CHEAP CHAMPAGNE.
A prospectus from an ingenious and enterprising firm of Belgian chemists relative to the manufacture of champagne has been privately circulated. Messrs Lahaut and Co., of Liege, offer for the small sum of 100 francs to reveal the secret of producing "grand Mousseux, first quality, the fabric price being only from seven to eight centimes per bottle" — in other words, the wine costs only f d. a quart ; but as it can hardly be supplied to customers " in their own jugs," the bottling, with corks and tin foil, raises its cost as an article of commerce to something like 2id. a bottle. The estimate is thus made up : — raw materials, 60 fr. ; corks, tin, twine, 15 fr. ; wages, one days' work, 5 fr. ; 1000 bottles, 16 fr. the hundred, 160 fr. ; total, 240 fr. per thousand bottles. "In selling the thousand bottles at one franc each, one realises a profit of 760 francs." The composition of the wine is, of course, Messrs Lahaut's secret ; all they reveal is that it is "produced by infusion, is clear, very fermenting, has the taste of the true champagne wine, and betters in getting old." " The arrears of this production," they add in their odd English, " can be transformed in excellent vinegar, indicating 25 to 26 degrees, capable to ri valise with that of Orleans."
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Bibliographic details
Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 538, 29 June 1869, Page 4
Word Count
223CHEAP CHAMPAGNE. Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 538, 29 June 1869, Page 4
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