Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

There is no doubt but that the Anglo-Saxons drank to excess, and thought no shame of it. Many times in Beowulf are we told of their being dragged from the mead-benches by their enemies and slaughtered, and in a fragment of an Anglo-Saxon poem on Judith we read:—

“Then was Holofernes
Enchanted with the wine of men:
In the hall of the guests
He laughed and shouted,
He roared and dinn’d,
That the children of men might hear afar,
How the sturdy one
Stormed and clamoured,
Animated and elate with wine
He admonished amply
Those sitting on the bench
That they should bear it well.
So was the wicked one all day,
The lord and his men,
Drunk with wine;
The stern dispenser of wealth;
Till that they swimming lay
Over drunk.
All his nobility
As they were death slain,
Their property poured about.
So commanded the lord of men,
To fill to those sitting at the feast,
Till the dark night
Approached the children of men.”

Even the clergy and monks drank probably more than was good for them, for a priest was forbidden by law to eat or drink at places where ale was sold. But that did not prevent their drinking at home; their benefactors provided well for that, as one instance will show. Ethelwold allowed the Monastery of Abingdon a great bowl, from which the drinking vessels of the brothers were filled twice a day. At Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, the Nativity and Assumption of the Virgin, on the festivals of Saints Peter and Paul, and all the other saints, they were to have wine, as well as mead, twice a day; and taking the number of Saints in the Anglo-Saxon Calendar, it must have gone hard with them, if this was not almost an every-day occurrence.

The Northern nations did not lose their love of drink as time rolled on, as we may find in the pages of Olaus Magnus. They drank wine, but owing to the extreme cold it was not of native production, but imported. In this illustration we see the vessel that has brought it, and the bush outside, denoting that it was to be sold. They got it from Spain, Italy, France, and Germany, but he says that the wine most in repute was a Spanish wine called Bastard, which Shakspeare mentions more than once, as (1 _Henry IV._ act ii. sc. 4) Prince Henry relating his adventures with a drawer, says, “Anon, anon, sir! Score a pint of Bastard in the Half Moon.”

He gives receipts for making Hydromel, or Mead, which was to be made of one part honey, and four of boiling water, to be well stirred, boiled, and skimmed. Hops were then to be added, then casked, and brewers’ yeast added. Then to be strained, and it was fit for drinking in eight days. He tells a pathetic story of King Hunding, who being sorely grieved at the loss of his brother-in-law, Gutthorm, called all his nobility around him to a great feast, and had a large tun, filled with hydromel, placed in the middle of the hall. When his guests were sufficiently inebriated, he threw himself into the liquor, and died sweetly.

Beer had they, made of malt and hops, and he gives various methods of brewing, and also a list of divers beers and their medicinal qualities.

He also gives an illustration of various drinking vessels then (16th cent.) in use among the Danes and Swedes, where is here reproduced. Here we see some plain, others ornamental with runes, and some with very curious handles. He says they were mostly of brass, copper, or iron, because in that cold climate the liquor they held had to be warmed over the fire.

An old translation of a portion of his _Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus_ gives the following account “Of the manner of drinking amongst the Northern People.”

“It will not displease curious Readers to hear how the custom is of drinking amongst the Northern People. First, they hold it Religion to drink the healths of Kings and Princes, standing, in reverence of them; and here they will, as it were, sweat in the contention, who shall at one or two, or more draughts, drink off a huge bowl. Wherefore they seem to sit at Table as if they had Crowns on their heads, and to drink in a certain kind of vessel; which, it may be, may cause men that know it not, to admire it. But that were more admirable to see the servants go in a long train, in troops, as Pastours of Harts with horns, that they may drink up those Cups full of beer to the Ghests. And, not content with these Ceremonies, they will strive to shew their Sobriety, by setting such a high Cup full of Beer upon their naked heads, and dance and turn round with it; in like manner they deliver other Cups which they bring in both hands to the Ghests to drink off, at equall draughts, which are full of Wine, Ale, Mede, Metheglin, or new Wine.”

He winds up with a moral dissertation on the punishment of drinkers, and, after detailing the various effects of alcohol on different races, as rendering the Gaul petulant, the German quarrelsome, the Goth obstreperous, and the Finn lachrymose, he suggests that drunkards should be seated on a sharp wedge, compelled to drink a mighty horn of beer, and then be hauled up and down by a rope.

J. A.

WINES.

