1936 The Artistry of Mixing Drinks by Frank Meier

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with the cork downwards; after several years of this treatment,

the whole of the deposit collects close to the cork.

The cork is removed by the pressure from natural gas, It Is

actually driven out and the sediment with it. The wine is per

fectly limpid now and before recorking the bottle the necessary

sweetening is effected by adding still more pure candy sugar

dissolved In Champagne of the best quality. The object of this

is to meetthe taste ofthe consumer,who,according to different

countries, may prefer wines more or less sweetened.

Before shipping, the bottle is"dressed"with a capsule and

label bearing the name of the firm and the word"Champagne"

which is a legal guarantee of its origin.

The district which the French law has authorized to give the

name of Champagne to its wine is small compared with other

wine growing regions. The nature of the soil, the sorts of

vine grown, and the special methods of cultivation in use result

in the production of a high quality at the sacrifice of quantity;

here, as elsewhere, quality is scarcely compatible with quantity.

The crop varies considerably from year to year and can only

be estimated by taking an average over a long period. For

30 normal years the average production was 450,000 hecto

litres orabout 1 0,000,000gallons a year,i.e.60,000,000 bottles.

CONTENTS AND NAMES OF CHAMPAGNE BOTTLES

SPLIT (Quarter bottle)

0.20 centil. about 8 fl. ozs.

HALF

0.40 „ „ 16

IMPERIAL PINT

0.60 „ „ 24

BOTTLE (Quart)

0.80 „ „ 32

MAGNUM

1.60 litres ,, 64

DOUBLE MAGNUM

3.20 ,,

,, 128

TRIPLE MAGNUM (Jeroboam)

4.80 ,.

„ 192

QUADRUPLE MAGNUM (Nebuchadnessar) 6.40 „ „ 256

Bottles holding twelve and sixteen quarts exist but are seldom used, except

for publicity purposes.

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