65 / 374
'B/^IN^S.
65
Our
liQmy^Vlll.
had
a
vineyard
at
Ay,
and,
in
order
to
know
..that
he
got
the
genuine
article,
he
had
a
superintendent
of
his
own
on
the
spot.
Francis
I.,
Leo
X.,
and
Charles
V.
of
Spain,
all
had
vineyards
in
the
Champagne
district.
But
the
wine
they
ob-
tained
thence
was
not
sparkling
:
that
was
to
come
later,
and
is
said
to
have
been
the
invention
of
Dom
Petrus
Perignon,
who
died
in
1715,
monk
of,
and
cellarer
to,
the
Royal
Monastery
of
St.
Peter's
at
Hautvilliers.
He
was
especially
happy
in
his
blends
of
wine,
and
having
found
out
the
secret
of
highly
charging
the
wine,
naturally,
with
carbonic
acid,
is
said
to
have
introduced
the
cork
and
string
necessary
to
confine
it
in
its
bottles.
Champagne
Wine
owes
its
goodness,
in
the
first
place, to
the
soil
on
which
it
is
grown,
which
is
unique
in
its
mixture
of
chalk,
silica,
light
clay,
and
oxide
of
iron
;
in
the
second,
to
the
very
great
care
and
delicate
manipulation
which
the
wine
receives.
Every
doubtful
grape
is
discarded,
and
tie
carts
conveying
the
grapes
from
the
vineyard
go
at
a
most
funereal
pace,
so
that
none
of
their
precious
contents
should
get
bruised
;
for
if
these
little
grapes)
for
they
are
little
larger
than
surrants)
get
at
all
crushed,
or
pardy
fermented,
in
caVdage,
the
fruit
is
rendered
absolutely
worthless
for
Champagne
purposes.
Very
great
care,
too,
is
exercised
in
the
pressing.
The
grapes
are
laid
in
carefully
stacked
heaps
upon
the
floor
of
the
press,
where
they
are
left
for
a
time,
and
then
the
first
gentle,
but
firm,
sustained
squeeze
is
applied.
The
juice
thus
extracted
is
the
cream
of
E