Towards the close of this century the wine grew in repute, and was

eagerly sought after. In November 1677 two caques were sent to 'a

person who enjoys some credit,' and who was willing to accord his

protection to the town in the matter of quartering troops upon it;

and the following January twelve more caques were despatched to this

'unknown,' who may have been Louvois himself. As to Roger Brulart,

Marquis de Puisieux et de Sillery and Governor of Epernay, a joyous

companion, if we may credit St. Simon, his appreciation of the local

vintage is borne ample testimony to. In 1677 six caques of 'the best'

were sent to him by the town council; but by 1691 he must have become

used to larger offerings, as in September a letter was addressed to him

begging him to be satisfied with the like amount, as 'the inhabitants

could not manage more,' and could only promise, with regard to three

caques still due, that they would 'make an effort' to supply them the

following year. Wise in their generation, they sent at the same time

'twelve bottles of the best wine' to his intendant, and a similar gift

to his secretary; but the following year they were forced to write

again that it would be impossible to supply the wine promised unless he

obtained a permission to levy it.[443]

The Old Pretender, or, as he is styled in the local records, 'Jacques

Stuart III., roy d'Angleterre,' arrived at Epernay in September 1712,

and was presented with 'twenty-four bottles of the best;' whilst the

Marquis de Puisieux, who accompanied him, was satisfied with nothing

less than a 'carteau,' or quarter-cask. And when the latter announced

his intention of paying a visit in the autumn of 1719 to Maître

Adam Bertin du Rocheret, conseiller du roy and ex-president of the

Grenier-à-sel at Epernay, a resolution was passed to offer him wine

on his arrival, and to send 'a hundred _flasks_ of the best' to his

château of Sillery. The use of the word 'flaçons' clearly implies that

the discoveries of Dom Perignon were being acted upon at Epernay, and

that the gift in question was one of sparkling wine.

[Illustration: JAMES EDWARD FRANCIS STUART, THE OLD PRETENDER.]

In June 1722 the Sieurs Quatresous and Chertemps, despatched to

congratulate the marquis's nephew and successor, Louis Philogène

Brulart, on his appointment to the governorship of the town and his

marriage with Mademoiselle de Souvré, granddaughter of Louvois,

took with them a similar offering. At the coronation of Louis XV.,

in October, deputies were sent to compliment the Prince de Turenne,

representative of his father the Duc de Bouillon, seigneur d'Epernay,

and to present him with 'game, trout, and other fish,' and 'a basket

of a hundred flasks of the best.' In August 1725 the bourgeois were

drawn up under arms, and four dozen bottles were got ready, on the

passage through the town of the Duke of Orleans, son of the late

Regent, on his way to espouse, as the King's proxy, Marie Leczinska.

This was, however, a sad year for the wine-growers, for ten months

of incessant rain, beginning in April, not only ruined the at first

promising crop entirely, but caused floods which wrought some havoc.

The terrible hail-storm of 1730, which devastated the vineyards of

Reims, fortunately spared those of Epernay; but a frost in October

1740 destroyed the vintage, and led to a dearness of provisions which

pressed even on the most well-to-do.[444]

For the next three-quarters of a century Epernay continued quietly

to profit by the yield of 'the slopes laden with vines producing the

most delicious wines in Europe,' to quote the expression of Stapart,

who in 1749 notes the importance of the trade in wine carried on,

not only with Paris, but with foreign countries; though at the same

time complaining of the decreasing size of the town, and the fact of

vineyards being planted where houses had formerly stood.[445] The

only events of importance were from time to time an unusually good

or an uncommonly bad crop, or--as the manufacture of _vin mousseux_

gradually swallowed up that of still wine--a disastrous _casse_, like

the memorable one of 1776, varied by an occasional royal visit or so.

By 1780, Max Sutaine notes that a single manufacturer would turn out

from five to six thousand bottles of sparkling Champagne, and exults

over the fact that seven years later an enterprising firm risked a

_tirage_ of fifty thousand, though people at the time regarded this as

something prodigious, and wondered where an outlet would be found.[446]

Very likely a bottle of this identical _tirage_ was 'the excellent

_vin mousseux_' with which Arthur Young regaled himself, at a cost

of forty sous, on the 7th July of the same year, at that 'very good

inn' the Hôtel de Rohan, at Epernay.[447] At this same inn the hapless

Louis XVI. stopped to dine on his return from the intercepted flight to

Varennes; and when we recall his timid nature, we may fairly surmise

that it was Champagne which inspired him, amidst the insults of the

mob, to remind the authorities that his ancestor, Henri Quatre, had

entered the town in a very different fashion, and by implication to

assert that he might yet do the same.[448]

The Emperor Napoleon, the Empress Josephine, the King of Westphalia,

and the other members of the Bonaparte dynasty, who from time to time

visited Epernay and partook of the hospitality of Jean Remi Moët,

showed a healthy appreciation of its vintage. Indeed King Jerome, in

giving an order for six thousand bottles _premier cru_, remarked with

a strange foresight that he would have taken more, only he was afraid

that it would be the Russians after all who would come and drink it.

Sure enough the eventful year 1814 witnessed the arrival at Epernay of

a host of self-invited guests, all equally appreciative of the merits

of Champagne, and gifted with an almost unlimited power of consumption,

but entertaining insuperable objections to pay for what they consumed.

The Prussians and Russians who came hither in February and March

misconducted themselves in a very sad manner, burning and pillaging

houses, insulting and maltreating the inhabitants, requisitioning all

the wine they could lay hands on, and drinking in a manner recalling

the Bacchic exploits of Gargantua and Pantagruel. The mayor, Jean Remi

Moët, moved by the state of affairs, offered the invaders the free run

of his cellars rather than that they should pillage those of others,

doubtless under the idea that the reputation his house would thus

acquire abroad would soon enable him to retrieve the temporary loss--a

proviso happily and amply realised. Beyond the facts that Epernay has

profited, and continues to profit, by the ever-increasing development

of the taste for sparkling wine; that Charles X., Louis Philippe, and

Napoleon III. have successively favoured it with their presence, and

accepted the _vin d'honneur_ offered on such occasions; and that during

the war of 1870-1 the town, in common with the rest of the province of

Champagne, was occupied by the German invading army, there is nothing

more to be said respecting its history.

[Illustration: THE RUE DU COMMERCE (FAUBOURG DE LA FOLIE), EPERNAY.]

[Illustration: THE PACKING-HALL AT MESSRS. MOËT AND CHANDON'S, EPERNAY.]

X.

/The Champagne Establishments of Epernay and Pierry./

Early records of the Moët family at Reims and Epernay--Jean Remi

Moët, the founder of the commerce in Champagne wines--Extracts from

old account-books of the Moëts--Jean Remi Moët receives the Emperor

Napoleon, the Empress Josephine, and the King of Westphalia--The

firm of Moët & Chandon constituted--Their establishment in the

Rue du Commerce--The delivery and washing of new bottles--The

numerous vineyards and vendangeoirs of the firm--Their cuvée made

in vats of 12,000 gallons--The bottling of the wine--A subterranean

city, with miles of streets, cross-roads, open spaces, tramways,

and stations--The ancient entrance to these vaults--Tablet

commemorative of the visit of Napoleon I.--The original vaults

known as Siberia--Scene in the packing-hall--Messrs. Moët &

Chandon's large and complete staff--The famous 'Star' brand of the

firm--Perrier-Jouët's château, offices, and cellars--Classification

of the wine of the house--The establishment of Messrs. Pol

Roger & Co.--Their large stock of the fine 1874 vintage--The

preparations for the tirage--Their vast fireproof cellier and

its temperature--Their lofty and capacious cellars--Pierry

becomes a wine-growing district consequent upon Dom Perignon's

discovery--Esteem in which the growths of the Clos St. Pierre were

held--Cazotte, author of _Le Diable Amoureux_, and guillotined

for planning the escape of Louis XVI. from France, a resident at

Pierry--His contest with the Abbot of Hautvillers with reference

to the abbey tithes of wine--The Château of Pierry--Its owner

demands to have it searched to prove that he is not a forestaller

of corn--The vineyards and Champagne establishment of Gé-Dufaut &

Co.--The reserves of old wines in the cellars of this firm--Honours

secured by them at Vienna and Paris.

[Illustration]

Those magnates of the Champagne trade, Messrs. Moët & Chandon, whose

famous 'Star' brand is familiar in every part of the civilised globe,

and whose half-score miles of cellars contain as many million bottles

of Champagne as there are millions of inhabitants in most of the

secondary European States, have their head-quarters at Epernay in a

spacious château--in that street of châteaux named the Rue du Commerce,

but commonly known as the Faubourg de la Folie--which is approached

through handsome iron gates, and has beautiful gardens in the rear

extending in the direction of the River Marne. The existing firm

dates from the year 1833, but the family of Moët--conjectured to have

originally come from the Low Countries--had already been associated

with the Champagne wine trade for well-nigh a century previously. If

the Moëts came from Holland they must have established themselves in

the Champagne at a very early date, for the annals of Reims record

that in the fourteenth century Jehan Moët de Mennemont, _escuier_,

held a fief at Attigny from the Archbishop Richard Pique, and that

in the following century Jean and Nicolas Moët were _échevins_ of

the city. A Moët was present in that capacity at the coronation of

Charles VII. in 1429, when Joan of Arc stood erect by the principal

altar of the cathedral with her sacred banner in her hand; and for

having contributed to repulse an attempt on the part of the English to

prevent the entrance of the Royal party into the city, the Moëts were

subsequently ennobled by the same monarch. A mural tablet in the church

of St. Remi records the death of D. G. Moët, Grand Prior, in 1554; and

nine years later we find Nicol Moët claiming exemption at Epernay for

the payment of _tailles_ on the ground of his being a noble.

An old commercial book preserved in the family archives shows that in

the year 1743--at the epoch when the rashness of the Duc de Grammont

saved the English army under George II. from being cut to pieces at

Dettingen--a descendant of the foregoing, one Claude Louis Nicolas

Moët, who owned considerable vineyard property in the vicinity of

Epernay, decided upon embarking in the wine trade. It is his son,

however, Jean Remi Moët, born in 1758, who may be looked upon as the

veritable founder of the present commerce in Champagne wines, which,

thanks to his efforts, received a wonderful impulse, so that instead

of the consumption of the vintages of the Marne being limited as

heretofore to the privileged few, it spread all over the civilised

world.

[Illustration: JEAN REMI MOËT.]

At Messrs. Moët & Chandon's we had the opportunity of inspecting some

of the old account-books of the firm, and more particularly those

recording the transactions of Jean Remi Moët and his father. The first

sales of sparkling wine, on May 23d, 1743, comprised 301 bottles of the

vintage of 1741 to Pierre Joly, wine-merchant, _bon des douze chez le

Roi_, whatever that may mean, at Paris; 120 bottles to Pierre Gabriel

Baudoin, also _bon des douze_, at Paris; and a similar quantity to the

Sieur Compoin, keeping the 'hotellerie ditte la pestitte Escurie,' Rue

du Port-Maillart, at Nantes in Brittany. The entry specifies that the

wine for Nantes is to be left at Choisy-le-Roi, and taken by land to

Orleans by the carters of that town, who are to be found at the Ecu

d'Orléans, Porte St. Michel, Paris, the carriage as far as Choisy being

4 livres 10 deniers (about 4 francs) for the two half-baskets, and to

Paris 3 livres 15 deniers the basket.

Between 1750 and '60 parcels of wine were despatched to Warsaw, Vienna,

Berlin, Königsberg, Dantzig, Stettin, Brussels, and Amsterdam; but

one found no mention of any sales to England till the year 1788, when

the customers of the firm included 'Milord' Farnham, of London, and

Messrs. Felix Calvert & Sylvin, who had a couple of sample-bottles

sent to them, for which they were charged five shillings. In the

same year Messrs. Carbonnell, Moody, & Walker (predecessors of the

well-known existing firm of Carbonnell & Co.) wrote in French for two

baskets, of ten dozens each, of _vin de Champagne_ 'of good body,

not too charged with liqueur, but of excellent taste, and not at all

sparkling.' The Chevalier Colebrook, writing from Bath, also requests

that 72 bottles of Champagne may be sent to his friend the Hon. John

Butler, Molesworth-street, Dublin, 'who, if contented with the wine,

will become a good customer, he being rich, keeping a good house, and

receiving many amateurs of _vin de Champagne_.' Shortly afterwards the

Chevalier himself receives 50 bottles of still wine, vintage 1783. In

1789 120 bottles of Champagne, vintage 1788, are supplied to 'Milord'

Findlater, of London; and in 1790 the customers of the house include

Power & Michel, of 44 Lamb-street, London, and Manning, of the St.

