are there any particular outdoor signs of activity, although half a score of champagne firms have their establishments here, giving employment to the bulk of the population, and sending forth their two or three million bottles of the sparkling wine of the Marne annually.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAKING THE CUVeE AT MESSRS. GIESLER'S, AT AVIZE. (p.131)]

Proceeding along the straight level road leading from the station to the village we encounter on our right hand the premises of Messrs. Giesler and Co., the reputation of whose brand is universal. When M. Giesler quitted the firm of P. A. Mumm, Giesler, and Co., at Reims, in 1838, he removed to Avize and founded the present extensive establishment.

Entering through a large open gateway we find ourselves within a s.p.a.cious courtyard with a handsome dwelling-house in the rear, and all the signs of a champagne business of magnitude apparent. A spiral staircase conducts to the counting-house on the first story of a range of buildings on the left hand, the ground floor of which is divided into celliers. Pa.s.sing through a door by the side of this staircase we enter a large hall where the operation of bottling the wine is going on. Four tuns, each holding five ordinary pieces of wine, and raised upon large blocks of wood, are standing here, and communicating with them are bottling syphons of the type commonly employed in the Champagne. Messrs.

Giesler do not usually consign the newly-bottled wine at once to the cellars, but retain it aboveground for about a fortnight in order that it may develop its effervescent qualities more perfectly. We find many thousands of these bottles stacked horizontally in the adjoining celliers, in one of which stands the great _cuvee_ tun wherein some fifty hogsheads of the finest Champagne growths are blended together at one time, two hundred hogsheads being thus mingled daily while the _cuvees_ are in progress. The casks of wine having been hoisted from the cellars to the first floor by a crane, and run on to a trough, their bungs are removed, and the wine flows through an aperture in the floor into the huge tun beneath, its amalgamation being accomplished by the customary fan-shaped appliances, set in motion by the turning of a wheel. In an adjacent room is the machine used for mixing the liqueur which Messrs. Giesler add so sparingly to their light and fragrant wines.

There are a couple of floors above these celliers, the uppermost of which is used as a general store, while in the one beneath many thousands of bottles of _vin brut_ repose _sur pointe_, either in racks or on tables as at the Clicquot-Werle establishment. This latter system requires ample s.p.a.ce, for as the _remueur_, or workman who shakes the bottles, is only able to use one hand, the operation of dislodging the sediment necessarily occupies a much longer time than is requisite when the bottles rest in racks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PREPARING THE LIQUEUR AT MESSRS. GIESLER'S.]

The buildings on the opposite side of the courtyard comprise a large packing-hall, celliers where the wine is finished off, and rooms where corks and such-like things are stored. Here, too, is the entrance to the cellars, of which there are three tiers, all lofty and well-ventilated galleries, very regular in their construction, and faced with either stone or brick. In these extensive vaults are casks of fine reserved wines for blending with youthful vintages, and bottles of _vin brut_, built up in solid stacks, that may be reckoned by their hundreds of thousands. At Messrs. Giesler's the disgorging of the wine is accomplished in a small cellier partially underground, and the temperature of which is very cool and equable. The _degorgeurs_, isolated from the rest of the workpeople, are carrying on their operations here by candlelight. So soon as the sediment is removed the bottles are raised in baskets to the cellier above, where the liqueuring, re-corking, stringing, and wiring are successively accomplished. By pursuing this plan the loss sustained by the disgorgement is believed to be reduced to a minimum.

Extensive as these premises are they are still insufficient for the requirements of the firm, and across the road is a s.p.a.cious building where new bottles are stored and the washing of the bottles in preparation for the tirage takes place. By the aid of the machinery provided, sixteen women, a.s.sisted by a couple of men, commonly wash some fifteen or sixteen thousand bottles in the course of a day. Here, too, stands one of the two large presses with which at the epoch of the vintage a hundred pieces of wine are pressed every four-and-twenty hours. The remaining press is installed in a cellier at the farther end of the garden on the other side of the road. Messrs. Giesler possess additional presses at their vendangeoir at Bouzy, and during the vintage have the command of presses at Ay, Verzenay, Vertus, Le Mesnil, &c., it being a rule of theirs always to press the grapes within a few hours after they are gathered to obviate their becoming bruised by their own weight and imparting a dark colour to the wine, a contingency difficult to guard against in seasons when the fruit is over-ripe. The firm own vineyards at Avize, and have agreements with vine-proprietors at Ay, Bouzy, Verzenay, and elsewhere, to purchase their crops regularly every year. Messrs. Giesler's brand has secured its existing high repute solely through the fine quality of the wines shipped by the house--wines which are known and appreciated by all real connoisseurs of champagne.