Definition—Various Meanings of Wine—Alcohol—Varieties
of Wine—Miller—Professor Mulder—Origin of Wine—Brook
of Eshcol—Strabo and Reland—Francatelli’s Order of
Wines—Classification of M. Batalhai Reis.

In the matter of wine, as in that of beer, it is perhaps as well to commence with a dictionary description or definition. Ogilvie declares it to be the “fermented juice of the grape, or fruit of the vine.” It is, however, also the juice of certain fruits, prepared in imitation of wine obtained from grapes, but distinguished by naming the source whence it is derived, as currant wine, gooseberry wine, etc.; and a third meaning of wine—a meaning with which we have happily little to do—is the effect of drinking wine in excess, or intoxication.[17]

Wines are practically distinguished by their colour, flavour, stillness or effervescence, and what is known as hardness or softness. The differences in quality depend on the vines, the soils, the exposure of the vineyards, the treatment of the grapes, and the mode of manufacture. The alcohol[18] contained is the leading characteristic. In strong ports and sherries this varies from about 16 to 25 per cent. It is about 7 per cent. in claret, hock, and other so-called light wines. Wine containing about 13 per cent. of alcohol may be assumed to be _fortified_, as it is called, with brandy or other spirit.

The varieties of wine produced are said to be “almost endless.” This great number of wines is in some measure owing to an interesting fact mentioned by Miller in his _Organic Chemistry_ (3rd ed. p. 187), who tells us that a particular variety of grape, when grown upon the Rhine, furnishes a species of hock; the same grape, when raised in the valley of the Tagus, yields Bucellas, in which the palate of a connoisseur may possibly detect the flavour of hock; whilst in the island of Madeira the same grape produces the wine known as _Sercial_, which, though generally allowed to be a delicious wine, has suggested, it seems, to no skilled palate the flavour either of Bucellas or of hock.

It would therefore be more logical to commence an article on wines with an article on the grapes from which they are produced, but we fear it would be far less interesting. Of the chemical composition of wine, and of its _uses in health and disease_, on which so many books from the days of old have been already written, we shall, in accordance with our preface, say nothing at all, or very little. Every person who feels himself or herself interested in this latter matter may learn as much as he or she will from the pages of the _Lancet_, while Professor Mulder has probably written enough about the former to satisfy the most anxious student.

The origin of most things is obscure. Treatises have been composed about that of wine. We have no intention of reproducing aught of them in the present work. Let us be content to suppose that wine had its origin, again like most things, somewhere at some time in the East. The date of its introduction into Greece is no more known than that of its introduction into Italy. A traditional credit is due to Saturn, to Noah, and to Bacchus as early wine manufacturers. Certainly in Palestine they had the advantage of fine grapes. On the well-known historic occasion of Moses sending men to search the land of Canaan, in the time of the first ripe fruit, we learn that when they came unto the brook of Eshcol, they cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes and “bare it between two upon a staff.” It has been perhaps somewhat hastily assumed that the fruit was therefore necessarily of a large size. There may have been other reasons for this proceeding than an enormity of weight. But if, as is generally imagined, these grapes were unusually fine and large, wine makers would be clearly benefited thereby. In support of this interpretation of the passage in Numbers, Strabo has declared that some of the grapes in the Holy Land measured two feet in length; and Reland has not hesitated to declare, as if unwilling to be outdone by Strabo, that some bunches are of ten pounds weight.

This prefatory matter could make no pretence to completeness if it omitted an instruction for the service of wines, denoting the order in which they should be drank at the dinner table, which has already been given by an adept. Whether the matter is more admirable, or the style, it is difficult to determine.

“I would recommend,” says Francatelli, “all _bon vivants_ desirous of testing and thoroughly enjoying a variety of delectable wines, without being incommoded by the diversity of those introduced for their learned degustation, to bear in mind that they should be drunk in the following order;” viz., “When it happens that oysters preface the dinner, a glass of Chablis or Sauterne is their most proper accompaniment.”

After soup of any kind, genuine old Madeira, East India Sherry, or Amontillado are recommended as “welcome stomachics.” But you are to avoid, as you value your health, drinking punch after Turtle soup, especially Roman punch. With fish, a large variety of wines, such as Pouilly, Meursault, Montrachet, Barsac, and generally all dry white wines, is allowed. With the entrées you are permitted to drink any variety of Bordeaux or Burgundy.