Alban Tavern, the latter of whom is supplied on March 30th with 130

bottles of Champagne at three livres, or two 'schillings,' per bottle;

while a month later Mr. Lockart, banker, of 36 Pall Mall, is debited

with 360 bottles, vintage 1788, at three shillings.

In this same year M. Moët despatches a traveller to England named

Jeanson, and his letters, some two hundred in number, are all preserved

in the archives of the house. On the 17th May 1790 he writes from

London as follows: 'As yet I have only gone on preparatory and often

useless errands. I have distributed samples of which I have no news.

Patience is necessary, and I endeavour to provide myself with it. How

the taste of this country has changed since ten years ago! Almost

everywhere they ask for dry wine, but at the same time require it so

vinous and so strong that there is scarcely any other than the wine

of Sillery which can satisfy them.... To-morrow I dine five miles

from here, at M. Macnamara's. We shall uncork four bottles of our

wine, which will probably be all right.' In May 1792 Jean Remi Moët is

married, and thenceforward assumes the full management of the house.

On December 20 of the year following, when the Reign of Terror was

fairly inaugurated, we find the accounts in the ledger opened to this

or the other 'citoyen.' The orthodox Republican formula, however, did

not long continue, and 'sieur' and 'monsieur' resumed their accustomed

places, showing that Jean Remi Moët had no sympathy with the Jacobin

faction of the day. In 1805 he became Mayor of Epernay, and between

this time and the fall of the Empire received Napoleon several times

at his residence, as well as the Empress Josephine and the King of

Westphalia. The Emperor, after recapturing Reims from the Allies, came

on to Epernay, on which occasion he presented M. Moët with the Cross

of the Legion of Honour. In 1830 the latter was arbitrarily dismissed

from his mayoralty by Charles X., but was speedily reinstated by Louis

Philippe, though he did not retain his office for long, his advanced

age compelling him to retire from active life in the course of 1833. At

this epoch the firm, which since 1807 had been known as Moët & Co., was

remodelled under the style of Moët & Chandon, the two partners being

M. Victor Moët, son of the outgoing partner, and M. P. G. Chandon, the

descendant of an old ennobled family of the Mâconnais, who had married

M. Jean Remi Moët's eldest daughter. The descendants of these gentlemen

are to-day (1880) at the head of the business, the partners being, on

the one hand, M. Victor Moët-Romont and M. C. J. V. Auban Moët-Romont;

and on the other, MM. Paul and Raoul Chandon de Briailles.

Facing Messrs. Moët & Chandon's offices at Epernay is a range of

comparatively new buildings, with its white façade ornamented with

the well-known monogram M. & C., surmounted by the familiar star.

It is here that the business of blending and bottling the wine is

carried on. Passing through the arched gateway, access is obtained

to a spacious courtyard, where carts laden with bottles are being

expeditiously lightened of their fragile contents by the busy hands of

numerous workmen. Another gateway on the left leads into the spacious

bottle-washing room, which from the middle of May until the middle

of July presents a scene of extraordinary animation. Bottle-washing

apparatus, supplied by a steam-engine with 20,000 gallons of water

per diem, are ranged in fifteen rows down the entire length of this

hall, and nearly 200 women strive to excel each other in diligence

and celerity in their management, a practised hand washing from 900

to 1000 bottles in the course of the day. To the right of this _salle

de rinçage_, as it is styled, bottles are stacked in their tens of

thousands, and lads furnished with barrows, known as _diables_, hurry

to and fro, conveying these to the washers, or removing the clean

bottles to the adjacent courtyard, where they are allowed to drain

prior to being taken to the _salle de tirage_ or bottling-room.

Before, however, the washing of bottles on this gigantic scale

commences, the 'marrying' or blending of the wine is accomplished in

a vast apartment, 250 feet in length and 100 feet broad, during the

early spring. The casks of newly-vintaged wine, which have been stowed

away during the winter months in the extensive range of cellars hewn

out of the chalk underlying Epernay, where they have slowly fermented,

are mixed together in due proportion in huge vats, each holding upwards

of 12,000 gallons. Some of this wine is the growth of Messrs. Moët &

Chandon's own vineyards, of which they possess as many as 900 acres

(giving constant employment to 800 labourers and vinedressers) at Ay,

Avenay, Bouzy, Cramant, Champillon, Chouilly, Dizy, Epernay, Grauves,

Hautvillers, Le Mesnil, Moussy, Pierry, Saran, St. Martin, Verzy, and

Verzenay, and the average annual cost of cultivating which is about

£40 per acre. At Ay the firm own 210 acres of vineyards; at Cramant

and Chouilly, nearly 180 acres; at Verzy and Verzenay, 120 acres; at

Pierry and Grauves, upwards of 100 acres; at Hautvillers, 90 acres;

at Le Mesnil, 80 acres; at Epernay, nearly 60 acres; and at Bouzy,

55 acres. Messrs. Moët & Chandon, moreover, possess vendangeoirs,

or pressing-houses, at Ay, Bouzy, Cramant, Epernay, Hautvillers, Le

Mesnil, Pierry, Saran, and Verzenay, in which the large number of 40

presses are installed. At these vendangeoirs no less than 5450 pièces

of fine white wine, sufficient for 1,360,000 bottles of Champagne, are

annually made--that is, 1200 pièces at Ay, 1100 at Cramant and Saran,

800 at Verzy and Verzenay, and smaller quantities at the remaining

establishments. All these establishments have their celliers and their

cellars, together with cottages for the accommodation of the numerous

vinedressers in the employment of the firm.

[Illustration: WASHING BOTTLES AT MESSRS. MOËT AND CHANDON'S, EPERNAY.]

Extensive as are the vineyards owned by Messrs. Moët & Chandon, the

yield from them is utterly inadequate to the enormous demand which

the great Epernay firm are annually called upon to supply, and large

purchases have to be made by their agents from the growers throughout

the Champagne. The wine thus secured, as well as that grown by the

firm, is duly mixed together in such proportions as will insure

lightness with the requisite vinosity, and fragrance combined with

effervescence, a thorough amalgamation being effected by stirring up

the wine with long poles provided with fan-shaped ends. If the vintage

be indifferent in quality, the firm have scores of huge tuns filled

with the yield of more favoured seasons to fall back upon to insure any

deficiencies of character and flavour being supplied.

[Illustration: MESSRS. MOËT AND CHANDON'S VENDANGEOIR AT BOUZY.]

The casks of wine to be blended are raised from the cellars, half a

dozen at a time, by means of a lift provided with an endless chain,

and worked by the steam-engine of which we have already spoken. They

are emptied, through traps in the floor of the room above, into the

huge vats which, standing upon a raised platform, reach almost to the

ceiling. From these vats the fluid is allowed to flow through hose into

rows of casks stationed below. Before being bottled the wine reposes

for a certain time; is next duly racked and again blended; and is

eventually conveyed through silver-plated pipes into oblong reservoirs,

each fitted with a dozen syphon-taps, so arranged that directly the

bottle slipped on to one of them becomes full the wine ceases to flow.

Upwards of 200 workpeople are employed in the _salle de tirage_ at

Messrs. Moët & Chandon's, which, while the operation of bottling is

going on, presents a scene of bewildering activity. Men and lads are

gathered round the syphon-taps, briskly removing the bottles as they

become filled, and supplanting them by empty ones. Other lads hasten to

transport the filled bottles on trucks to the corkers, whose so-called

'guillotine' machines send the corks home with a sudden thud. The

corks being secured with _agrafes_, the bottles are placed in large

flat baskets called _manettes_, and wheeled away on trucks, the quarts

being deposited in the cellars by means of lifts, while the pints

slide down an inclined plane by the aid of an endless chain, which

raises the trucks with the empty baskets at the same time the full

ones make their descent into the cellars. What with the incessant thud

of the corking-machines, the continual rolling of iron-wheeled trucks

over the concrete floor, the rattling and creaking of the machinery

working the lifts, the occasional sharp report of a bursting bottle,

and the loudly-shouted orders of the foremen, who display the national

partiality for making a noise to perfection, the din becomes at times

all but unbearable. The number of bottles filled in the course of the

day naturally varies, still Messrs. Moët & Chandon reckon that during

the month of June a daily average of 100,000 are taken in the morning

from the stacks in the _salle de rinçage_, washed, dried, filled,

corked, wired, lowered into the cellars, and carefully arranged in

symmetrical order. This represents a total of two and a half million

bottles during that month alone.

The bottles on being lowered into the cellars, either by means of the

incline or the lifts, are placed in a horizontal position, and, with

their uppermost side daubed with white chalk, are stacked in layers

from two to half a dozen bottles deep, with narrow oak laths between.

The stacks are usually about 6 or 7 feet high, and 100 feet and

upwards in length. Whilst the wine is thus reposing in a temperature

of about 55° Fahrenheit, fermentation sets in, and the ensuing month

is one of much anxiety. Thanks, however, to the care bestowed, Messrs.

Moët & Chandon's annual loss from bottles bursting rarely exceeds

three per cent, though fifteen was once regarded as a respectable and

satisfactory average. The broken glass is a perquisite of the workmen,

the money arising from its sale, which at the last distribution

amounted to no less than 20,000 francs, being divided amongst them

every couple of years.

[Illustration: BOTTLING CHAMPAGNE AT MESSRS. MOËT AND CHANDON'S,

EPERNAY.]

The usual entrance to Messrs. Moët & Chandon's Epernay cellars--which,

burrowed out in all directions, are of the aggregate length of nearly

seven miles, and have usually between 10,000,000 and 12,000,000 bottles

and 20,000 casks of wine stored therein--is through a wide and imposing

portal, and down a long and broad flight of steps. It is, however,

by the ancient and less imposing entrance, through which more than

one crowned head has condescended to pass, that we set forth on our

lengthened tour through these intricate underground galleries--this

subterranean city, with its miles of streets, cross-roads, open spaces,

tramways, and stations devoted solely to Champagne. A gilt inscription

on a black-marble tablet testifies that 'on the 26th July 1807,

Napoleon the Great, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, and Protector

of the Confederation of the Rhine, honoured commerce by visiting

the cellars of Jean Remi Moët, Mayor of Epernay, President of the

Canton, and Member of the General Council of the Department,' within

three weeks of the signature of the treaty of Tilsit. Passing down

the flight of steep slippery steps traversed by the victor of Eylau

and Jena, access is gained to the upper range of vaults, brilliantly

illuminated by the glare of gas, or dimly lighted by the flickering

flame of tallow-candles, upwards of 60,000 lb. of which are annually

consumed. Here group after group of the small army of 350 workmen

employed in these subterranean galleries are encountered, engaged in

the process of transforming the _vin brut_ into Champagne. At Messrs.

Moët & Chandon's, the all-important operation of liqueuring the wine is

effected by aid of machines of the latest construction, which regulate

the quantity administered to the utmost nicety. The corks are branded

by being pressed against steel dies heated by gas by women, who can

turn out 3000 per day apiece, the quantity of string used to secure

them amounting to nearly ten tons in the course of the year.

[Illustration: TABLET COMMEMORATIVE OF THE VISIT OF NAPOLEON I.]

There is another and a lower depth of cellars to be explored, to

which access is gained by trap-holes in the floor--through which the

barrels and baskets of wine are raised and lowered--and by flights of

steps. From the foot of the latter there extends an endless vista of

lofty and spacious passages hewn out of the chalk, the walls of which,

smooth as finished masonry, are lined with thousands of casks of raw

wine, varied at intervals by gigantic vats. Miles of long, dark-brown,

dampish-looking galleries stretch away to the right and left, devoid

of the picturesque festoons of fungi which decorate the London Dock

vaults, yet exhibiting a sufficient degree of mouldiness to give them

an air of respectable antiquity. These multitudinous galleries, lit

up by petroleum-lamps, are mostly lined with wine in bottles stacked

in compact masses to a height of six or seven feet, only room enough

for a single person to pass being left. Millions of bottles are thus

arranged, the majority on their side, in huge piles, with tablets hung

up against each stack to note its age and quality; and the rest, which

are undergoing daily evolutions at the hands of the twister, in racks

at various angles of inclination. These cellars contain nearly 11,000

racks, and as many as 600,000 bottles are commonly twisted here daily.

