SCRIPT

It could be a river anywhere in the world. They have their source. They have their mouth. They flow through hamlets, through towns, through the countryside and industrial cities, through fields and through forests.

Standing on the River Meuse, Sedan is picturesque and historical, having no particular claim to fame, with the exception of the fact that it gave its name to the sedan chair.

Standing on the same river is Charleville, in the heart of the district known as Argonne, and the heart of Charleville is the Place Ducale.

The river is tranquil in the autumn sunshine. Sound does not seem to reach us here. When it does, it is muted and as we look from one bank to another, we see a different picture each time. Like a continuous piece of stage scenery which no man could have painted, and which only nature could endow with the colours that delight our eyes.

Friend of the great composer Chopin, George Sand lived in this house for 25 years.

Down below is the frontier of France and Belgium. Fumay is the border town. People who pass through find that formalities are hardly necessary, so well are they known. But frontiers are frontiers, and custom is custom.

Reflections in the water are ever present, until they are disturbed. And we raise our eyes to the famous forest of the Ardennes.

This forest is one of the most beautiful and most awe inspiring in this part of France, the country of the vines.

Trees of every kind abound. Some symmetrical, others grotesque. Some large, some small, but everywhere there are the trees. Here a sense of direction and a knowledge of the pathways is essential. You could become lost in its depths very soon, amongst the oppressive stillness of the trunks, branches and leaves.

But it is not always as still as it appears. It is the home of the wild boar. A dangerous, destructive and cunning animal. From time to time, hunting parties are made up in order to keep the bore down, so that the fertile crops that cover the countryside for miles around are not destroyed and ravaged.

When the hunters have departed and night falls, the cries of small animals caught by the boars who have so far escaped the hunter can clearly be heard.

Under an October sky, the trees of the Ardennes Forest stand just as they have for thousands of years. Timeless, ageless, and, so far as we can tell, destined to be there forever.

Vineyards stretch away into the distance, and amongst the vineyards and grapes are tiny churches, enchanting villages and clusters of cottages.

The vast plain of Reims, or Reims, as the French call it, is the centre of the cultivation of champagne grapes.

Ancient castles abound, owned by the champagne houses, whose names are world renowned.

Nothing has changed here for centuries. Life is peaceful and there are many who have never travelled further than the next village in the whole of their lifetime. They ask nothing more than to follow the pattern set by generations who have gone before. They are to be envied for their peace of mind and their undemanding tastes.

Using the primitive methods of their fathers and grandfathers, the ancient craft of barrel making is handed down from generation to generation.

Through the years, Valmy has been a focal point of wars.

To those who remember the words, 'lest we forget', this part of the country conjures up memories of the First World War, in which this beautiful countryside was all but destroyed in some of the fiercest battles of that time. And there were those who did not return. Their resting place is marked with thousands of simple crosses. Those who have not forgotten come here each year on a pilgrimage of remembrance.

Troy is a town of strange architectural characteristics with no less than nine magnificent churches. It is an unforgettable experience to walk around the quaint, unique streets.

Challans too, rewards the visitor with its completely different aspects. 90 miles east of Paris is the district called Champagne, an enormously wide plain on which grapes are grown of a quality which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Well-sheltered from northerly winds, the plants are preserved from spring frosts, which could destroy them.

Epernay, dating from the fifth century, is another famous name of the country of the vines. One of the largest centres of vine cultivation. Throughout its history, it has been destroyed in wars no less than 25 times. Napoleon used to come here to drink what he called glasses of stars from bottles of gaiety. In the gardens of one of the great champagne houses Napoleon walked with Josephine.

An old account book shows names which tell their own story.

The land which has been given over to the cultivation of the special champagne grape, is only 100th of the entire wine making district of France. Those bottles of bubbly owe their fame to the work of a monk who lived in the Abbey of Hauteville in the year 1670.

His name was Dom Pérignon, who lived at the time of Louis the 14th and never was there a man more skilful in the production and blending of wine. It was Dom Pérignon who found the causes which made wine sparkle.

He more or less invented the natural sparkling wines as we know them today. He blended together different grapes in order to secure the best from all of them, and it is said he had such a sensitive sense of taste that even when he was old and practically blind, he could tell by taste alone exactly in which district the grapes had been grown. He was able to hand down his secrets to those who followed him, and who today are artists in blending. Each of them responsible for each particular cuvée ,or blend, of their own champagne brand.

Before the 18th century, there was no sparkle in champagne. And when at last it did arrive, Voltaire wrote 'This wine, where sparkling bubbles dance, reflects the spirit of the people of France'.

In the champagne country the name of Dom Perignon will live forever.

There are three main growing areas; the mountains of Reims; the Marne Valley; and the Cote des Blancs. Grapes are ready to be picked when tests show they have the right amount of acid and sugar content.

From all the surrounding areas, particularly Lorraine, the harvesters come year after year, young and old, working together in the sunshine.

The vines are grown in lines. The shoots are tied to wires, which are supported by posts, and in a regularly closely planted field, there may be over 10,000 grape vines. Cultivation goes on throughout the year. Rain, fog, cold, or winds can, in a few hours, ruin the work of 12 months.

These plants are one year old. Sturdy, rapidly maturing, they will bear grapes with a high content of sugar to give an unmatched delicacy of taste. But the secret is in the soil. All the necessary minerals are contained within it, but above all the subsoil is chalk, which reflects the rays of the sun, giving maximum heat and light, without which the vines would not reach maturity.

That is why champagne grapes are different from all others. Champagne is made from a mixture of the juices of both black and white grapes. Sometimes white grapes alone are used for a champagne, which is not generally seen outside of France.

There are three groups; the gatherers who strip off the grapes; the carriers who take the baskets and empty them; and those whose job it is to examine and reject the grapes which may be too green, overripe or bruised.

Even during transportation, the utmost care must be used in the handling of the cut grapes.

This is a scene typical of harvest time in a village of the Champagne province. The grapes are brought as quickly as possible to the wine presses.

The juice of the grapes must not be too long in contact with the skins, or it becomes tainted and is of no use for good quality wine. The presses have very large surfaces built to exert pressure on tons of fruit at the same time. And these are able to extract in one pressing 572 gallons.

Bottles wait for time of turning. Each day, the bottles are shaken slightly and twisted sharply from one side to the other. The sediment collects in the neck of the bottle. The bottle is gradually tilted until ultimately it stands on its head.

One of these men can turn 30,000 bottles a day. Twisting and turning completed, the bottles remain upside down for varying periods of time.

Sediment has formed under the cork. The next process is the loosening of the cap. The natural gas forces it out of the neck together with the accumulated sediment, leaving the wine completely transparent.

Wine has been lost and it's replaced by a mixture of older wine and cane sugar. This mixture, in different proportions, determines whether the champagne is blue, sec, demi-sec or sweet.

No gas must ever escape and the quality of the corks used is very important. The bottles are hermetically sealed. Those to be opened within a short time will not have the same corks as those which are destined to remain in the cellars for several years more.

Twisted wire ensures that the cork will not be blown out by the pressure in the bottle. On the left is Champagne which is not fermented. The other has fermented in the natural sparkle is plainly seen. And this is the pouring end we all know.

This is the city of Reims. We cannot leave without looking at the magnificent cathedral, which has withstood the onslaught of two wars in the last half century. Look and marvel at this wondrous work, standing there in all its fabulous glory.

Reims Cathedral makes a memorable conclusion to our visit to the country of the vines.

[The End]