From Messrs. Giesler's it is merely a short walk to the establishment of M. Charles de Cazanove, situated in the princ.i.p.al street of Avize. On entering the court we encountered a tame young boar engaged in the lively pursuit of chasing some terrified hens, while a trio of boarhounds, basking on the sunny flagstones, contemplated his proceedings with lazy indifference. Boars abound in the woods hereabouts, and hunting them is a favourite pastime with the residents, and the young boar we had noticed proved to be one of the recent captures of the sons of M. de Cazanove, who are among the warmest partisans of the exciting sport. Many of the boars found in the woods around Reims journey thither, it is said, by night from the famous forest of the Ardennes--the scene of Rosalind's wanderings and Touchstone's eccentricities as set forth in _As You Like It_, and whose gloomy depths and tangled glens shelter to-day not merely boars but wolves as well.

In the Champagne it is no longer the fashion

"With javelin's point a churlish swine to gore,"

nor to hunt the boar on horseback, as is still the case in Burgundy.

When the presence of one or more of these animals is signalled in the neighbourhood, a party starts off accompanied by dogs and armed with double-barrelled rifles. A circle having been formed round the boar's lair the dogs are set to draw him out, while the _cha.s.seurs_ keep on the alert so as not to allow him to escape through their circle alive. In this manner a few score of boars are killed every year in the woods round about Reims and Epernay.

[Ill.u.s.tration: VINEYARDS OF AVIZE AND CRAMANT FROM THE GARDEN OF M. C. DE CAZANOVE.

(p. 135.)]

The house of M. Charles de Cazanove was established in 1843 by its present proprietor on the foundation of a business which had been in existence since 1811. Compared with the monumental grandeur of some of the great Reims and Epernay establishments the premises present a simple and modest aspect, nevertheless they are capacious and commodious, besides which the growing business of the house has led to the acquisition of additional cellarage in other parts of Avize. More important than all, however, is the quality of the wine with which these cellars are stocked, and following the rule observed by champagne firms of the highest repute, it has been a leading principle with M. de Cazanove always to rely upon the choicer growths--those light, delicate, and fragrant wines of the Marne which throw out the true aroma of the flower of the vine. M. de Cazanove, who is distinguished for his knowledge of viticulture, occupies an influential position at Avize, being Vice-President of the Horticultural Society of the Marne, and a member of the committee charged with guarding the Champagne vineyards against the invasion of the phylloxera. His own vines include only those fine varieties to which the crus of the Marne owe their great renown.

He possesses an excellent vineyard at Grauves, near Avize, and his mother-in-law, Madame Poultier, of Pierry, is one of the princ.i.p.al vine-growers of the district.

M. de Cazanove's wines are much appreciated in Paris, where his business is very extensive. His shipments to England are also considerable, but from the circ.u.mstance of some of his princ.i.p.al customers importing the wine under special brands of their own, the brand of the house is not so widely known as we should have expected.

From M. de Cazanove's terraced garden in the rear of his establishment a fine view is obtained of one of the most famous viticultural districts of the Champagne, yielding wines of remarkable delicacy and exquisite bouquet. On the left hand rises up the mountain of Avize, its summit fringed with dense woods, where in winter the wild boar has his lair.

In front stretch the long vine-clad slopes of Cramant, with orchards at their base, and the housetops of the village and the spire of the quaint old church just peeping over the brow of the hill. To the right towers the bold forest-crowned height of Saran with M. Moet's chateau perched half-way up its north-eastern slope, and fading away in the hazy distance are the monotonous plains of the Champagne.

We have already explained that the wines of Avize and Cramant rank as _premiers crus_ of the white grape district, and that every champagne manufacturer of repute mingles one or the other in his _cuvee_. The white grapes are usually gathered a fortnight or three weeks later than the black varieties, but in other respects the vintaging of them is the same. The grapes undergo the customary minute examination by the _eplucheuses_, and all unripe, damaged, and rotten berries being thrown aside, the fruit is conveyed with due care to the press-houses in the large baskets known as _paniers mannequins_. The pressing takes place under exactly the same conditions as the pressing of the black grapes; the must, too, is drawn off into hogsheads to ferment, and by the end of the year, when the active fermentation has terminated, the wine is usually clear and limpid.

At Rilly-la-Montagne, on the line of railway between Reims and Epernay, Roper freres & Cie., late of Epernay, now have their establishment.