Second course and dessert wines are given at too great a length to admit of reproduction. About these a “question of the highest importance” arises as to which should be preferred. But here Francatelli remembers a fact which might have spared him his vast labour on this service of wines: that “it is difficult, not to say impossible, to lay down rules for the guidance of the palate.” The sanguine person, we are told, will prefer the _genuine_ Champagne; the phlegmatic, Sherry or Madeira. The splenetic and melancholy man will be prone to select Roussillon and Burgundy. The bilious will imbibe Bordeaux. In few words, “Burgundy is aphrodisiac, Champagne is captious, Roussillon restorative, and Bordeaux stomachic.” By careful attention to the foregoing remarks, the reader will happily be preserved from any serious mistake in the matter of his dinner. But other meals must also be taken into consideration, about which Francatelli preserves a Sibylline and mysterious silence. For instance, luncheon. We learn, however, from another source that there are luncheon sherries and dessert sherries. With lunch the brown, rich, and full-bodied Raro may be suitably drunk; but the pale Solera and the soft yet nutty Oloroso should make their appearance at dessert alone.

M. Batalhai Reis, Consul for Portugal at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in a report on the wine trade of England, has troubled himself thus in the interests of posterity to classify the wines of the world.

CLASS I.—TABLE WINES.

Alcohol and sugar imperceptible. Taste acid and astringent.

Division A. Red.

Group 1. _Acid._ Examples: Inferior Bordeaux and Burgundies, Wines from North of Portugal.

Group 2. _Astringent._ Examples: Superior Bordeaux and Burgundies, Collares from Portugal.

Division B. White.

Group 1. Simple Flavour. Example: Rhine Wines.

Group 2. Complex Flavour. Example: Bucellas of Portugal.

CLASS II.—TRANSITION WINES.

Alcohol and sugar perceptible. Taste astringent. Flavour complex.

Division A. Red. Examples: Many Spanish and Portuguese wines.

Division B. White. Examples: Many Spanish and Portuguese wines.

CLASS III.—GENEROUS WINES.

1st Family. Madeira type. Wines of the Canaries, Azores, Lisbon; Carcanellas, Sherry, Marsala, and Cyprian wines.

2nd Family. Port type.

3rd Family. Tokay, Malaga.

4th Family. Château Yquem, Johannisberg, Steinberg.

CLASS IV.—SPARKLING WINES.

Group A. Natural.

Group B. Artificial.

This division of the wines of the world is presented to the reader as a literary curiosity. It is at once simple and scientific. In a word, no book on wines can be considered complete without it. In the succeeding pages Wines as Beers are, for convenience of reference, arranged after the alphabetical order of their countries.

AFRICA: Constantias—Rota—Mascara. AMERICA:
Catawbas—Muscatel—Chacoli—Mosto. AUSTRALIA:
Carbinet—Kaludah—Verdeilho—Conatto. CANARIES:
Vidueño—Sack. ENGLAND: Home-made Wines.

AFRICA.

Of this country the most important wines of the present are, perhaps, Pontac, Hanepoot, Frontignac, and Drakenstein. On the wines of the Cape of Good Hope, Dr. Edward Kretschmar is a great authority. _Kokwyn_, made from Muscat grapes, resembles Malaga. The best dry white wines, called Cape Hocks, are produced in the village of _Paarl_. The _Constantias_, so called from the wife of the Dutch governor, Van der Stell, are of three kinds. These excellent sweet wines are too frequently falsified and adulterated before reaching the palate of the English consumer. A red wine, called _Rota_, is made at Stellenbosch. Cape Madeira is a boiled and mixed wine. Stein wine is excellent when old. Red Cape, when drunk in the country, is a “sound, good wine,” says Cyrus Redding.[19] The wine of Morocco is chiefly made by the Jews; it is light, acid, and will not keep. In Tetuan a wine is made nearly equal, according to Cyrus Redding, to the Spanish wine of Xeres. Palm wines are, of course, common. The people of Cacongo prepare a wine called _Embeth_, and those of Benin _Pali_ and _Pardon_. The Caffres make a wine called _Pombie_, from millet or Guinea corn.[20] In Congo they drink a wine called _Milaffo_, which will not keep beyond three days.

Of the many wines produced at Algiers, the best is probably the white wine of _Mascara_, situated on a slope of the plane of Egbris, 1,800 feet above the sea level. The Arabic name of the place is a corruption of _Umm-al-asakir_, or the Mother of Soldiers. The wine is the principal industry of Algiers. It is eagerly bought up by agents of Bordeaux houses. Wines of inferior quality are made at Boue, Tlemcen, Medeah, and Milianah. The wines of _Oran_ are said to resemble the small wines of Languedoc. In ancient times the valley of the Nile produced the wines of Mareotis, Mendes, Koptos, and Arsinoe, and its Delta the liqueur wine of Sebenytus.