[Illustration]

The way runs on between regiments of bottles of the same size and

shape, save where at intervals pints take the place of quarts; and the

visitor, gazing into the black depths of the transverse passages to

the right and left, becomes conscious of a feeling that if his guide

were suddenly to desert him, he would feel as hopelessly lost as in the

catacombs of Rome. There are two galleries, each 650 feet in length,

containing about 650,000 bottles, and connected by 32 transverse

galleries, with an aggregate length of 4000 feet, in which nearly

1,500,000 bottles are stored. There are, further, eight galleries, each

500 feet in length, and proportionably stocked; also the extensive new

vaults, excavated some five or six years back, in the rear of the then

existing cellarage, and a considerable number of smaller vaults. The

different depths and varying degrees of moisture afford a choice of

temperature of which the experienced owners know how to take advantage.

The original vaults, wherein more than a century ago the first bottles

of Champagne made by the infant firm were stowed away, bear the name of

Siberia, on account of their exceeding coldness. This section consists

of several roughly-excavated low winding galleries, resembling natural

caverns, and affording a striking contrast to the broad, lofty, and

regular-shaped corridors of more recent date.

When the proper period arrives for the bottles to emerge once more into

the upper air, they are conveyed to the packing-room, a spacious hall

180 feet long and 60 feet broad. In front of its three large double

doors wagons are drawn up ready to receive their loads. The 70 men and

women employed here easily foil, label, wrap, and pack up some 10,000

bottles a day. Cases and baskets are stacked in different parts of

this vast hall, at one end of which numerous trusses of straw used in

the packing are piled. Seated at tables ranged along one side of the

apartment women are busily occupied in pasting on labels or encasing

the necks of bottles in gold or silver foil, whilst elsewhere men,

seated on three-legged stools in front of smoking caldrons of molten

sealing-wax of a deep green hue, are coating the necks of other bottles

by plunging them into the boiling fluid. When labelled and decorated

with either wax or foil, the bottles pass on to other women, who swathe

them in pink tissue-paper and set them aside for the packers, by whom,

after being deftly wrapped round with straw, they are consigned to

baskets or cases, to secure which last no less than 10,000 lb. of nails

are annually used. England and Russia are partial to gold foil, pink

paper, and wooden cases holding a dozen or a couple of dozen bottles

of the exhilarating fluid, whereas other nations prefer waxed necks,

disdain pink paper, and insist on being supplied in wicker baskets

containing fifty bottles each.

Some idea of the complex character of so vast an establishment as that

of Messrs. Moët & Chandon may be gathered from a mere enumeration of

their staff, which, in addition to twenty clerks and 350 cellarmen

proper, includes numerous agrafe-makers and corkcutters, packers and

carters, wheelwrights and saddlers, carpenters, masons, slaters and

tilers, tinmen, firemen, needlewomen, &c., while the inventory of

objects used by this formidable array of workpeople comprises no fewer

than 1500 distinct heads. A medical man attached to the establishment

gives gratuitous advice to all those employed, and a chemist dispenses

drugs and medicines without charge. While suffering from illness the

men receive half-pay, but should they be laid up by an accident met

with in the course of their work full salary is invariably awarded

to them. As may be supposed, so vast an establishment as this is not

without a provision for those past work, and all the old hands receive

liberal pensions from the firm upon retiring.

It is needless to particularise Messrs. Moët & Chandon's wines, which

are familiar to all drinkers of Champagne. Still it may be mentioned

that the great Epernay firm, with the view of meeting the requirements

of the time, have lately commenced shipping a high-class _vin brut_, or

natural Champagne, possessing great vinosity, combined with remarkable

delicacy of flavour. To this fine dry wine the name of 'Brut Impérial'

has been given by the house. Moët & Chandon's famous 'Star' brand is

known in all societies, figures equally at clubs and mess-tables, at

garden-parties and picnics, dinners and _soirées_, and has its place in

hotel _cartes_ all over the world. One of the best proofs of the wine's

universal popularity is found in the circumstance that as many as a

thousand visitors from all parts of the world come annually to Epernay

and make the tour of Messrs. Moët & Chandon's spacious cellars.

A little beyond Messrs. Moët & Chandon's, in the broad Rue du Commerce,

we encounter a heavy, ornate, pretentious-looking château, the

residence of the late M. Perrier-Jouët, presenting a striking contrast

to the almost mean-looking premises opposite, where the business of the

firm is carried on. On the left-hand side of a courtyard surrounded by

low buildings, which serve as celliers, store-houses, packing-rooms,

and the like, are the offices; and from an inner courtyard, where

piles of bottles are stacked under open sheds, the cellars themselves

are reached. Previous to descending into these we passed through the

various buildings, in one of which a party of men were engaged in

disgorging and preparing wine for shipment. In another we noticed one

of those heavy beam presses for pressing the grapes which the more

intelligent manufacturers regard as obsolete, while in a third was the

cuvée vat, holding no more than 2200 gallons. In making their cuvée

the firm commonly mix one part of old wine to three parts of new. An

indifferent vintage, however, necessitates the admixture of a larger

proportion of the older growth. The cellars, like all the more ancient

ones at Epernay, are somewhat straggling and irregular; still they are

remarkably cool, and on the lower floor remarkably damp as well. This,

however, would appear to be no disadvantage, as the breakage in them is

calculated never to exceed 2-1/2 per cent.

The firm have no less than five qualities of wine, and at one of the

recent Champagne competitions at London, where the experts engaged had

no means of identifying the brands submitted to their judgment, Messrs.

Perrier-Jouët's First Quality got classed below a cheaper wine of their

neighbours, Messrs. Pol Roger & Co., and very considerably below the

Extra Sec of Messrs. Périnet et fils, and inferior even to a wine of De

Venoge's, the great Epernay manufacturer of common-class Champagne.

Champagne establishments, combined with the handsome residences of the

manufacturers, line both sides of the long imposing Rue du Commerce at

Epernay. On the left hand is a succession of fine châteaux, commencing

with one belonging to M. Auban Moët, whose terraced gardens overlook

the valley of the Marne, and command views of the vine-clad heights of

Cumières, Hautvillers, Ay, and Mareuil, and the more distant slopes

of Ambonnay and Bouzy; while on the other side of the famous Epernay

thoroughfare we encounter beyond the establishments of Messrs. Moët

& Chandon and Perrier-Jouët the ornate monumental façade which the

firm of Piper & Co.--of whom Messrs. Kunkelmann & Co. are to-day the

successors--raised some years since above their extensive cellars. In a

side street at the farther end of the Rue du Commerce stands a château

of red brick, overlooking on the one side an extensive pleasure-garden,

and on the other a spacious courtyard, bounded by celliers, stables,

and bottle-sheds, all of modern construction and on a most extensive

scale. These form the establishment of Messrs. Pol Roger & Co., settled

for many years at Epernay, and known throughout the Champagne for their

large purchases at the epoch of the vintage. From the knowledge they

possess of the best crus, and their relations with the leading vineyard

proprietors, they are enabled whenever the wine is good to acquire

large stocks of it. Having bottled a considerable quantity of the fine

wine of 1874, they resolved to profit by the exceptional quality of

this vintage to commence shipping Champagne to England, where their

agents, Messrs. Reuss, Lauteren, & Co., have successfully introduced

the new brand.

Passing through a large open gateway, we enter the vast courtyard

of the establishment, which, with arriving and departing carts--the

first loaded with wine in cask or with new bottles, and the others

with cases of Champagne--presents rather an animated scene. Under a

roof projecting from the wall of the vast cellier on the right hand a

tribe of 'Sparnaciennes'--as the feminine inhabitants of Epernay are

termed--are occupied in washing bottles in readiness for the coming

tirage. The surrounding buildings, most substantially constructed, are

not destitute of architectural pretensions.

The extensive cellier, the area of which is 23,589 square feet, is

understood to be the largest single construction of the kind in the

Champagne district. Built entirely of iron, stone, and brick, its

framework is a perfect marvel of lightness. The roof, consisting of

rows of brick arches, is covered above with a layer of Portland cement,

in order to keep it cool in summer and protect it against the winter

cold, two most desirable objects in connection with the manipulation

of Champagne. Here an endless chain of a new pattern enables wine in

bottle to be lowered and raised with great rapidity to or from the

cellars beneath--lofty and capacious excavations of two stories, the

lower one of which is reached by a flight of no less than 170 steps.

[Illustration: COURTYARD OF MESSRS. POL ROGER AND CO.'S ESTABLISHMENT

AT EPERNAY.]

Less than a couple of miles southward of Epernay, on the high-road to

Troyes, is the village of Pierry, which, unlike most of the Champagne

villages, is one of those happy spots with little or no history.

Up to the close of the seventeenth century it was an insignificant

hamlet; but at that epoch--when Dom Perignon's discovery gave such

an impetus to the viticultural industry of the Marne--the waste land

lying around it was broken up and planted with vines, and a number

of rich strangers, chiefly from Epernay, built themselves houses and

vendangeoirs here, and contributed to the erection of the church. The

Benedictines of St.-Pierre-aux-Monts at Châlons, who continued to be

the titular seigneurs of Pierry up to the period of the Revolution,

were not behindhand in attention to their vines, and during the early

part of the eighteenth century the wine vintaged in their Clos St.

Pierre, under the fostering care of Brother Jean Oudart--whose renown

almost equalled that of Perignon himself--was very highly esteemed.[449]

During the eighteenth century Pierry continued to be a favourite

residence of well-to-do landowners,[450] and was further embellished by

the construction of numerous handsome châteaux, the most interesting,

from a historic point of view, being that formerly belonging to

Cazotte.[451] It was here that the ex-Commissary General of the navy

composed the greater part of his works, and elaborated that futile

scheme for the escape of Louis XVI. after Varennes, which was to

conduct its author to the scaffold.[452]

The visionary dreamer, to whom we owe the _Diable Amoureux_, appears at

Pierry in the triple character of a practical viticulturist, a village

Hampden withstanding with dauntless breast that little tyrant of the

surrounding vineyards--the Abbot of Hautvillers,[453] and a local

legislator put forward in the proprietarial interest at the outbreak of

that Revolution[454] which he appears to have foreseen, if not to have

directly prophesied, as he has been credited with doing.[455]

Amongst the most imposing of the remaining Pierry châteaux is the one

situate in that part of the village known as Corrigot, and now in the

occupation of Messrs. Gé-Dufaut & Co. Its grandiose aspect, various

courts, charming garden, fine trees, and clear lake justify this firm

in adopting, in combination with an anchor, the title Château de

Pierry as the brand of their wine. Prior to the Revolution the château

belonged to M. de Papillon de Sannois, a fermier-général of that

period. The municipal records of Pierry contain a petition addressed

by him to the authorities in 1791, at a time when a panic prevailed

respecting the forestallers of corn, begging them to institute a formal

search throughout his residence, in order to give the lie to the

rumours accusing him of having bought up and stored away a considerable

quantity of wheat. The municipality accepted his invitation, and the

result was a certificate to the effect that the total amount of wheat

and oats stored there only represented three months' consumption for

the household.

Messrs. Gé-Dufaut & Co. are the owners of vineyards both in Pierry

and the neighbouring parts, and for upwards of thirty years the

firm have been engaged in preparing and shipping Champagnes. Their

cellars, excavated in the mingled stone, chalk, and earth which form

the prevailing soil of the district, extend beneath the vineyards

belonging to the firm, and are walled and vaulted throughout. The

circumstance of their being on one level, slightly below the celliers

of the establishment, is a great convenience as regards the various

manipulations which the wine has to undergo. Considerable reserves of

old wines of the best years are stored in these vaults. The cultivation

of the vineyards owned by the firm, and the pressing, maturing, and

general cellar management of their wines are under the personal

superintendence of the various partners, with a highly satisfactory

result, as is proved by the first-class medal secured by the firm at

the Vienna Exhibition of 1873, and the gold medal awarded to them at

the Paris Exhibition of 1878. Messrs. Gé-Dufaut & Co. ship their wines

to Europe, America, and India, and more especially to England, where

their dry, natural, and unalcoholised Champagne has acquired a deserved

reputation. The firm, moreover, are the officially appointed furnishers

of Champagne to the Courts of Italy and Spain.

