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WINES OF FRANCE

After the"dosage as it is known by, the bottle is

corked,the type of cork depending upon the market for the

wine, and the bottle is wired and"dressed" with label

and foil.

Temp&ratura

The recommended temperature at which champagne

should be served is approximately 43°F. It is interesting

to note in order to bring this wine down from ordinary

room temperature of about 60°F. to the serving tempera

ture it would take 70 minutes by using dry broken ice.

If water is added to the ice the time taken to reduce tO'

the serving temperature is cut by two-thirds—about 22

minutes. This is very deceiving but very true.

Serving

The removal of the cork can very often give trouble, but

if the precaution of covering the cork with a napkin or

service cloth is taken there should be little trouble unless

of course the cork breaks ; to avoid this one should use

the champagne cork extractor, a scissor-shaped instru

ment with claws. It is considered improper to allow the

removal of the cork to be the occasion for the resounding

of a loud "pop ". One further point about the service

of any wine; the wine should always be presented.

Presentation is half the job of bartending. The label of the

bottle should never be covered with a cloth. If worth

selling the wine is worth showing off to the best advantage.

The Champagne bottle is best controlled by holding the

bottle close to the neck, by doing this one is able to-

manoeuvre the bottle to the best advantage. This applies,

to any wine bottle, and in particular to wines that have

thrown a sediment. Less tilting is occasioned this way.

Any sparkhng wine not produced in the Champagne

area is either sold under its own area name or is known as

Vin Mousseux (sparkling wine).

Wine made after the method of Champagne Wine, that

is by allowing the natural secondary fermentation in the

bottle to develop, and then disposing of the sediment, is

known as Methode Champenoise.

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