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years in bottle will make it a pleasant enough wine for any one to like.

Formerly, every Bordeaux house of note that shipped to England added large quantities of hermitage, which gave the appearance of body, but deadened

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Voyez à Saint-Lambert cette petite tour:
C'est là qu'est le fameux domaine de Latour.
C'est le vin le plus riche et le plus coloré
Et pourtant il est fin, vif, délicat, ambré.
Quand il est dépouillé de son tannin par l'âge,
D'œnantine et d'alcool c'est un noble assemblage.

the flavour; and, after a few years in bottle, the wine became of a brownish hue, hard and flavourless.

Shipments are now much purer, but claret will never be appreciated while the fear of a deposit

exists. Except rhenish, no pure natural wine will preserve its qualities longer than médoc, if properly attended to; but I doubt if it be judicious to keep even the fullest-bodied vintage above three years in cask, and of course light kinds require less time to ripen. Three years, with the usual racking, will be long enough for even the stoutest growth to have deposited its coarse parts, while retaining its generous vinosity. No time can be specified when it will be in the best state for bottling and use, this being mainly dependent on its birthplace, constitution, and management.

If it is intended to sell it in bottle, it is fined with whites of eggs, and in about four weeks it may be bottled.

But I repeat, no specific rules as to time can be laid down; for one wine may be light and unfit for keeping long, especially in wood, and ought to be bottled within a year, while another may be a stout kind, with much unfermented saccharine, requiring several years to develope its inherent qualities, and to get rid of the coarse constituents by the natural process of fermentation; which never ceases in any vegetable matter, but proceeds more rapidly when in large bulk than when in a small quantity and space. Although it is usual to fine, I believe it would be better to give such wines as claret, or others, not very strong-bodied, time to become bright without fining, as this carries down mechanically, and attracts chemically, much that forms the bouquet, the softness, and delicacy which are so agreeable.

CHÂTEAU DE LAGRANGE.

255

I remember, some years ago, being struck with the truth of the opinions I have just expressed. Being on a visit to a friend in the Médoc, I accompanied him to dine with the proprietor of Château Lagrange, formerly one of the Ministers of Louis

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Vous voyez près d'ici le château de Lagrange.
Quatrième d'abord, une opulente main,

Pour un titre plus haut, changea son parchemin.

Philippe. There was a handsome dinner, and the choicest wines. The servant, in filling the glasses, always added, 'Château Larose,' 'Château Lagrange,' 'Château Lafitte,' &c., naming the vintages. Some of them, from their great age, had lost much of their flavour. All were decanted, which ought

never to be neglected; and upon this important point some remarks are offered under the head of Decanting.

In olden times the cultivation of the vine was carried on in the most slovenly way. There were no trellises, no training, no engrafting, no seeking for the best vines, and no studying the finest results from a judicious planting of the best varieties, and the blending of several growths to produce an improved whole. These are the results of experience, science, and capital. Good roads are also a very modern invention; and it is within the recollection of men still living that the horse and pack-saddle was the usual conveyance even in this country; and when such is the case, heavy bulky articles can be carried only by rivers. Were it not for the Douro we could receive very little port; and were not Xerez and Port St. Mary so near the Bay of Cadiz, we could not import much sherry.

Owing to railways, Bordeaux merchants can now easily procure wine from every part of France; and an immense proportion of so-called claret is brought from the banks of the Rhône, from the Herault, Roussillon, &c., which are blended in more or less quantities with bordelais, and sold as such, with almost any name that is desired.

If buyers demand Lafitte, Pichon de Longueville, St. Estèphe, &c., there are very few indeed who will decline the order on the plea that they have none, but will feel themselves justified in executing it by

CHÂTEAU PICHON DE LONGUEVILLE.

257

sending the best they can at the specified price, and invoicing it according to the growth ordered.

It would be much better if no names were required, as they are rarely to be relied upon, and

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Pichon de Longueville, en face de Latour,
Est élégant, musqué comme un homme de cour.
Dans son parfum, son ton, enfin dans tout son être,
Il a l'étincelant éclat d'un petit-maître :

Et, quoiqu'il soit léger, coquet et sémillant,
Son esprit est solide autant qu'il est brillant.

often mislead; for, not unfrequently, what are considered second growths, prove superior in some years to those of high repute. Such was the case in 1834, when the Château Margaux proved a failure; but, although averaging yearly about 400 hogsheads, it

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