[Illustration: CHÂTEAU OF PIERRY, THE PROPERTY OF MESSRS. GÉ-DUFAUT AND

CO.]

[Illustration]

[Illustration: VIEW OF AY FROM THE BANKS OF THE MARNE CANAL.]

XI.

/Some Champagne Establishments at Ay and Mareuil./

The _bourgade_ of Ay and its eighteenth-century château--Gambling

propensities of a former owner, Balthazar Constance

Dangé-Dorçay--Appreciation of the Ay vintage by Sigismund of

Bohemia, Leo X., Charles V., Francis I., and Henry VIII.--Bertin

du Rocheret celebrates this partiality in triolets--Estimation

of the Ay wine in the reigns of Charles IX. and Henri III.--Is

a favoured drink with the leaders of the League, and with Henri

IV., Catherine de Medicis, and the courtiers of that epoch--The

'Vendangeoir d'Henri Quatre' at Ay--The King's pride in his title

of Seigneur d'Ay and Gonesse--Dominicus Baudius punningly suggests

that the 'Vin d'Ay' should be called 'Vinum Dei'--The merits of

the wine sung by poets and extolled by wits--The Ay wine in its

palmy days evidently not sparkling--Arthur Young's visit to Ay in

1787--The establishment of Deutz & Geldermann--Drawing off the

cuvée there--Mode of excavating cellars in the Champagne--The

firm's new cellars, vineyards, and vendangeoir--M. Duminy's

cellars and wines--The house founded in 1814--The new model Duminy

establishment--Picturesque old house at Ay--Messrs. Pfungst

Frères & Co.'s cellars--Their finely-matured dry Champagnes--The

old church of Ay and its numerous decorations of grapes and

vine-leaves--The sculptured figure above the Renaissance

doorway--The Montebello establishment at Mareuil--The château

formerly the property of the Dukes of Orleans--A titled Champagne

firm--The brilliant career of Marshal Lannes--A promenade through

the Montebello establishment--The press-house, the cuvée-vat, the

packing-room, the offices, and the cellars--Portraits and relics at

the château--The establishment of Bruch-Foucher & Co.--The handsome

carved gigantic cuvée-tun--The cellars and their lofty shafts--The

wines of the firm.

[Illustration: FIGURE ABOVE THE DOORWAY OF AY CHURCH.]

The historic _bourgade_ of Ay is within a short walk of the station

on the line of railway connecting Epernay with Reims. The road lies

across the light bridge spanning the Marne canal, the tall trees

fringing which hide for a time the clustering houses; still we catch

sight of the steeple of the antique church, relieved by a background of

vine-covered slopes, and of an eighteenth-century château rising above

a mass of foliage. Perched half-way up the slope, covered with 'golden

plants,' which rises in the rear of the village, the château, with its

long façade of windows, commands the valley of the Marne for miles;

and from the stately-terraced walk, planted with ancient lime-trees,

geometrically clipped in the fashion of the last century, a splendid

view of the distant vineyards of Avize, Cramant, Epernay, and Chouilly

is obtained. The château formed one of a quartette of seignorial

residences which, at the commencement of the present century, belonged

to Balthazar Constance Dangé-Dorçay, whose ancestors had been lords of

Chouilly under the _ancien régime_. Dorçay had inherited from an aunt

the châteaux of Ay, Mareuil, Boursault, and Chouilly, together with a

large patrimony in land and money; but a mania for gambling brought

him to utter ruin, and he dispossessed himself of money, lands, and

châteaux in succession, and was reduced, in his old age, to earn a

meagre pittance as a violin-player at the Paris Opera-house. The old

château of Boursault, which still exists contiguous to the stately

edifice raised by Madame Clicquot on the summit of the hill, was risked

and lost on a single game at cards by this pertinacious gamester, whose

pressing pecuniary difficulties compelled him to sell the remaining

châteaux one by one. That of Ay was purchased by M. Froc de la Boulaye,

and by him bequeathed to his cousin the Count de Mareuil, whose son is

to-day a partner in the Champagne house of Ayala & Co.

The wine of Ay, from an early date, has found equal favour in the

eyes of poets and princes. Eustache Deschamps sang its praises in

the fourteenth century, and was echoed a hundred years later by the

anonymous author of the _Eglogue sur le Retour de Bacchus_.[456]

Sigismund of Bohemia, the betrayer of John Huss, on visiting France

in 1410, desired to pass through Ay in order to taste the wine at the

place of its production.[457] Leo X., Charles V., Francis III., and our

own Henry VIII., each had a house in or near Ay; 'for amongst all the

great affairs of state which these princes had to unravel, supplying

themselves with this vintage was not the least of their cares.'[458]

Malicious tongues have asserted that they were somewhat suspicious

of the honesty of the wine-growers of the district, and, in order to

secure a genuine article, deemed it needful to have a commissioner

or agent resident on the spot, to superintend the making of the wine

set apart for their own consumption.[459] Tradition still points out,

on the right of the road from Dizy to Ay, a vineyard called Le Léon,

as the one whence the Pope derived his wine, though no traces remain

of the vendangeoir built by the Emperor in a coppice above Ay during

the siege of Epernay in 1544, and still standing in 1727.[460] The

president Bertin du Rocheret has celebrated the partiality of a couple

of these potentates for the wine of Ay in some triolets addressed to M.

de Senécé, and published in the _Mercure_ in 1728:

'Ay produces the best wine--

I call the world to witness this;

Though you may for Reims opine,

Ay produces the best wine.

It ranks the first, and the most fine

St. Evremond has said it is.

Ay produces the best wine--

I call the world to witness this.

Charles the Fifth was well aware

Of this--far better than his friend

Adrian in the papal chair;

Charles the Fifth was well aware

Of this, and so, to get his share,

Sought in France his days to end.

Charles the Fifth was well aware

Of this--far better than his friend.

Lest some fraud the juice should mix,

And his table thus disgrace,

He would his own vintage fix,

Lest some fraud the juice should mix.

Leo, fearing the like tricks,

Bought in Ay a pressing-place,

Lest some fraud the juice should mix,

And his table thus disgrace.'[461]

The wine of Ay ranked at the court of Charles IX. as 'a very pleasant

and noble wine;'[462] and even that bigoted uprooter of vines and

heresy had a vendangeoir in this stronghold of Protestantism,[463]

which the Catholics of the Champagne marched against, singing--

'Parpaillot d'Ay,

T'es bien misérable,

T'as quitté ton Di

Pour servir le diable;

Tu n'auras ni chien, ni chat,

Pour te chanter Libera,

Et tu mourras mau-chrétien,

Toi qu'a maudit Saint Trézain.'[464]

[Illustration: HENRI III.

(From a painting of the period).]

In the reign of Henri III. the wines of Ay--'claret and yellowish,

subtile, fine, and in taste very pleasing to the palate, ... yet

therewithal such wines as the Greeks call Oligophora, and as will not

admit the mixture of much water'[465]--were 'eagerly sought after

for the use of kings, princes, and great lords.'[466] At a time when

the bulk of the vintage of Burgundy was denounced as rough, sour,

and harsh; and that of Bordeaux stigmatised as thick and black; and

when good and bad years were allowed to have a considerable influence

upon the growths of the Isle of France, the Orleannais, and Anjou, it

was admitted that 'the wines of Ay do, for the most part, hold the

first and principal place, ... and are, in all good and evil years,

found better than any others.'[467] The kings and princes of the day

made the wines of Ay their ordinary drink.[468] They flowed freely

in the scandalous orgies with which the French Heliogabalus and his

_mignons_ alternated their pious flagellations and solemn processions,

and mantled in the beakers over which the chiefs of the League sat in

dark and solemn conclave; they were quaffed by the Béarnais to the

bright eyes of the fair De Saulve, and cheered the nightly vigils of

Catherine de Medicis and Ruggieri; they sharpened the biting wit of

Chicot, and spurred the plotting spirit of Francis of Anjou. Guise

and Crillon, Joyeuse and D'Epernon, Mayenne and D'Aubigné made common

cause in recognising their merits; Quelus and Maugiron may have quaffed

a goblet before setting forth on their fatal journey to the Barrière

Saint Antoine; and a cup, filled by the fair hands of the Duchess

de Montpensier, may have fired the brain and nerved the arm of the

regicide Jacques Clément.

[Illustration: OLD HOUSE AT AY, KNOWN AS THE VENDANGEOIR OF HENRI

QUATRE.]

Henri Quatre boasted the merits of his vineyard at Prepaton, near

Vendôme, when he was only King of Navarre,[469] and delighted in the

wine of Arbois.[470] At Ay, within a few yards of the church, there

is a quaint old timber house traditionally known as the 'vendangeoir

d'Henri Quatre,' with obliterated carved escutcheons on the pillars

of its doorway. In this dilapidated yet interesting structure we

have a mute but certain testimony to the King's appreciation of the

wine of Ay, if not a confirmation of the truth of the assertion that

Henri was as proud of his title of Seigneur d'Ay as of that of King

of France.[471] Giving an audience to the Spanish ambassador, and

irritated at the long list of titles appended by the punctilious

hidalgo to his royal master's name, he exclaimed: 'You will say to his

Highness Philip, King of Spain and the Indies, Castille, Leon, Arragon,

Murcia, and the Balearic Isles, that Henri, Sieur of Ay and of Gonesse

...,' being the places producing the best wine and the whitest bread in

France.[472] When encamped at Damery, during the siege of Epernay, this

favourite beverage, and the smiles of the fair Anne Dudey, Présidente

du Puy, helped to relieve the tedium of campaigning; for, as Bertin du

Rocheret has sung,

'Our great Henry, king benign,

With it cheered his "belle hôtesse."

When at Damery he'd dine,

Our great Henry, king benign,

Chose it for his favourite wine;

And for bread, that of Gonesse

Our great Henry, king benign,

With it cheered his "belle hôtesse."'[473]

With the vintage of Ay in such universal esteem, it is scarcely to

be wondered at that Dominicus Baudius, professor of eloquence at

the University of Leyden and historiographer to the States of the

Netherlands, should, in the fulness of his admiration, have declared to

his friend the Président du Thou that instead of _vin d'Ay_ it ought to

be called _vinum Dei_.[474]

Olivier de Serres, the French Tusser, praises this divine liquor.[475]

The anonymous author of the _Hercule Guepin_, a poem penned at the

commencement of the seventeenth century in honour of the wine of

Orleans, is forced to acknowledge the merits of that of Ay;[476] and

that indefatigable commentator, the Abbé de Marolles, in a note to his

edition of Martial, classes the growths of Ay, Avenay, and Epernay

amongst the best that France produced. 'Vive le bon vin d'Ay!' exclaims

Guy Patin enthusiastically; and that strange compound of the wit and

the philosopher, St. Evremond, has extolled its qualities in prose

and verse.[477] 'If you ask me which wine of all others I prefer,' he

writes from London to the Count d'Olonne, about 1671, 'without yielding

to tastes introduced by people of sham daintiness, I will answer that

good wine of Ay is the most natural of all wines, the most healthy, the

best purified from all earth smack; of a most exquisite charm, through

the peach flavour which is peculiar to it; and is, in my opinion, the

finest of all flavours.'[478]

It is improbable that the wine of Ay of Francis I., or of Henri Quatre,

was _mousseux_, for had it been so history would have mentioned it. In

good years the still wine of Ay has a bouquet and perfume sufficient to

account for its ancient reputation. Neither was the wine St. Evremond

preferred sparkling, though his reference to the taste introduced by

sham _gourmets_ points probably to the custom of drinking the wine

before its fermentation was completed, or else to the practice of icing

it. When once, however, the introduction of _vin mousseux_ added a new

charm to the pleasures of the table, the poets who sang the praises

of the foaming nectar seem one and all to have celebrated it as the

'pétillant Ay,' and to have chosen, perhaps for euphonistic reasons,

that spot as its birthplace.[479] The material results were equally

satisfactory; for Arthur Young mentions that when, on July 8, 1787, he

visited 'Ay, a village not far out on the road to Reims very famous

for its wines,' he was provided with a letter for M. Lasnier, who

had 60,000 bottles in his cellar, whilst M. Dorsé had from 30,000 to

40,000.[480]

A century ago the foregoing were no doubt considered large stocks, but

to-day the very smallest of the Ay firms would think itself poorly

provided if its cellars contained under quadruple this quantity. The

largest Champagne establishment at Ay is that of Messrs. Deutz &

Geldermann, whose extra dry 'Gold Lack' and 'Cabinet' Champagnes have

long been favourably known in England, through the energetic exertions

of their agents, Messrs. J. R. Parkington & Co., of Crutched Friars.