AMERICA.

The first attempt to cultivate the vine in North America was made, we are informed by Drs. Thudichum and Dupré, in 1564. Some of its best known wines at the present time are the _Catawbas_[21] (still and sparkling), red _Aliso_ and _Angelico_. Wine has been made from the vines on the Ohio, said to resemble Bordeaux in quality. In several parts of Mexico, as at Passo del Norte, at Zalaya, and at St. Louis de la Paz, wines are made of tolerable flavour. The red wine of California is agreeable. In Florida, according to Sir John Hawkins, wine was made from a grape like that of Orleans, as far back as 1564. The island of Cuba possesses a “light, cool, sharp wine,” according to Redding.

In South America wine was made long ago in Paraguay. A sweet wine resembling Malaga is made at Mendoza, at the foot of the Andes, and is found to improve by transportation some thousand miles across the Pampas. The wines made in Chili and Peru are white and red. The _Muscatel_ of Chili is considered to be especially good.[22] The white wine of _Nasca_ is inferior. The wine of _Pisco_ is highly esteemed. Though the white is held by connoisseurs to be superior to the red wine of Chili, yet it is little drunk in the cradle of its production. _Chacoli_ is a wine commonly patronised by labourers. The _Mosto_ of _Concepcion_ differs from _Mosto asoleado_ by the grapes of the latter being sundried for some twenty days.

AUSTRALIA.

Australian wines are pretty well known from our tradesmen’s circulars. For instance, there is the _Gouais_, the _Carbinet_, a soft wine like Burgundy, the _Mataro_, the _Sauvignon_. There is that “elegant dinner wine,” _Kaludah_, the Singleton Red or White _Hermitage_, “noted for its refinement”; the _Tintara Ferruginous_, of “immense power and generous quality”; the _Tokay Imperatrice_; and the _Alexandrian Moscat_, both poetically described as “abounding in memories of the sun which begot them,” and possessing the “most beautiful bouquet that can be imagined,” with a flavour “resembling the first crush in the mouth of three or four fine ripe Muscatel grapes—the large white oval ones—covered with a light bloom, and attached to a clean, thin stalk.”

Drs. Thudichum and Dupré, who are themselves indebted to a publication by Toovey, have given an excellent description of these wines. _Verdeilho_ is a wine, like Madeira, of delicate aroma and a full body; _Frontignac_ is described as a thin white wine with a slight taste of the Muscat grape, being a fictitious elderflower flavour; _Malbee_ is described as made from “claret” grape; _Tavoora_ is described as a pure “port” of 1859; _Tintara_, a red, clear wine; _Adelaide_, a pure white wine, mainly from _Riessling_ grapes with a _soupçon_ of Muscatel, “a little too fiery for greatness.” _Wattlesville_ is an acidulous white wine. The poor and acid _Chasselas_, the strong-scented _Highercombe_, said to resemble good Sauterne, with many varieties of so-called claret, as _Emu_, _St. Hubert_, and so-called Hock, as _Heron_ and _Royal Reserve_, are also imported from Australia. The _Conatto_ is a rich liqueur with a flavour of Curaçoa and Rum Shrub combined.

CANARIES.

The Canary Islands have long been celebrated for their wines. The favourite Teneriffe wine is _Vidueño_ or _Vidonia_. Canary _sack_ is supposed to have been made from the _Malvasia_ sweet grape, whereas the modern sack is dry (_sec_). The best vineyards are at Orotava, S. Ursula, Ycod de los Vinos, Buenavista, and Valle de Guerra.

ENGLAND.

