The Champagne Country. By Robert Tomes. (Roatledge.)—As American Consul at
Rheims for nearly two years, Mr. Tomes had good opportunities of tasting champagne, witnessing the process, and learn- ing the secrets of its manufacture. We have read before—in one of Mr. Mailgram's books, we think--the account of tho straining and mixing, the tilting and clearing, tho corking and riveting which are so many steps in the concoction of the sparkling liquor. We have seen pictures of the champagne cork as it appears before it is subjected to the pressure of a heavy weight above and the straggling gas below, before knobs burst out as the string cuts into its smooth surface, and before its lower extremity swells out lovingly to sip the wine in the neck of the bottle. Mr. Tomes says that a whole colony of Spanish corkcutters has settled at Rheims for the purpose of supplying suitable corks, and that each good cork costs the manufacturer 1d. It costs the consumer much more, but then it is the pop that is so well-worth the money. The right way of tasting champagne, it seems, is to pour a drop or two into the palm of the hand, and after rubbing the palm to apply the nose to it. If the chathpagne is good it will have an aromatic smell ; if bad, a mixed odour of sugar and spirits. However, according to Mr. Tomes, it is use- less going to Rheims in search of good champagne, as foreign agents and travellers have a monopoly of it. If so, Mr. Tomea's mythical Englishman who came to the hotel at Rheims, and drank through the
list of champagnes in three days at four bottles a day, might as well have stayed at home. We confess that we have more faith in the story of Mr. Tomes's countryman who, having read that Pitt and Wilber- force studied French at Rheims, resolved to follow their example. He came to Rheims with the firm intention of remaining six months, but finding the place too dull for him left in six hours.
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