Le Pressurage

Catalog Level
Items (Cataloging Focus)

Title Proper/Title Text
Le Pressurage

Creator Description
Photograph by Ém. Choque, printed by Épernay

Author/Creator Identity
Choque, Ém.

Name of Publisher/Creator Identity
Épernay

Date of Publication/Creation Date
1911 ca.

Dimensions Description
14x9 cm

Inscription Language
French (Language)

Related Built Environment Objects

• Moët & Chandon Kiosk

Descriptive Note Text

This black-and-white postcard shows the process of "pressurage," or "pressing," by which the maximum quantity of juice and the right amount of structuring and coloring compounds needed to produce the desired wine, is completed. 

A large modern press dominates the right half of the scene. It is built on a heavy timber frame with a tall central post. Faint lettering on that post appears to read “1910." The press has a large spoked flywheel on the far right, a geared screw mechanism with a handwheel above, and a small maker’s plate on the upper beam. The square press bed is heaped with crushed grapes, and slatted wooden boards are laid across the top. Wooden shovels and rakes lean against its base. About ten diorama mannequins in caps, work shirts, and long white aprons are posed at their tasks. At left, one worker bends over a tub beside a mechanical pump, and a flexible hose runs from the pump up the wall, presumably carrying the juice. A second man works the pump’s mechanism. In the center, two men in aprons stand by a stack of wicker baskets, one holding a long-handled tool. At right, three men lean over the press bed to work the grape mass, and another figure stands back by the flywheel.

In the foreground, we see a large wicker harvest basket full of grapes, stenciled “MOËT & CHANDON” with a star. 

This card was a companion to the card depicting the "pressurage 1710". Taken together, the two cards set up a deliberate “then and now” story. The 1710 scene shows monks, a timber press, and barefoot porters. The 1910 scene shows mechanized pressing, pumps, and a uniformed workforce. The message is two centuries of continuity under the same house, ending in industrial modernity. 

Current Repository/Geographic Location
Cristina Della Coletta Private Collection (San Diego, USA)

Current Repository Numbers
CDC-PC-MOCP-0003