British made wines hold no very high rank. A cheap foreign manufacture is, according to some of their vendors, gradually ousting them from the market. But at one time they formed a part of the education of the good housewives of Great Britain. Home wines were chiefly made from plums, apples, gooseberries, bilberries, elderberries, blackberries, currants (red and black), raspberries, cherries, cowslips, parsnips, raisins, greengages, damsons, ginger, oranges, and lemons. Less commonly and in former times we had wines from mulberries, quinces, peaches, apricots, and from the sap of the birch, beech, sycamore, and other trees. Years ago “sweets” or home-made wines were sent from Scotland and Ireland, such as ginger wine and so-called cherry and raspberry whiskies. The flowers of meadow-sweet (_Spiræa ulmaria_) yield a fragrant distilled water, which is said to be used by wine merchants to improve the flavour of their wines. In a little work by Mr. G. Vine on Home-made Wines, the reader will find numerous receipts how to make and keep these wines, with observations on gathering and preparing the fruit, fining, bottling, and storing. A correspondent of the _Gardeners’ Chronicle_ gives a receipt for _beer wine_, a beverage which has puzzled many connoisseurs. The curious may find it also quoted in Vine’s brochure.

The manufacture of home-made wines is familiar. An excellent wine is sometimes made from a mixture of the fruits above mentioned, as, for instance, that from gooseberries and currants. All home-made wines are prone to run into acetous fermentation without the addition of a due proportion of pure spirits. Plums or sloes, with other ingredients, can, it is said, be turned into excellent fruity port, the “very choice” kind, silky, soft, and full bodied. A wine said to be agreeable is also made from the red berries of the mountain ash or service-tree (_pyrus aucuparia_). Birch wine is still made in some parts of England. Morewood gives a long receipt for its manufacture. Like most other wines, it improves greatly with age. This is especially true of parsnip wine. From potatoes which have suffered a sort of malting from frost, a tolerable wine has been obtained. It is said—but there are people who will say anything—that a great portion of the champagne drunk in this country is made from sugar and green gooseberries. Rhubarb wine has been affirmed to be synonymous with British champagne. The reader anxious on this subject may consult Dr. Shannon’s elaborate _Treatise on Brewing_. Cowslip wine is all too like some of the Muscatel wines of Southern France, and the wine of the _Sambucus nigra_ has been more than once, through some unlucky accident, confused with Frontignac.

FRENCH WINES.

The Great Makers of Champagne—Its
Manufacture—Bottling—Treatment—Bordeaux or Claret—Its early
Use and Name—Whence it comes—The different Growths—White Wines
of the District—Burgundy—Different Growths and Qualities—Other
Wines.

CHAMPAGNE.

Reims and Epernay are the two great centres of the Champagne district; but Reims, from its size and antiquity, must be considered its capital. Here are the establishments of Pommery & Greno, Ernest Moy, Théophile Roederer & Co., Louis Roederer & Co., Henriot & Co., Permet & Fils, De St. Marceaux & Co., Werlé & Co. (successors to the renowned Veuve Cliquot), Heidsieck & Co., De Lossy & Co., G. H. Mumm & Co., Jules Mumm & Co., Piper & Co., and many others of lesser note.

The wines of this district have, for centuries, been famous, and especially beloved of kings and potentates. Our Henry VIII. had a vineyard at Ay, and, in order to know that he got the genuine article, he had a superintendent of his own on the spot. Francis I., Leo X., and Charles V. of Spain, all had vineyards in the Champagne district. But the wine they obtained thence was not sparkling: that was to come later, and is said to have been the invention of Dom Petrus Perignon, who died in 1715, monk of, and cellarer to, the Royal Monastery of St. Peter’s at Hautvilliers. He was especially happy in his blends of wine, and having found out the secret of highly charging the wine, naturally, with carbonic acid, is said to have introduced the cork and string necessary to confine it in its bottles.

Champagne Wine owes its goodness, in the first place, to the soil on which it is grown, which is unique in its mixture of chalk, silica, light clay, and oxide of iron; in the second, to the very great care and delicate manipulation which the wine receives. Every doubtful grape is discarded, and the carts conveying the grapes from the vineyard go at a most funereal pace, so that none of their precious contents should get bruised; for if these little grapes (for they are little larger than currants) get at all crushed, or partly fermented, in carriage, the fruit is rendered absolutely worthless for Champagne purposes.

Very great care, too, is exercised in the pressing. The grapes are laid in carefully stacked heaps upon the floor of the press, where they are left for a time, and then the first gentle, but firm, sustained squeeze is applied. The juice thus extracted is the cream of the grape, and is used only for the finest brands. There are six of these squeezes made, each more powerful than the last; and the result of each is, of course, inferior in quality to its predecessor, till the sixth, called the _rébêche_,[23] is reached, which produces a coarse wine, reckoned only fit to be given to the workmen.

The must begins to ferment more or less quickly, according to the temperature, in the casks, at the end of ten or twelve hours, and the process continues for a considerable time, during which the colour changes from pale pink to a light straw tint. About three months are allowed to elapse, when the fermentation stops through repeated rackings and the cold of the season.

