Show I French American Market 1 Eye Ee w- w ir TT WINE I f H Eagerly With Prohibitions Prohibition's Passing Passing Pass Pass- I ing Champagne Is King I To no foreign country was th the news of i Americas America's repeal of prohibition more Interesting than to France Whether French magnanimity plated paying war debts with choice vintages or not nevertheless the pros pros- of renewed shipments of her wines on a prewar scale has excited an art easily excitable people None the less ess have bon on this side vIewed the likelihood of a generous supply of ot wines at conscionable prices with lively anticipation Champagne ot of f course holds the spotlight Champagne is a sparkling wine pro pro- by natural fermentation in the province of Champagne Still cham cham- wines have been known since the he Romans and are often otten mentioned In n the early history of ot France In 1683 Dom a Benedic tine Ine monk of ot the Abbaye lers ers discovered the process for mak make lug ing ng champagne wine sparkle From that lat time on it was a favorite drink of f the French court and of all the great personages of the world of ot poll polio tics tic cs and society After Waterloo during the tIon Ion of the allied armies cellars were looted by the soldiery and when neigh neigh- bors ors commiserated with the owner he ic replied Let them take all they want they will become our best cus cusS tamers omers Since the time of Napoleon I I. I the kings of France the presidents of the French republic and most of ot the crowned heads of Europe have visited the he famous champagne cellars Today there are approximately 30 champagne firms The firms in genral gen gen- eral ral own very little vintage country They all have their cellars cut in the rock ock and chalk of the province and k keep p enormous permanent stocks on hand and In bottles barrels and md tanks How flow It Is s Made Champagne making is not easy Most of the large companies are owned entirely en- en rely by one family and have been in existence for hundreds of years If Ifa Ifa a firm was to start today to buy vineyards vine- vine yards ards grapes put up buildings and cellars a bottle of ot champagne would cost ost between three and four times the present resent price Most of these initial expenses were written of off centuries ago go by the larger firms To call a wine champagne according accord accord- ing ng to French law it must be made from rom grapes grown in a certain restricted restricted re- re area In th that t region the varl varl- ous vineyards us are called crus There are arc re three chief regions that produce most of the famous crus ems They are areis the is Montagne of the valley of ofle the le Marne and the Cote des Blanes Blancs The first two regions produce red grapes and the last one white grapes Good champagnes are made with wilh a third each of the three region crus cruso I so o they contain two thirds red grapes and nd third one white grapes which ex ex- I plains lains the slightly amber color of the wine vine The quality of champagne depends de de- ends primarily on the weather In Ina a rainy year the grapes will be big green reen full of juice but with very litHe lite lit- lit ite He e taste In dry sunny years the grapes rapes will be small golden with comparatively com cornS little but very tasty juice Once the juice is extracted the wine that lat is called mout or wine vIne of the year ear Is put in barrels at the top of which there are small openings closed by y straw The wine starts fermenting in the following spring The wine is a living thing dormant in winter and awakening in spring If allowed to die by mishandling or Inadequate in in- adequate care it tu tutus turns ns to vinegar The most important operation in the making of ot champagne the blending takes place in Iii the following spring after the grapes are picked This is said to be 90 per cent of the art of ot making champagne which is above all alla a blended wine vine The wine of the year ear fermenting in the spring is blended with other wines vInes whose fermentation fermentation fermentation fer fer- fer- fer is finished It is this blending of the wine of offie the fie year with the older wine and the addition of a small amount of ot cane sugar ugar creating fermentation thence gas that putt put the sparkle into cham cham- It w was s this process which the monk Dom Dorn discovered The older or still wine to be used wed for blending lending purposes Is kept in glass glass- lined tanks and not In barrels Often wines of as many as 10 years may be used in blending the champagne of the year rear Once the blending is to completed the he wine is put back into the barrels and left there until the following spring At that time the second important operation the drawing of the wine vine from rom barrels into botU bottles takes place A A. small amount of ot pure candy sugar Is placed into each after which it is corked and taken to the cellars The bottles contrary to popular supposition tion do not contain a a. quart but instead instead in in- stead 26 fluid ounces The magnum contains two bottles and the Jeroboam tour our bottles Weather conditions play an extremely Important part in deter determining mining the quality of 01 champagne The C i. i j 1 J drawing must be done when the weather conditionS conditionS' are most favorable and when the moon according to ancient ancient an an- knowledge is in a certain place in the heavens Maturing Takes Years Once the bottles are place In the cellars they are arc left flat on their sides for at least three years so that the natural fermentation of the wine with the sugar takes place After this period the bottles are arc picked up and placed head hend down in special slanted stands They are rotated a fraction of ot ofa ota a turn every week for several sc months to be sure tint tha the sediment and impurities impurities im im- im settle near the cork leaving the rest of the wine clear and limpid When the time comes for the bottles to be shipped the neck of ot each one Is frozen the cork strings are cut and the frozen part containing the Impurities Im Ira and sediment is forced out by gas The sweetening process then be be- gins After Alter the frozen sediment is remo ed nd the sweetening has been accomplished the champagne bottle is There are various types pes of champagne cham chain ranging from very dry to very sweet The driest of all is called brut the next extra dry then dry half- half dry and sweet Brut is a natural wine vIne made without the addition of ot any sweetening ag agent nt Corks Are Expensive Champa Champagne e corks arc are one of the most expensive items Hems in the business They are made only from the best cork obtainable which usually comes from Spain The top part is made of ot amalgamated amal arnal crushed cork and is 15 affixed to o the lower part which Is of ot solid cork The lower part however is sectioned sec sec- in the middle and the two sections sec see are put iut together after being given en a fourth of a turn so as to prevent any possible leakage through h a minute hole which might r run through the cork A champagne cork costs almost as much as the bottle One slight defect de I feet in the cork which will permit leakage is enough to ruin the bottle of champagne and destroy the work of from front five to 15 years There was four times more champagne cham sold in the United States prioro prior to o prohibition than still wines The consumption In this country in 1913 the he last year before the war was bottles It is impossible to predict how much champagne will be consumed in the next few years although it is well to bear in mind that the volume will probably not reach a correct average until business conditions conditions con con- are arc again normal Some of the best jest champagnes now available arc are those of the vintages of 1911 1915 1921 1923 and 1926 |