The Ay firm have their offices in a massive-looking corner-house at

the further extremity of the town, in the direction of the steep hills

sheltering it on the north. This forms their central establishment,

and here are spacious celliers for disgorging and finishing off the

wine, a large packing-hall, and rooms where bales of corks and other

accessories of the trade are stored, the operations of making the

cuvées and bottling being accomplished in an establishment some little

distance off.

On proceeding thither, we find an elegant château with a charming

terraced garden, lying at the very foot of the vine-clad slopes, and on

the opposite side of the road some large celliers where wine in wood is

stored, and where the cuvées of the firm, consisting usually of upwards

of 50,000 gallons each, are made in a vat of gigantic proportions,

furnished with a raised platform at one end for the accommodation

of the workman who agitates the customary paddles. When the wine

is completely blended it is drawn off into casks disposed for the

purpose in the cellar below, as shown in the accompanying engraving,

and after being fined it rests for about a month to clear itself. To

each of these casks of newly-blended wine a portion of old wine is

added separately, and at the moment of bottling the whole is newly

amalgamated.

[Illustration: DRAWING OFF THE CUVÉE AT DEUTZ AND GELDERMANN'S, AY.]

Adjoining M. Deutz's château is the principal entrance to the extensive

cellars of the firm, to which, at our visit in 1877, considerable

additions were being made. In excavating these cellars in the chalk a

uniform system is pursued. The workmen commence by rounding off the

roof of the gallery, and then proceed to work gradually downwards,

extracting the chalk, whenever practicable, in blocks suitable for

building purposes, which, being worth from three to four shillings

the square yard, help to reduce the cost of the excavation. When any

serious flaws present themselves in the sides or roof of the galleries,

they are invariably made good with masonry.

This splendid range of cellars now comprises eight long and lofty

galleries no less than seventeen feet wide, and the same number of feet

in height, and of the aggregate length of 2200 yards. These spacious

vaults, which run parallel with each other, and communicate by means of

cross passages, underlie the street, the château, the garden, and the

vineyard slopes beyond, and possess the great advantage of being always

dry. They are capable, we were informed, of containing several million

bottles of Champagne, in addition to a large quantity of wine in cask.

Messrs. Deutz & Geldermann possess vineyards at Ay, and own a large

vendangeoir at Verzenay, where in good years they usually press 500

pièces of wine. They, moreover, make large purchases of grapes at

Bouzy, Cramant, Le Mesnil, Pierry, &c., and invariably have these

pressed under their own superintendence. Beyond large shipments to

England, where their wine is deservedly held in high estimation,

Messrs. Deutz & Geldermann transact a considerable business with other

countries, and more especially with Germany, in which country their

brand has been for years one of the most popular, while to-day it is

the favourite at numerous regimental messes and the principal hotels.

Within a hundred yards of the open space, surrounded by houses of

different epochs and considerable diversity of design, where the

Ay market-hall stands, and in one of those narrow winding streets

common to the town, an escutcheon, with a bunch of grapes for device,

surmounting a lofty gateway, attracts attention. Beyond, a trim

courtyard, girt round with orange-trees in bright green boxes, and

clipped in orthodox fashion, affords access to the handsome residence

and offices of M. Duminy, well known in England and America as a

shipper of high-class Champagnes, and whose Parisian connection is

extensive. On the right-hand side of the courtyard is the packing-room;

and through the cellars, which have an entrance here, one can reach

the celliers in an adjoining street, where the cuvée is made and the

bottling of the wine accomplished.

[Illustration: THE EXCAVATION OF DEUTZ AND GELDERMANN'S NEW CELLARS AT

AY.]

M. Duminy's cellars are remarkably old, and consequently of somewhat

irregular construction, being at times rather low and narrow, as well

as on different levels. In addition, however, to these venerable

vaults, packed with wines of 1874 and '78, M. Duminy has a new and

extensive establishment on the outskirts of Ay, as well as various

subterranean adjuncts in the town itself. This new establishment, which

stands under the vineclad slope, and merely a stone's throw from the

railway line to Reims, consists of a large ornamental building looking

on to a spacious courtyard ordinarily alive with busy workpeople. In

addition to the pavilion already erected, it is intended to construct

one of similar design, and to connect the two with a monumental tower.

The requisite land has already been purchased, the architectural plans

are prepared, and the work is now in active progress.

[Illustration]

Entering the courtyard of which we have spoken, we notice the new

offices of the firm on the left hand, and extending along the wall

beyond is a long zinc-roofed shed, crowded with baskets filled with

newly-purchased Champagne bottles. On the opposite side of the

courtyard is a building in which the operation of bottle-washing is

carried on. The pavilion in the rear of the courtyard is of somewhat

monumental proportions, and is ornamented with dressings of white

stone and red brick. Entering through the principal doorway, we find

ourselves in a vast cellier, where the packing operations are carried

on, and where are a couple of huge tuns in which the cuvées of the

house are made. A stone staircase conducts to an upper cellier, where

several hundred casks of _vin brut_ are stored, and for the raising

or lowering of which lifts are provided at stated distances. In an

apartment above this second cellier straw envelopes for bottles and

other accessories employed in the trade are kept.

[Illustration: M. DUMINY'S NEW ESTABLISHMENT AT AY.]

The cellars extend, not merely beneath this large building and the

courtyard in front, but run under the adjacent mountain-slope. They

comprise four galleries on the same level, vaulted and faced with brick

or stone, each gallery being about 500 feet in length and upwards of

twelve feet in width and height. Eight transverse passages connect

these galleries with each other, and numerous lifts communicate with

the cellier and the courtyard above. The galleries that run under

the vineyard slope are ventilated by shafts no less than 120 feet in

height. M. Duminy has already provided room here for a million bottles

of sparkling wine; and it is estimated that, when the establishment

is completed, two and a half millions of bottles can be stored here

in addition to the stock contained in the old cellars possessed by M.

Duminy in the town. During its two-thirds of a century of existence

the house has invariably confined itself to first-class wines, taking

particular pride in shipping fully-matured growths. Besides its own

large reserve of these, it holds considerable stocks long since

disposed of, and now merely awaiting the purchasers' orders to be

shipped.

[Illustration]

A few paces beyond M. Duminy's we come upon an antiquated,

decrepit-looking timber house, with its ancient gable bulging over as

though the tough oak brackets on which it rests were at last grown

weary of supporting their unwieldy burden. Judging from the quaint

carved devices on the timbers at the lower portions of this building,

one may imagine it to have been the residence of an individual of some

importance in the days when the principal European potentates had their

commissioners installed at Ay to secure them the finest vintages. The

house evidently dates back to this or to an earlier epoch.

[Illustration: ANCIENT TIMBER HOUSE AT AY.]

The cellars of Messrs. Pfungst Frères et Cie. are situated some little

distance from the vineyard owned by them at Ay. The firm lay themselves

out exclusively for the shipment of high-class Champagne, and the

excellent growths of this district necessarily form an important

element in their carefully-composed cuvées. A considerable portion

of their stock consists of reserves of old wine of grand years; and

a variety of samples of finely-matured Champagnes were submitted to

our judgment. All of these wines were of superior quality, combining

delicacy and fragrance with dryness, the latter being their especial

feature. In addition to their business with England, where the brand

of the firm is rapidly increasing in popularity among connoisseurs of

matured wines, Messrs. Pfungst Frères ship largely to India and the

United States.

[Illustration: CAPITALS AND MOULDINGS IN AY CHURCH.]

On the northern side of the town stands the handsome Gothic church

of Ay, dating from about the middle of the fifteenth century. The

existing building replaced the edifice erected some two hundred years

previously, and traces of which are still to be seen in the present

transept. The stone tower, which is in striking contrast with the other

portions of the structure, bears the date 1541 on its western face.

This tower and the interior of the church were greatly damaged by

the fire--traditionally ascribed to lightning--which occurred at the

close of the sixteenth century, and the former had to be strengthened

by filling up the arched windows and by the addition of buttresses.

The bell, whose terrible tocsin used to warn good citizens that

the _patrie_ was in danger in the days of the Revolution, when the

church was converted into a Temple of Reason, had previously swung

in the abbey of Hautvillers, and may have summoned the vintagers to

labour as well as the faithful to prayer. From 1867 to 1877 extensive

interior repairs and restorations, costing upwards of 6000_l._, greatly

transformed the interior of the church. Care was, however, taken to

preserve the numerous bits of mediæval and Renaissance sculpture with

which both the interior and exterior of the edifice were studded.

In many of the ornamental mouldings, as well as the capitals of the

columns, grape-laden vine-branches had been freely introduced, as if

to indicate the honour in which the vine, the material source of all

the prosperity enjoyed by the little town, was held both by mediæval

and later architects; and these appear all to have been scrupulously

restored. One of the most characteristic decorations of this character

is the sculptured figure of a boy bearing a basket of grapes upon his

head, which surmounts the handsome Renaissance doorway.

[Illustration: MOULDINGS FROM AY CHURCH.]

Within half an hour's walk of Ay, in an easterly direction, is the

village of Mareuil, a long straight street of straggling houses,

bounded by trees and garden-plots, with vine-clad hills rising abruptly

behind on the one side, and the Marne canal flowing placidly by on

the other. The archaic church, a mixture of the Romanesque and Early

Gothic, stands at the farther end of the village, and some little

distance on this side of it is a massive-looking eighteenth-century

building, spacious enough to accommodate a regiment of horse, but

conventual rather than barrack-like in aspect, from the paucity of

windows looking on to the road. A broad gateway leads into a spacious

courtyard, to the left of which stands a grand château; while on the

right there rises an ornate round tower of three stories, from the

gallery on the summit of which a fine view over the valley of the

Marne is obtained. The buildings, enclosing the court on three sides,

comprise press-houses, celliers, and packing-rooms, an antiquated

sun-dial marking the hour on the blank space above the vines that

climb beside the entrance gateway. The more ancient of these tenements

formed the vendangeoir of the Dukes of Orleans at the time they owned

the château of Mareuil, purchased in 1830 by the Duke de Montebello,

son of the famous Marshal Lannes, and minister and ambassador of Louis

Philippe and Napoleon III.

The acquisition of this property, to which were attached some

important vineyards, led, several years later, to the duke's founding,

in conjunction with his brothers, the Marquis and General Count de

Montebello, a Champagne firm, whose brand speedily acquired a notable

popularity. To-day the business is carried on by their sons and heirs,

for all the original partners in the house have followed their valiant

father to the grave. Struck down by an Austrian cannon-ball in the

zenith of his fame, the career of Marshal Lannes, brief as it was,

furnishes one of the most brilliant pages in French military annals.

Joining the army of Italy as a volunteer in 1796, he was made a colonel

on the battle-field in the gorges of Millesimo, when Augereau's bold

advance opened Piedmont to the French. He fought at Bassano and Lodi,

took part in the assault of Pavia and the siege of Mantua, and at

Arcola, when Napoleon dashed flag in hand upon the bridge, Lannes

was seriously wounded whilst shielding his general from danger. He

afterwards distinguished himself in Egypt, and led the van of the

French army across the Alps, displaying his accustomed bravery both at

Montebello and Marengo. At Austerlitz, where he commanded the right

wing of the army, he greatly contributed to the victory; and at Jena,

Friedland, and Eylau his valour was again conspicuous. Sent to Spain,

he defeated the Spaniards at Tudela, and took part in the operations

against Saragossa. Wounded at the battle of Essling, when the Archduke

Charles inflicted upon Napoleon I. the first serious repulse he had

met with on the field of battle, the valiant Lannes expired a few days

afterwards in the Emperor's arms.