And now the real trouble of the Champagne manufacturer begins. First, there is the blend, which varies in the case of each manufacturer. The produce of the different vineyards is mixed in enormous vats, according to the recipe in vogue in the particular establishment, and to this mixture is added, if necessary, a proportion of some old wine of a superior vintage. A most subtle, carefully educated, and exquisite taste is required to discern when the wine, in this crude state, has acquired the proper flavour and bouquet. Then comes the important point of effervescence—a source of much anxiety to the manufacturer, for the extremest care is required to regulate the quantity of carbonic acid gas, so that there shall be neither too little nor too much. For if there be too little, the wine will be flat; and if there be too much, the bottles will burst by thousands. An instrument, called a _glucometer_, or _saccharometer_, is used to measure the amount of saccharine matter in the wine at this point; and if the necessary standard be not reached, the deficiency is supplied by the purest sugar candy. To the ordinary palate, at this stage it differs in no respect from still white wine, of somewhat tart flavour, and is now drawn off into other casks to undergo the next treatment in the process; viz., the fining, to make it bright, and remove what is known to connoisseurs of wine as “ropiness.”

The wine is now ready for bottling, and the danger to be avoided is the bursting of the bottles, for the pressure of the gas is tremendous; hence it is that the champagne bottle is the most solid and massive in use. The bottling takes place, as a rule, about eight months after the grapes have been first pressed, and the precautions against breakage are of the most minute description. The instant any symptoms of bursting display themselves, the wine has to be removed to a cooler temperature; but even with every precaution, the loss sustained by the bursting of bottles is often very serious indeed, sometimes to an almost ruinous extent. The risk of breakage is generally almost past by the end of October, and the bottles are then kept in the cellars for a period ranging from eighteen months to three years, according to the custom of the establishment.

But even now all is not over, for, during this period, a sediment, resulting from the fermentation of the wine, has been deposited, which must be removed before the wine is ready for consumption; and very troublesome work it is to get rid of this sediment. The bottles are placed in a slanting direction with the necks downward, and the angle of inclination is altered from time to time till they stand almost perpendicular, whilst every time the position is changed, the bottle is sharply twisted round, so that the sediment may not cling to the sides. Finally, the deposit collects in a ball in the neck of the bottle, from whence it is “disgorged”—literally blown out—when the original cork is removed. A temporary stopper is then inserted until the liqueur, which is to give the wine its distinctive character, dry or sweet, is introduced. This liquor consists of a preparation of the very finest sugar candy, the best Champagne, and the oldest and purest Cognac.

The next process is corking, and, as we all know, champagne corks are not as other corks. They are made larger than the vent of the bottle, and are soaked in water, and very often steamed. They are somewhat expensive, the best corks used costing about threepence each; but it is a very false economy to use common corks, for the gas would escape. The pliant cork is placed in a machine which pinches it and compresses it to the size of the aperture of the bottle, and holds it there till a twenty-pound weight is let drop, on the principle of a pile-driving hammer, and drives the cork in firmly. The powerful leverage used to bring down the edge of the cork for wiring and stringing, imparts the round-shaped top peculiar to champagne corks. The bottles, after being corked and wired, are allowed to rest for two or three months, in order that the wine and the liqueur may properly amalgamate, and are then tinselled and labelled, ready for the consumer; but some of the best wines are kept for years to mature, and are, of course, of far higher value.

A sweet Champagne may be made of any wine, but a dry Champagne must be a good wine, as, if it is not sound, its acidity is detected at once; but this defect would be hidden by the liqueur necessary to make it sweet.

At Epernay, the bulk of the wine is not so good as that coming from Reims, and sells at a lower price; but there are firms there of world-wide note, such as Moet & Chandon, Perrier, Joüet & Co., Meunier Frères, Wachter & Co., etc.

BORDEAUX OR CLARET.

In England we generally call the wines coming from Bordeaux, _Clarets_, the derivation of which cognomen is somewhat obscure; but it seems almost universally accepted that it comes from the French word _Clairet_, which is used even at the present time as a generic term for the _vins ordinaires_ of a light and thin quality, grown in the south of France, and was in use from a very early date. The old French poet, Olivier Basselin (who died 1418 or 1419), sings:—

“Beau nez, dont les rubis ont coûté mainte pipe
De vin blanc et clairet ...”

