2-913-855 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Pressoir of the Chateau Lafitte near Bordeaux, 1854. 'The next and final process which the juice of the grape undergoes is that of fermentation. After the vats have stood some twenty or four-and-twenty hours, the fermentation commences. The doors of the cellars are then looked, to prevent the approach of children and other inquisitive persons; the atmosphere around the fermenting vats being fatal to human life, from the quantity of gas with which it is impregnated. The stalks, skins, and leaves, which fall to the bottom of the tubs, are taken out and squeezed a second time, when they produce a bad, bitter wine, which is sold cheap to the peasantry. Nor is the residue even of this second distillation, allowed to be wasted. It is soaked in water, to produce piquette - a vile concoction, sold at one or two sous a bottle, and honoured with the name of wine'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.