[Illustration: THE MONTEBELLO ESTABLISHMENT AT MAREUIL.]

We were met at Mareuil, on the occasion of our visit, by Count

Alfred Ferdinand de Montebello, the present manager of the house,

and conducted by him over the establishment. In the press-house, to

the left of the courtyard, were two of the ponderous presses used

in the Champagne, for, like all other large firms, the house makes

its own wine. Grapes grown in the Mareuil vineyards arrive here in

baskets slung over the backs of mules, muzzled, so that while awaiting

their loads they may not devour the fruit within reach. In a cellier

adjoining the press-house stands a large vat, capable of holding fifty

pièces of wine, with a crane beside it for hauling up the casks when

the cuvée is made. Here the tirage likewise takes place; and in the

range of buildings roofed with glass, in the rear of the tower, the

bottled wine is labelled, capped with foil, and packed in cases for

transmission to Paris, England, and other places abroad.

A double flight of steps, decorated with lamps and vases, leads to

the handsome offices of the firm, situated on the first-floor of the

tower; while above is an apartment with a panelled ceiling, gracefully

decorated with groups of Cupids engaged in the vintage and the various

operations which the famous wines of the Mountain and the River undergo

during their conversion into Champagne. On the ground-floor of the

tower a low doorway conducts to the spacious cellars, which, owing

to the proximity of the Marne, are all on the same level as well as

constructed in masonry. The older vaults, where the Marquis de Pange,

a former owner of the château, stored the wine which he used to sell

to the Champagne manufacturers, are somewhat low and tortuous compared

with the broad and lofty galleries of more recent date, which have

been constructed as the growing connection of the firm obliged them to

increase their stocks. Spite, however, of numerous additions, portions

of their reserves have to be stored in other cellars in Mareuil.

Considerable stocks of each of the four qualities of wine supplied by

the firm are being got ready for disgorgement, including Cartes Noires

and Bleues, with the refined Carte Blanche and the delicate Crêmant,

which challenge comparison with brands of the highest repute.

[Illustration: CHÂTEAU OF MAREUIL, BELONGING TO THE DUKE OF MONTEBELLO.]

In the adjacent château, the gardens of which slope down to the Marne

canal, there are various interesting portraits, with one or two relics

of the distinguished founder of the Montebello family, notably Marshal

Lannes's gold-embroidered velvet saddle trappings, his portrait and

that of Marshal Gerard, as well as one of Napoleon I., by David, with

a handsome clock and candelabra of Egyptian design, a bust of Augustus

Cæsar, and a portrait of the Regent d'Orleans.

[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF AVIZE.]

XII.

/Champagne Establishments at Avize and Rilly./

Avize the centre of the white grape district--Its situation and

aspect--The establishment of Giesler & Co.--The tirage and the

cuvée--Vin Brut in racks and on tables--The packing-hall, the

extensive cellars, and the disgorging cellier--Bottle stores and

bottle-washing machines--Messrs. Giesler's wine-presses at Avize

and vendangeoir at Bouzy--Their vineyards and their purchases

of grapes--Reputation of the Giesler brand--The establishment

of M. Charles de Cazanove--A tame young boar--Boar-hunting

in the Champagne--M. de Cazanove's commodious cellars and

carefully-selected wines--Vineyards owned by him and his

family--Reputation of his wines in Paris and their growing

popularity in England--Interesting view of the Avize and Cramant

vineyards from M. de Cazanove's terraced garden--The vintaging of

the white grapes in the Champagne--Roper Frères' establishment

at Rilly-la-Montagne--Their cellars penetrated by roots of

trees--Some samples of fine old Champagnes--The principal Châlons

establishments--Poem on Champagne by M. Amaury de Cazanove.

[Illustration: DOORWAY OF AVIZE CHURCH.]

Avize, situated in the heart of the Champagne white grape district,

may be reached from Epernay by road through Pierry and Cramant, or

by the Châlons Railway to Oiry Junction, between which station and

Romilly there runs a local line, jocularly termed the _chemin de fer

de famille_, from the general disregard displayed by the officials for

anything approaching to punctuality. Avize can scarcely be styled a

town, and yet its growing proportions are beyond those of an ordinary

village. It lies pleasantly nestled among the vines, sheltered by bold

ridges on the north-west, with the monotonous plains of La Champagne

pouilleuse, unsuited to the cultivation of the vine, stretching away

eastward in the direction of Châlons. Avize cannot pretend to the same

antiquity as its neighbour Vertus, and lacks the many picturesque

vestiges of which the latter can boast. Its church dates back only to

the fifteenth century, although the principal doorway in the Romanesque

style evidently belongs to a much earlier epoch. There is a general

air of trim prosperity about the place, and the villagers have that

well-to-do appearance common to the inhabitants of the French wine

districts. Only at vintage-time, however, are there any particular

outdoor signs of activity, although half a score of Champagne firms

have their establishments here, giving employment to the bulk of the

population, and sending forth their two or three million bottles of the

sparkling wine of the Marne annually.

[Illustration: MAKING THE CUVÉE AT MESSRS. GIESLER'S, AT AVIZE.]

Proceeding along the straight level road leading from the station to

the village, we encounter on our right hand the premises of Messrs.

Giesler & Co., the reputation of whose brand is universal. When M.

Giesler quitted the firm of P. A. Mumm, Giesler, & Co., at Reims,

in 1838, he removed to Avize, and founded the present extensive

establishment. Entering through a large open gateway, we find

ourselves within a spacious courtyard, with a handsome dwelling-house

in the rear, and all the signs of a Champagne business of magnitude

apparent. A spiral staircase conducts to the counting-house on the

first story of a range of buildings on the left hand, the ground floor

of which is divided into celliers. Passing through a door by the

side of this staircase, we enter a large hall where the operation of

bottling the wine is going on. Four tuns, each holding five ordinary

pièces of wine, and raised upon large blocks of wood, are standing

here, and communicating with them are bottling syphons of the type

commonly employed in the Champagne. Messrs. Giesler do not usually

consign the newly-bottled wine at once to the cellars, but retain

it above-ground for about a fortnight, in order that it may develop

its effervescent qualities more perfectly. We find many thousands of

these bottles stacked horizontally in the adjoining celliers, in one

of which stands the great cuvée tun, wherein some fifty hogsheads of

the finest Champagne growths are blended together at one time, two

hundred hogsheads being thus mingled daily while the cuvées are in

progress. The casks of wine having been hoisted from the cellars to

the first floor by a crane, and run on to a trough, their bungs are

removed, and the wine flows through an aperture in the floor into the

huge tun beneath, its amalgamation being accomplished by the customary

fan-shaped appliances, set in motion by the turning of a wheel. In an

adjacent room is the machine used for mixing the liqueur which Messrs.

Giesler add so sparingly to their light and fragrant wines.

There are a couple of floors above these celliers, the uppermost

of which is used as a general store, while in the one beneath many

thousands of bottles of _vin brut_ repose _sur pointe_, either in racks

or on tables, as at the Clicquot-Werlé establishment. This latter

system requires ample space, for as the workman who shakes the bottles

is only able to use one hand, the operation of dislodging the sediment

necessarily occupies a much longer time than is requisite when the

bottles rest in racks.

The buildings on the opposite side of the courtyard comprise a

large packing-hall, celliers where the wine is finished off, and

rooms where corks and suchlike things are stored. Here, too, is the

entrance to the cellars, of which there are three tiers, all lofty

and well-ventilated galleries, very regular in their construction,

and faced with either stone or brick. In these extensive vaults are

casks of fine reserved wines for blending with youthful vintages,

and bottles of _vin brut_, built up in solid stacks, that may be

reckoned by their hundreds of thousands. At Messrs. Giesler's the

disgorging of the wine is accomplished in a small cellier partially

underground, and the temperature of which is very cool and equable. The

_dégorgeurs_, isolated from the rest of the workpeople, are carrying

on their operations here by candlelight. So soon as the sediment is

removed, the bottles are raised in baskets to the cellier above, where

the liqueuring, recorking, stringing, and wiring are successively

accomplished. By pursuing this plan the loss sustained by the

disgorgement is believed to be reduced to a minimum.

Extensive as these premises are, they are still insufficient for the

requirements of the firm; and across the road is a spacious building

where new bottles are stored, and the washing of the bottles in

preparation for the tirage takes place. By the aid of the machinery

provided sixteen women, assisted by a couple of men, commonly wash some

fifteen or sixteen thousand bottles in the course of a day. Here, too,

stands one of the two large presses with which, at the epoch of the

vintage, a hundred pièces of wine are pressed every four-and-twenty

hours. The remaining press is installed in a cellier at the farther end

of the garden on the other side of the road. Messrs. Giesler possess

additional presses at their vendangeoir at Bouzy, and during the

vintage have the command of presses at Ay, Verzenay, Vertus, Le Mesnil,

&c.; it being a rule of theirs always to press the grapes within a few

hours after they are gathered, to obviate their becoming bruised by

their own weight and imparting a dark colour to the wine, a contingency

difficult to guard against in seasons when the fruit is over-ripe. The

firm own vineyards at Avize, and have agreements with vine-proprietors

at Ay, Bouzy, Verzenay, and elsewhere, to purchase their crops

regularly every year. Messrs. Giesler's brand has secured its existing

high repute solely through the fine quality of the wines shipped by the

house--wines which are known and appreciated by all real connoisseurs

of Champagne.

From Messrs. Giesler's it is merely a short walk to the establishment

of M. Charles de Cazanove, situated in the principal street of Avize.

On entering the court we encountered a tame young boar engaged in

the lively pursuit of chasing some terrified hens; while a trio

of boar-hounds, basking on the sunny flagstones, contemplated his

proceedings with lazy indifference. Boars abound in the woods

hereabouts, and hunting them is a favourite pastime with the residents;

and the young boar we had noticed proved to be one of the recent

captures of the sons of M. de Cazanove, who are among the warmest

partisans of the exciting sport.

The house of M. Charles de Cazanove was established in 1843, by its

present proprietor, on the foundation of a business which had been in

existence since 1811. Compared with the monumental grandeur of some

of the great Reims and Epernay establishments, the premises present

a simple and modest aspect; nevertheless, they are capacious and

commodious, besides which, the growing business of the house has led

to the acquisition of additional cellarage in other parts of Avize.

More important than all, however, is the quality of the wine with

which these cellars are stocked; and, following the rule observed by

Champagne firms of the highest repute, it has been a leading principle

with M. de Cazanove always to rely upon the choicer growths--those

light, delicate, and fragrant wines of the Marne which throw out

the true aroma of the flower of the vine. M. de Cazanove, who is

distinguished for his knowledge of viticulture, occupies an influential

position at Avize, being Vice-President of the Horticultural Society

of the Marne, and a member of the committee charged with guarding the

Champagne vineyards against the invasion of the phylloxera. His own

vines include only those fine varieties to which the crus of the Marne

owe their great renown. He possesses an excellent vineyard at Grauves,

near Avize; and his mother-in-law, Madame Poultier of Pierry, is one of

the principal vine-growers of the district.

M. de Cazanove's wines are much appreciated in Paris, where his

business is very extensive. His shipments to England are also

considerable; but from the circumstance of some of his principal

customers importing the wine under special brands of their own, the

brand of the house is not so widely known as we should have anticipated.

[Illustration: VINEYARDS OF AVIZE AND CRAMANT, FROM THE GARDEN OF M. C.

DE CAZANOVE.]

From M. de Cazanove's terraced garden in the rear of his establishment

a fine view is obtained of one of the most famous viticultural

districts of the Champagne, yielding wines of remarkable delicacy and

exquisite bouquet. On the left hand rises up the mountain of Avize,

its summit fringed with dense woods, where in winter the wild-boar has

his lair. In front stretch the long vine-clad slopes of Cramant, with

orchards at their base, and the housetops of the village and the spire

of the quaint old church just peeping over the brow of the hill. To the

right towers the bold forest-crowned height of Saran, with M. Moët's

château perched half-way up its north-eastern slope; and fading away in

the hazy distance are the monotonous plains of the Champagne.