There was, however, another Claret, a compounded wine, resembling _hypocras_, which Giraldus Cambrensis, who lived in the twelfth century, classes thus: “Claretum, mustum, et medonem” (Claret, must, and mead). And the venerable Franciscan, Bartholomew Glanville,[24] says: “Claretum, ex vino et melle et speciebus aromaticis est confectum” (Claret is made from wine, honey, and aromatic spices). It makes a marked feature in a curious tenure.[25] “John de Roches holds the Manor of Winterslew, in the county of Wilts, by the Service, that when our Lord the King should abide at Clarendon, he should come to the Palace of the King there, and go into the Butlery, and draw out of any vessel he should find in the said Butlery at his choice, as much Wine as should be needful for making (_pro factura_) a Pitcher of Claret (_unius Picheri Claretti_), which he should make at the King’s charge, and that he should serve the King with a Cup, and should have the vessel from whence he took the Wine, with all the Remainder of the Wine left in the Vessel, together with the Cup from whence the King should drink that Claret.” This refers to a roll of 50 Ed. III., or 1376.

But this is not the Claret of our days, which is the wine produced in the countries watered by the rivers Dordogne and Garonne and the Gironde, at least it should be so; but, in truth, owing to the good railway communication, wine comes to Bordeaux from every part of France, large quantities owing their birth to the banks of the Rhone, from the Hérault, Roussillon, etc.; and a judicious blending at Bordeaux, and its being shipped thence, is a very good title to its being grown in the Médoc; but the quantity shipped to all parts of the world, compared with the acreage of growth, entirely precludes the supposition that it possibly could have been the production of that district.

The nobility of the Médoc wines is small. There are only four _premiers crûs_, but they are magnificent. They are Château Lafitte, Château Latour, Château Margaux, and Château Haut-Brion; and all these, especially the Latour, have a flavour and seductive _bouquet_ all their own, which is believed to arise from an extremely volatile oil contained in the grape skins, which, like all ethers, requires time to evolve and mature. But the soil, undoubtedly, has most to do with it, and this must be in a very large degree composed of fragments of rock, small and large, while the smooth round pebbles reflect the rays of the sun and throw them upwards, so as almost to surround the grapes with light and heat. Again, these stones absorbing the sun’s rays during the day, give out warmth after sunset, whilst they keep the roots of the vines cool, and prevent to a great degree the evaporation of the natural and necessary moisture of the earth.

But these _premiers crûs_ are not always good; for instance, in 1869, Messrs. Fulcher & Baines, wine brokers, sold by auction a very large parcel of Château Margaux for about 30_s._ per dozen. There was no doubt but that it was genuine wine, bottled at the Château, for the cases and corks were all properly branded; but of such low quality was it, or it deteriorated so rapidly, that when sold again in 1871 the same wine only averaged 18_s._ per dozen.

_The 2nd Growths are_:—

Mouton, coming from _Pauillac_.
Rauzan-Segla, ” _Margaux_.
Rauzan-Gassies, ” ”
Léoville-Las Cases, ” _St. Julien_.
Léoville-Poyféré, ” ”
Léoville-Barton, ” ”
Durfort-Vivens, ” _Margaux_.
Lascombes, ” ”
Gruard-La rose-Sarg, ” _St. Julien_.
Gruard-La rose, ” ”
Braune-Cantenac, ” _Cantenac_.
Pichon-Longueville, ” _Pauillac_.
Pichon-Longueville-Lalande, ” ”
Ducru-Beaucaillou, ” _St. Julien_.
Cos-Destournel, ” _St. Estèphe_.
Montrose, ” ”

_3rd Growths._

Kirwan, coming from _Cantenac_.
Château-d’Issau, ” ”
Lagrange, ” _St. Julien_.
Langoa, ” ”
Château-Giscours, ” _Labarde_.
Malescot-St. Exupéry, ” _Margaux_.
Cantenac-Brown, ” _Cantenac_.
Palmer, ” ”
La Lagune, ” _Ludon_.
Desmirail, ” _Margaux_.
Calon-Ségur, ” _St. Estèphe_.
Ferrière, ” _Margaux_.
M. d’Alesmeis Becker, ” ”

_4th Growths._

St. Pierre, coming from _St. Julien_.
Branair-Duluc, ” ”
Talbot, ” ”
Duhart-Milon, ” _Pauillac_.
Poujet, ” _Cantenac_.
La Tour-Carnet, ” _St. Laurent_.
Rochet, ” _St. Estèphe_.
Château-Beychevelle, ” _St. Julien_.
La Prieuré, ” _Cantenac_.
Marquis de Therme, ” _Margaux_.