Starting from the latter place we pa.s.s Ay and Avenay, and then the little village of Germaine in the midst of the forest, and nigh the summit of the mountain of Reims, with its "Rendezvous des Cha.s.seurs" in immediate proximity to the station. Finally we arrive at Rilly, which, spite of its isolated situation, has about it that aspect of prosperity common to the more favourable wine districts of France. This is scarcely surprising when the quality of its wines is taken into consideration.

The still red wine of Rilly has long enjoyed a high local reputation, and to-day the Rilly growths are much sought after for conversion into champagne. White wine of 1874 from black grapes fetched, we were informed, as much as from 600 to 700 francs the piece, while the finer qualities from white grapes realised from 300 to 400 francs. Messrs.

Roper freres & Cie. are the owners of some productive vineyards situated on the high road to Chigny and Ludes.

The establishment of Roper freres is adjacent to a handsome modern house standing back from the road in a large and pleasant garden, bounded by vineyards on two of its sides. In the celliers all the conveniences pertaining to a modern champagne establishment are to be found, while extending beneath the garden are the extensive cellars of the firm, comprising two stories of long and s.p.a.cious galleries excavated in the chalk, their walls and roofs being supported whenever necessary by masonry. A curious feature about these cellars is that the roots of the larger trees in the garden above have penetrated through the roof of the upper story and hang pendent overhead like innumerable stalact.i.tes. Here after the comparatively new wine of 1874 had been shown to us--including samples of the _Vin Brut_ or natural champagne of which the firm make a speciality at a moderate price--some choice old champagnes were brought forth, including the fine vintages of 1865, 1857, and 1846. The latter wine had of course preserved very little of its effervescence, still its flavour was exceedingly fine, being soft and delicate to a degree. At the Vienna Exhibition of 1873 and the London Exhibition of 1874 the collection of champagnes exhibited by Roper freres met with favourable recognition from the international juries.

Our tour through the Champagne vineyards and wine-cellars here comes to an end. It is true there are important establishments at Chalons, notably those of Jacquesson et fils, the Perriers, Freminet et fils, and Jacquard freres, the cellars of the first-named being, perhaps, unrivalled in the Champagne. As, however, any description of these establishments would be little else than a recapitulation of something we have already said, we content ourselves with merely notifying their existence, and bring our Facts about Champagne to a close with the translation of a poem from the pen of M. Amaury de Cazanove of Avize:--

CHAMPAGNE.

Less for thy grace and glory, land of ours, Than for thy dolour, dear; Let the grief go, and here-- Here's to thy skies, thy women and thy flowers!

France! take the toast, thy women and thy roses, France! to thy wine, more wealth unto thy store!

And let the lips a grievous memory closes Smile their proud smile once more!

Swarthy Falernian, Ma.s.sica the Red, Were ye the nectars poured At the great G.o.ds' broad board?

No, poor old wines, all but in name long dead, Nectar's Champagne, the sparkling soul of mirth, That bubbling o'er with laughing gas, Flashes gay sunbeams in the gla.s.s, And like our flag goes proudly round the earth.

"I am the blood Burgundian sunshine makes; A fine old feudal knight Of bluff and boisterous might, Whose casque feels--ah, so heavy when one wakes!"

"And I, the dainty Bordeaux, violets'

Perfume, and whose rare rubies gourmets prize.

My subtile savour gets In partridge wings its daintiest allies."

Ah, potent chiefs, Bordeaux and Burgundy.

If we must answer make, This sober counsel take: Messeigneurs, sing your worth less haughtily, For 'tis Champagne, the sparkling soul of mirth, That bubbling o'er with laughing gas, Flashes gay sunbeams in the gla.s.s, And like our flag goes proudly round the earth.

Aye, 'tis the true, the typic wine of France; Aye, 'tis our heart that sparkles in our eyes, And higher beats for every dire mischance; It was the wit that made our fathers wise, That made their valour gallant, gay, When plumes were stirr'd by winds of waving swords, And chivalry's defiance spoke the words: "a vous, Messieurs les Anglais, les premiers!"

Let the dull beer-apostle till he's hoa.r.s.e Vent his small spleen and spite, Fate fill his sleepless night With nightmares of invincible remorse!

We sing Champagne, the sparkling soul of mirth, That bubbling o'er with laughing gas, Flashes gay sunbeams in the gla.s.s, And like our flag goes proudly round the earth.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PEASANT WOMEN OF THE ENVIRONS OF SAUMUR.]

XIII.--SPARKLING SAUMUR AND SPARKLING SAUTERNES.