We have already explained that the wines of Avize and Cramant rank as

_premiers crus_ of the white grape district, and that every Champagne

manufacturer of repute mingles one or the other in his cuvée. The white

grapes are usually gathered a fortnight or three weeks later than

the black varieties, but in other respects the vintaging of them is

the same. The grapes undergo the customary minute examination by the

_éplucheuses_, and all unripe, damaged, and rotten berries being thrown

aside, the fruit is conveyed with due care to the press-houses in the

large baskets known as _paniers mannequins_. The pressing takes place

under exactly the same conditions as the pressing of the black grapes;

the must, too, is drawn off into hogsheads to ferment, and by the end

of the year, when the active fermentation has terminated, the wine is

usually clear and limpid.

At Rilly-la-Montagne, on the line of railway between Reims and Epernay,

Roper Frères & Cie., late of Epernay, have their establishment.

Starting from the latter place, we pass Ay and Avenay, and then the

little village of Germaine in the midst of the forest, and nigh the

summit of the mountain of Reims, with its 'Rendezvous des Chasseurs'

in immediate proximity to the station. Finally we arrive at Rilly,

which, spite of its isolated situation, has about it that aspect of

prosperity common to the more favourable wine districts of France. This

is scarcely surprising, when the quality of its wines is taken into

consideration. The still red wine of Rilly has long enjoyed a high

local reputation, and to-day the Rilly growths are much sought after

for conversion into Champagne. White wine of 1874, from black grapes,

fetched, we are informed, as much as 600 to 700 francs the pièce; while

the finer qualities from white grapes realised from 300 to 400 francs.

Messrs. Roper Frères & Cie. are the owners of some productive vineyards

situated on the high-road to Chigny and Ludes.

The establishment of Roper Frères is adjacent to a handsome modern

house standing back from the road in a large and pleasant garden,

bounded by vineyards on two of its sides. In the celliers all the

conveniences pertaining to a modern Champagne establishment are to be

found, while extending beneath the garden are the extensive cellars

of the firm, comprising two stories of long and spacious galleries

excavated in the chalk, their walls and roofs being supported whenever

necessary by masonry. A curious feature about these cellars is that

the roots of the larger trees in the garden above have penetrated the

roof of the upper story, and hang pendent overhead like innumerable

stalactites. Here, after the comparatively new wine of 1874 had been

shown to us--including samples of the vin brut or natural Champagne of

which the firm make a specialty at a moderate price--some choice old

Champagnes were brought forth, including the fine vintages of 1865,

1857, and 1846. The latter wine had of course preserved very little of

its effervescence, still its flavour was exceedingly fine, being soft

and delicate to a degree. At the Vienna Exhibition of 1873, and the

London Exhibition of 1874, the collection of Champagnes exhibited by

Roper Frères met with favourable recognition from the international

juries.

Our tour through the Champagne vineyards and wine-cellars here comes

to an end. It is true there are important establishments at Châlons,

notably those of the Perriers, Freminet et Fils, Dagonet et Fils,

and Jacquard Frères. As, however, any description of these would be

little else than a recapitulation of something we have already said, we

content ourselves with merely notifying their existence, and close the

present chapter with a poem on Champagne, from the pen of M. Amaury de

Cazanove of Avize:

ODE AU CHAMPAGNE.

Pour ta beauté, pour ta gloire, ô Patrie,

Nous t'adorons ... surtout pour tes malheurs!

Oublions-les.... Avec idolâtrie,

Chantons ton ciel, tes femmes et tes fleurs.

France, nous chanterons tes femmes et tes roses;

France, nous chanterons tes vins, autre trésor;

Qu'on voie, ouvrant tes lèvres longtemps closes,

Un fier sourire étinceler encor!

Nectar qu'aux dieux jadis versait Hébé la blonde!

O noir Falerne! ô Massique vermeil!

Pauvres vins du vieux temps oubliés à la ronde ...

Car le Champagne a fait le tour du monde

En conquérant, à nos drapeaux pareil;

Il rit, léger, sous la mousse qui tremble,

Et semble

Dans le cristal un rayon de soleil.

'Je suis le sang des coteaux de Bourgogne!'

Dit celui-là baron à parchemin,

Grand assommeur qui vous met sans vergogne

Son casque au front, si lourd le lendemain....

'C'est moi l'exquis Bordeaux, je sens la violette;

Mes rubis, le gourmet goutte à goutte les boit,

Et mon parfum délicat se complète

Par ta saveur, aile d'un perdreau froid.'

Messeigneurs les Grand Vins, s'il faut qu'on vous réponde;

Bordeaux, Bourgogne, écoutez un conseil:

Vantez un peu moins fort vos vertus à la ronde....

Car le Champagne a fait le tour du monde

En conquérant, à nos drapeaux pareil;

Il rit, léger, sous la mousse qui tremble,

Et semble

Dans le cristal un rayon de soleil.

Car le Champagne est le vrai vin de France;

C'est notre c[oe]ur pétillant dans nos yeux,

Se relevant plus haut sous la souffrance;

C'est dans sa fleur l'esprit de nos aïeux;

Le souffle de bravoure aimable, qui tressaille

Sous le vent de l'épée aux plumes des cimiers;

C'est le galant défi de la bataille:

'A vous, Messieurs les Anglais, les premiers!'

Certain buveur de bière en vain ricane et gronde;

Aux cauchemars de ses nuits sans sommeil

Dieu livre ses remords! ... Nous chantons à la ronde

Que le Champagne a fait le tour du monde

En conquérant, à nos drapeaux pareil;

Il rit, léger, sous la mousse qui tremble,

Et semble

Dans le cristal un rayon de soleil.[481]

Avize, 8 Juillet 1877.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: THE BOAR TAKES SOIL.]

XIII.

/Sport in the Champagne./

The Champagne forests the resort of the wild-boar--Departure of

a hunting-party in the early morning to a boar-hunt--Rousing

the boar from his lair--Commencement of the attack--Chasing the

boar--His course is checked by a bullet--The dogs rush on in full

pursuit--The boar turns and stands at bay--A skilful marksman

advances and gives him the _coup de grâce_--Hunting the wild-boar

on horseback in the Champagne--An exciting day's sport with M.

d'Honnincton's boar-hounds--The 'sonnerie du sanglier' and the

'vue'--The horns sound in chorus 'The boar has taken soil'--The

boar leaves the stream, and a spirited chase ensues--Brought to

bay, he seeks the water again--Deathly struggle between the boar

and a full pack of hounds--The fatal shot is at length fired,

and the 'hallali' is sounded--As many as fifteen wild-boars

sometimes killed at a single meet--The vagaries of some tame

young boars--Hounds of all kinds used for hunting the wild-boar

in the Champagne--Damage done by boars to the vineyards and the

crops--Varieties of game common to the Champagne.

The Champagne does not merely comprise vineyards producing some of the

finest wine in the world. In parts it is covered by vast and luxuriant

forests, where the pleasures of the chase are not lacking to the

Champenois, who as a rule are eager in the pursuit of sport. In winter

these forests are the resort of wild-boar, who haunt by preference the

woods around Reims, journeying thither, it is said, by night from the

famous forest of the Ardennes--the scene of Rosalind's wanderings and

Touchstone's eccentricities, as set forth in _As You Like It_; and

whose gloomy depths and tangled glens shelter not merely boars, but

wolves as well.

[Illustration]

In the villages of the Champagne on a cold winter's morning, with

it snowing or blowing, you are frequently awake before daylight by

the noise of barking dogs, of horns sounding the departure, and of

some vehicle rolling heavily over the stones. A party of sportsmen

is proceeding to the meet. Jokes and laughter enliven the journey,

but every one becomes silent and serious upon reaching the place of

rendezvous, for the object of the gathering is the excitable and

perilous boar-hunt.

In the Champagne it is no longer the fashion, as in Burgundy,

'With javelin's point a churlish swine to gore.'

The more certain rifle is the weapon usually employed, and these arms

are now examined and carefully loaded. Meanwhile the reports of the

keepers are attentively listened to. They have beaten the wood, each

on his own side, accompanied by a bloodhound, and they inform the

hunters what they have seen or found. Great experience is necessary to

accomplish the _rembuchement_, as this tour of inspection is termed,

in a satisfactory manner; and with some it is a veritable science.

Eventually, after a discussion among the more experienced ones, it is

decided to follow the scent which appears to be freshest; whereupon

the dogs are brought up coupled, and let loose upon the trail. The

attack now begins. There are always two or three _piqueurs_ who follow

the dogs, exciting them with their voices, and making all the noise

possible, as long as the game has not been roused from its lair.

Meanwhile the marksmen place themselves at the posts indicated by the

president of the hunt, the most experienced being assigned the best

spots, whilst those whose habit it is never to harm the boar go of

their own accord 'up wind'--that is, to bad places--thus causing the

animal to 'refuse,' and to pass within range of guns that rarely let

him escape unhurt.

At first the dogs raise a somewhat distant cry--perhaps one has

followed a wrong scent--and some of the huntsmen remark in a low tone

to themselves that after all they would have done better to have

stopped at home, and turned out of their beds at a less unseasonable

hour; then, at least, they would not be standing with frozen feet in

the snow, and with colds in the head in perspective. But suddenly there

comes a cry of 'Vlô!'--the Champenois expression for designating the

boar--'Attention!' 'Look out!' Then the report of a couple of shots,

and finally the howling of the pack of dogs. Snow and cold are at once

forgotten. Each man grasps his rifle and waits for the boar to pass by.

The branches of the underwood creak and break; there is a noise as of a

squadron of cavalry dashing into a wood; then, all of a sudden, a black

mass is caught sight of approaching. But the boar is a cunning fellow;

he has seen the sportsman who is in wait for him, or has scented his

presence, and will pass out of range. Now that luck has betrayed the

latter, he has to content himself with the _rôle_ of a spectator.

So far as one can judge by the barking of the dogs, the boar is

directing his course to where an experienced marksman is posted--one

who is not about to fire his first difficult shot. Observe him: he

is perfectly motionless, for the least movement might betray his

presence; his eyes alone dart right and left in quest of the foe. Here

comes the boar, passing like a cannon-ball along the line, and there

is scarcely time to catch a glimpse of him between the reports of two

shots, which succeed each other with the rapidity of lightning. The

boar is by no means an animal easy to knock over. The forest roads are

never more than ten to fifteen paces broad; and as there are marksmen

both on the right and left, it is necessary to reserve your fire until

the animal has crossed the road and is plunging again into cover. In

addition to this, there are only two spots where a mortal wound can be

inflicted upon the boar--either behind the shoulder or in the neck.

Hit elsewhere, he will lose but little blood, and the only effect of

the wound will be to render him more savage. He will rip up a dog or

two, perhaps, and then rush off far away, without showing any further

sign of injury. Boars carrying several bullets in their bodies, but

rejoicing in capital health, as well as others covered with cicatrices,

are frequently killed. Firing too high is a common fault with many

marksmen, arising from the fact that in winter the boar's bristles are

very long and thick, and that each one stands on end at the sight of

an enemy, thus making the animal look much higher on his legs than he

really is.

But to return to our description of the hunt. The boar has just been

hit by one of those rare marksmen, every bullet of whose rifle goes

straight to its intended billet. Although struck, the animal continues

his onward course, a couple of drops of blood which have tinged the

snow with red showing unmistakably that he has not been missed. The

dogs who follow him closely hesitate for a minute as they reach the

roadway, but the leader has espied the spot where the boar was wounded;

he sniffs the blood, and darts off again, followed by the pack, who

have full confidence in his discernment. The dogs are torn and wounded

by the thorns and briers which continually obstruct their path, for

the boar rushes through the thickest and most inaccessible cover, in

hopes of retarding the progress of his pursuers; but the hounds divine

that their prey is near, and the most tired among them recover all

their energy. Suddenly a great silence succeeds the furious yelping

and baying of a short time ago. The boar is about to turn at bay. His

strength is becoming exhausted, and feeling that he is doomed to die,

he has faced round, with his back towards some inaccessible thicket, so

as not to be taken in the rear, and confronts his pursuers, determined

to die bravely and to sell his life dearly. It is no longer the baying

of a pack in full cry that now rends the air, but isolated yelpings and

plaintive howlings, such as watch-dogs give vent to when strangers are

wandering round the house they protect.

