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I20
THE MIXICOLOGIST.
feet in height, careful pains being taken by the vine
dresser to maintain quality at the expense of quantity.
It is a peculiar feature of the wines of the Bordelaise
that you will rarely,if ever,find a connoisseur who AviU
confess an undivided and exclusive attachment to any
one particular growth. The claret drinker flits from
vineyard to vineyard without being able to fix his affec
tion once and forever. Not so on the Khine. There
are found the partisans, each one of whom enthusiastic
ally lauds his particular favorite.
Clarets are gently stimulating, perfectly wholesome,
and possess the inestimable property of building up bone
and muscle of the human frame. The higher grades are
classified into five Cms. Thereafter come the wines
of "Bourgeois" and "Artisan" growths. The last
named are not suitable for exports, but are consumed
by the peasants and laboring classes.
Champagnes.—Champagne, as everybody knows,
takes its name from the French province in which it is
produced, but everybody does not know that Sparkling
■Champagne was the discovery of a monk belonging to
the royal monastery of St. Pierre at Hautvilliers. His
name was Father Perignon, and he died in 1715. The
chief depots of Champagne are at Ay, Epernay and
Rheims, where the quantity kept in stock is exceedingly
large. The sparkle, or "mousse," as the French term
it, which characterizes Champagne, is produced by the
development of carbonic acid gas from the saccharine
constituents of the grape juice, and is sometimes assisted