The Sparkling Wines of the Loire often palmed off as Champagnes-- The Finer qualities Improve with Age-- Anjou the Cradle of the Plantagenet Kings-- Saumur and its Dominating Feudal Chateau and Antique Hotel de Ville-- Its Sinister Rue des Payens and Steep Tortuous Grande Rue-- The Vineyards of the Coteau of Saumur-- Abandoned Stone Quarries converted into Dwellings-- The Vintage in Progress-- Old-fashioned Pressoirs-- The Making of the Wine-- The Vouvray Vineyards-- Balzac's Picture of La Vallee Coquette-- The Village of Vouvray and the Chateau of Moncontour-- Vernou with its Reminiscences of Sully and Pepin-le-Bref-- The Vineyards around Saumur-- Remarkable Ancient Dolmens-- Ackerman-Laurance's Establishment at Saint-Florent-- Their Extensive Cellars, Ancient and Modern-- Treatment of the Newly-Vintaged Wine-- The Cuvee-- Proportions of Wine from Black and White Grapes-- The Bottling and Disgorging of the Wine and Finishing Operations-- The Chateau of Varrains and the Establishment of M. Louis Duvau aine-- His Cellars a succession of Gloomy Galleries-- The Disgorging of the Wine accomplished in a Melodramatic-looking Cave-- M. Duvau's Vineyard-- His Sparkling Saumur of Various Ages-- Marked Superiority of the more Matured Samples-- M. Alfred Rousteaux's Establishments at Saint-Florent and Saint-Cyr-- His convenient Celliers and extensive Cellars-- Mingling of Wine from the Champagne with the finer Sparkling Saumur-- His Vineyard at La Perriere-- M. E. Normandin's Sparkling Sauternes Manufactory at Chateauneuf-- Angouleme and its Ancient Fortifications-- Vin de Colombar-- M. Normandin's Sparkling Sauternes Cuvee-- His Cellars near Chateauneuf-- High recognition accorded to the Wine at the Concours Regional d'Angouleme.

After the Champagne Anjou is the French province which ranks next in importance for its production of sparkling wines. Vintaged on the banks of the Loire, these are largely consigned to the English and other markets, labelled Creme de Bouzy, Sillery and Ay Mousseux, Cartes Noires and Blanches, and the like, while their corks are branded with the names of phantom firms, supposed to be located at Reims and Epernay. As a rule these wines come from around Saumur, but they are not necessarily the worse on that account, for the district produces capital sparkling wines, the finer qualities of which improve greatly by being kept for a few years. One curious thing shown to us at Saumur was the alb.u.m of a manufacturer of sparkling wines containing examples of the many hundred labels ticketed with which his produce had for years past been sold. Not one of these labels a.s.signed to the wines the name of their real maker or their true birthplace, but introduced them under the auspices of mythical dukes and counts, as being manufactured at chateaux which are so many "castles in Spain," and as coming from Ay, Bouzy, Chalons, Epernay, Reims, and Verzenay, but never by any chance from Saumur.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE VINEYARDS OF THE COTEAU DE SAUMUR. (p. 141)]

Being produced from robuster growths than the sparkling wines of the Department of the Marne, sparkling saumur will always lack that excessive lightness which is the crowning grace of fine champagne, still it has only to be kept for a few years instead of being drunk shortly after its arrival from the wine-merchant for its quality to become greatly improved and its intrinsic value to be considerably enhanced. We have drunk sparkling saumur that had been in bottle for nearly twenty years, and found the wine not only remarkably delicate, but, singular to say, with plenty of effervescence.

To an Englishman Anjou is one of the most interesting of the ancient provinces of France. It was the cradle of the Plantagenet Kings, and only ten miles from Saumur still repose the bones of Henry, the first Plantagenet, and Richard of the Lion Heart, in the so-called Cimetiere des Rois of the historic abbey of Fontevrault. The famous vineyards of the Coteau de Saumur, eastward of the town and bordering the Loire, extend as far as here, and include the communes of Dampierre, Souzay, Varrains, Chace, Parnay, Turquant, and Montsoreau, the last-named within three miles of Fontevrault, and chiefly remarkable through its seigneur of ill-fame, Jean de Chambes, who instigated his wife to lure Boissy d'Amboise to an a.s.signation in order that he might more surely poignard him. Saumur is picturesquely placed at the foot of this bold range of heights near where the little river Thouet runs into the broad and rapid Loire. A ma.s.sive-looking old chateau perched on the summit of an isolated crag stands out grandly against the clear sky and dominates the town, the older houses of which crouch at the foot of the lofty hill and climb its steepest sides. The restored antique Hotel de Ville, in the pointed style, with its elegant windows, graceful belfry, and florid wrought-iron balconies, stands back from the quay bordering the Loire.