Then comes the crowning feat of the hunt, and the most difficult to

accomplish. The most intrepid marksman advances towards the dogs,

his hunting-knife and rifle alike ready, the former to be made use

of should the latter not suffice. He has need of great prudence and

great coolness to accomplish his task, for directly the boar hears

his approach he will unhesitatingly dash upon him. He must await the

animal's onslaught with a firm heart and steady hand, and only fire

when sure of his aim. Often, however, the hunter is bothered by the

dogs, which surround the boar on all sides, hang on to him from behind,

and excite his fury. The position may become critical, and many a

sportsman who has counted too much upon his nerve has found himself

compelled to climb a tree, whence he has been able to 'bowl over' the

enemy, without incurring any danger. It is needless to add that when

discovered in this position he has felt very much ashamed at having

resorted to such an expedient.

In the Champagne the wild boar is almost invariably pursued on foot,

the minute subdivision of the land into different holdings and

consequent limitation of the right of sport rendering it very difficult

to follow the animal on horseback. M. Roederer, it is true, started

a pack of hounds in the Forest of Reims; but at his death there were

not sufficient lovers of the chase to keep up this style of sport, and

every one fell into the habit of knocking over a wild-boar in the same

prosaic fashion as a simple rabbit. However, some few years back, a

rich landowner from Brittany, the Vicomte d'Honnincton, having had an

opportunity of sport in the Champagne, and having seen that large game

abounded, installed himself near the fine Forêt de la Traconne, in the

neighbourhood of Sézanne, and resumed the chase of the wild-boar on

horseback. The great success he met with induced him to take up his

quarters in this district, and his pack, composed of a cross between

the English staghound and the Artois hound, has become justly famous.

In the month of December 1878, an exciting day's sport was had with M.

d'Honnincton's boar-hounds. The presence of herds of wild-boar having

been noted in the neighbouring woods between Epernay and Montmort, M.

d'Honnincton was soon to the fore with his pack, and all the sportsmen

for miles around were summoned. The meet was at the Château de la

Charmoye, a regular hunters' rendezvous, belonging to the Vicomte

de Bouthylliers, and situate in the heart of the woodland. During

breakfast one of the huntsmen came to announce that a huge _solitaire_

had passed the night at a short distance from the château. Everything,

therefore, promised well for sport. The guests mounted in haste, each

one equipped in true French style, with an immense hunting-horn round

his body and a light gun or a pistol attached to the saddle. The lively

strains of the horn had begun to sound on every side, and the hounds

were being uncoupled, when the boar, disturbed by all this noise,

majestically traversed the main avenue of the château, and pushed on

towards a group of ladies assembled to witness the departure of the

sportsmen. A finer start would have been impossible. The hounds dashed

towards their prey as soon as they caught sight of him at full cry,

and the _sonnerie du sanglier_ and the _vue_ were blazed forth by

the horns on every side. The hunt commenced. The greatest difficulty

and the object of all was to hinder the boar from plunging into the

thick of the forest, where, in the dense cover, he would have gained

a considerable advance upon the dogs. Thanks to the activity of the

huntsmen, who cut off his retreat on this side, it was possible to

drive him towards the plain of Montmort; and from this moment the sport

was as fine as can be imagined, it being easy to note the minor details

of the hunt even from a distance. The boar made his way with difficulty

over the ground saturated by rain, and the eagerness of the hounds

increased in proportion as they gained upon him.

A broadish rivulet with very steep banks was reached. The boar tried to

clear it at a bound, but fell into mid-stream. The sportsmen all came

up at this moment, and with their horns began to sound in chorus 'The

boar has taken soil;' the hounds plunged in and began to swim after

the boar, and the scene became a truly exciting one. At length the

boar succeeded in quitting the stream; but frightened by the horsemen

whom he saw on the opposite shore, he recrossed it a second and then a

third time, amidst the hounds, who were assailing him on every side,

and each time met with the same difficulty in ascending the bank. It

may be readily understood that he was getting exhausted by his efforts,

and began to appear done up. He recovered his vigour, however, and

soon gained ground on the hounds. He had still two or three miles

to cover in order to regain the forest, and it was necessary at all

costs to prevent him from accomplishing this. Then ensued a wild hunt,

a mad steeplechase over fields, hedges, brooks, ditches; the horses

in several places sank over their hocks, and were covered with foam,

but whip and spur restored energy to the least ardent. The boar was

gasping, but still kept on, and the steam from his body, which quite

surrounded him and caused him to resemble a four-legged demon, could be

plainly perceived from a distance. In this style the hunt swept through

the little village of Lucy, with all the dogs of the place howling,

the women and children shrieking, and the men arming themselves with

spades and pitchforks. But the boar not losing courage on this account,

and despising these primitive weapons, did not stop, and drew nearer

and nearer to the wood. The hounds were getting tired, and the most

experienced sportsmen began to despair somewhat of a successful day,

when suddenly the beast plunged into a pond situate close to the

forest, halted, rolled several times in the mud, and rose completely

covered in steam and mire. It is all over: the animal is at bay, and

cannot go any further.

This is the interesting moment. The boar pulls himself together,

feeling that he is to die, and, up to his belly in water, he bravely

awaits the pack. With his eye glowing with rage, his bristles erect,

he utters grunts of defiance. The fifty dogs throw themselves on to

him without a moment's hesitation; but four or five are sent rolling

into the middle of the water, never more to rise. The struggle which

follows is terrible; the boar's tusks tell at every blow, and the water

becomes literally red with blood. At length the foremost sportsmen

come up, and it is high time they do. Seven dogs are already lying on

their backs, with their legs in the air, and almost all bear marks of

the boar's terrible tusks. The first who is ready alights from his

steed, and boldly advances into the water; for it would be imprudent

to fire at the boar from the edge of the pond, and thereby run the

risk of wounding him, and rendering him still more furious, or even

of killing one of the dogs, by whom he is surrounded. An interval of

solemn silence ensues; the horns only wait for the shot to be fired to

sound the _hallali_. The dogs make way in order to let the sportsman

advance; the boar draws back a little, and then making a bound recovers

all his strength for a rush upon his enemy. Woe to the man who misses

him! the boar will give him no quarter. But the sportsman waits for him

very quietly, and when he is only two paces from him plants a bullet

between his eyes, which lays him dead. The notes of the _hallali_ awake

the echoes: never had a hunt been crowned by finer results. The setting

sun lighted up the scene, which transpired just below the Château

de Montmort, scarcely half a mile off, and the ladies assembled on

the terrace of the old château of Sully waved their handkerchiefs in

congratulation to the fortunate sportsmen.

The foregoing narrative furnishes a good idea of the ordinary method of

hunting the wild-boar on horseback in the Champagne, a method which,

though offering at times varying details, arising from the size of the

animal pursued and the number and strength of the hounds engaged in the

chase, presents, on the whole, a general resemblance to the description

just given.

Some years back boars were far from numerous in the Champagne, hiding

themselves, moreover, in inaccessible positions far away in the woods,

so that it was necessary to cover a larger extent of ground in order to

sight a recent trail. Latterly, however, these animals have multiplied

considerably, each sow having seven or eight young ones at a litter,

and littering three times a year. In the forests around Reims and

Epernay twelve, and even fifteen, boars have been killed during a

single hunt. It not unfrequently happens that a herd of fifty, and even

a hundred, boars are encountered together, when a veritable massacre

often ensues, if the hunting-party only comprises a sufficient number

of guns.

The victims include at times some sows with young grice, which the

hunters frequently try to bring up. One of these little animals, who

had been named 'Snow' from having been captured one day when the snow

was on the ground, followed his owner about everywhere like the most

faithful poodle. His master would often take him into the wood and

simulate a hunt with his dogs. Snow, however, possessed vices as well

as virtues, and one of his habits was an extremely disagreeable one.

Like the rest of his species, he was very fond of rolling himself

in the mire, and, on returning home, would proceed to clean himself

by rubbing unconcernedly against the dresses of the ladies of the

house. One Sunday his master had taken him out for a walk, and as

they returned home they passed the church, which the ladies of the

locality, arrayed in their richest attire, were just leaving. During

his walk Snow had taken two or three mud-baths, and, on meeting the

fair devotees of Avize, he thought the occasion a propitious one for

cleansing himself. He at once put the idea into practice, employing

the silk dresses of the ladies for the purpose. The children who

accompanied them were greatly terrified, and rushed shrieking into the

adjoining houses, pursued by the gambolling boar, who seemed to greatly

enjoy the panic he had caused. As La Fontaine has remarked,

'Rien que la mort n'était capable

D'expier son forfait.'

So, after such an offence, poor Snow was sentenced to undergo capital

punishment, and expiated by death his want of regard for the silk

attire of the fair sex.

Another boar named 'Scotsman,' and belonging to the same sportsman, was

also an amusing fellow. He would stretch himself out in the sun of an

afternoon as majestically as the Sultan on his divan, whilst a hen with

whom he had contracted a tender friendship kindly relieved him of his

parasites.

A gentleman of the same district owns two enormous sows, which follow

him like greyhounds whenever he rides out. When a friend asks him to

step indoors and to refresh or rest himself, he replies: 'I must beg

you to excuse me; I have with me _Catherine_ and _Rigolette_, who might

inconvenience you.' The friend looks round to see who these interesting

young people may be, and his surprise may be imagined when two big

swine familiarly place their forepaws upon his shoulders.

Several sportsmen of the Champagne possess packs of hounds, and the

true boar-hound, the 'dog of black St. Hubert breed,' is really a

magnificent animal, with his long pendant ears, his open chest, and

broad-backed body. Hounds of the La Vendée and Poitou breeds are

also used at boar-hunts. Dogs, though they may be of excellent race,

require, however, skilful training before they will hunt the boar. It

is necessary they should see several boars killed ere they will venture

to tackle this formidable enemy, of which the dog is instinctively

afraid. House-dogs, curs, and terriers will at times pursue the boar

admirably, and prolong his standing for hours without approaching

within range of the beast's tusks, whilst animals of a higher spirit

will allow themselves to be ripped up alive, or, if they escape, will

not dare to again approach their foe after a first repulse.

Since boars became so numerous in the Champagne they have done

considerable damage to the crops, a corn or potato field being soon

devastated by them. At harvest-time a watch has often to be set for

them by night. A few years ago, at the moment of the vintage, people

were even compelled to light large fires near the vineyards to scare

away these dangerous neighbours.

The shooting season in the Champagne extends from the commencement of

September till the end of February; but boar-hunting is often prolonged

until the first of May, and occasionally _battues_ are organised during

the summer.

Other four-footed game tenanting the forests of the Champagne are

the roe-deer, in tolerable quantity; a few fallow-deer and stags and

wolves, which latter are still numerous, spite of the warfare carried

on against them. The roe-deer is hunted, like the boar, with hounds;

but this easy sport, which does not possess the attraction of danger,

is quite neglected when boars are numerous. The forests also give

shelter to hares in abundance, martins, wild-cats, and foxes, the

latter being rigorously destroyed on account of their depredations.

They are stifled by smoke in their holes, or else poisoned or taken in

traps.

Sportsmen are so numerous in every little village of the Marne, the

shooting license only costing five-and-twenty francs, that feathered

game has become very rare. The most remarkable specimen is the

caimpetière, or small bustard, which exists only in the Champagne and

Algeria, and the flesh of which is highly esteemed.

Partridges and hares would have entirely disappeared from the plains

were it not for the shelter which the vineyards afford them, for woe

to him who ventures to shoot among the vines! The vine is as sacred to

the Champenois as the mistletoe was to their Gallic forefathers. Great

severity is shown in respect to trespassers at the epoch when the vines

are sprouting, for each broken bud represents a bunch of grapes, which

its owner hoped might realise its weight in gold.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: THE VINEYARDS OF THE COTEAU DE SAUMUR.]