_5th Growths._

Pontet-Canet, coming from _Pauillac_.
Batailley, ” ”
Grand-Puy-Lacoste, ” ”
Ducasse-Grand-Puy, ” _Pauillac_.
Lynch-Bages, ” ”
Lynch-Moussas, ” ”
Dauzac, ” _Labarde_.
Moulton d’Armailhacq, ” _Pauillac_.
Le Tertre, ” _Arsac_.
Haut-Bages, ” _Pauillac_.
Pédesclaux, ” ”
Belgrave, ” _St. Laurent_.
Camensac, ” ”
Cos-Labory, ” _St. Estèphe_.
Clerc-Milon, ” _Pauillac_.
Croizet-Bages, ” ”
Cantemerle, ” _Macau_.

These are only some of the wines of the Médoc, so that I may be excused from recapitulating the names of the different growths of the Graves, the Pays de Sauternes, the Côtes, the Palus, and those of Entredeux Mers—their name is legion, and it would answer no good purpose. Cocks, in his _Bordeaux and its Wines_, gives a list of 1,900 of the _principal growths_, so that we can have a good choice of names from which to christen our “Shilling Gladstone.”

The wines of Bordeaux used to be greatly drank in England until the great wars with France—in the last century, when, of course, their importation was prohibited—but, even then, large quantities were smuggled. They must, however, have been of better quality than the cheap stuff now imported. In Scotland, where an affinity with France always existed, it was a common drink, and very cheap; for in Campbell’s _Life of Lord Loughborough_ (vi. 29), we find that excellent claret was drawn from the cask at eighteenpence a quart: and its downfall as a beverage in Scotland is thus sung by John Home, probably in allusion to the Methuen Treaty of 1703.

“Firm and erect the Caledonian stood,
Prime was his mutton, and his claret good:
Let him drink port, an English Statesman cried;
He drank the poison, and his spirit died.”

The white wines of these districts are delicious, and are not sufficiently appreciated in England, where we know very little of the Sauternes, Bommes, Barsac, Fargues, St. Pierre de Mons, Preignac, and those of Petits Graves and the Côtes. Chief of all is the wine of Château d’Yquem, of which Vizitelly[26] thus writes:—

“Among the white wines of the Gironde which obtained the higher class reward, two require to be especially mentioned. One, the renowned Château d’Yquem of the Marquis de Lur Saluces, the most luscious and delicately aromatic of wines, which, for its resplendent colour, resembling liquid gold, its exquisite bouquet, and rich, delicious flavour, due, according to the chemists, to the presence of Mannite, is regarded in France as unique, and which, at Vienna, naturally met with the recognition of a medal for progress.

“Mannite, the distinguished French chemist Berthelot informs us, has the peculiar quality of not becoming transformed into alcohol and carbonic acid during the process of fermentation. For a tonneau of this splendid wine twelve years old, bought direct from the Château, the Grand Duke Constantine paid, some few years since, 20,000 francs, or £800. The other wine calling for notice was La Tour Blance, one of those magnificent, liqueur-like Sauternes, ranking immediately after Château d’Yquem, and to some fine samples of which, of the vintages of 1864 and 1865, a medal for merit was awarded.

In this illustration of “the Dilettante Society” we find that Noblemen and Gentlemen such as Lord Mulgrave, Lord Seaforth, Hon. Chas. Greville, Charles Crowle, and the Duke of Leeds, drank their claret out of the black bottle—dispensing with the decanter altogether.]

“The characteristic qualities of Château d’Yquem, which certain _soi-disant_ connoisseurs pretend to pooh-pooh, as a mere ordinary _vin de liqueur_, are due, in no degree, to simple accident. On the contrary, the vintaging of this wine is an extremely complicated and delicate affair. In order to insure the excessive softness and rich liqueur character which are its distinguishing qualities, the grapes, naturally excessively sweet and juicy, are allowed to dry on their stalks, preserved, as it were, by the rays of the sun, until they become covered with a kind of down, which gives to them an almost mouldy appearance. During this period, the fruit, under the influence of the sun, ferments within its skin, thereby attaining the requisite degree of ripeness, akin to rottenness.

“On the occasion of the vintage, as it is absolutely essential that the grapes should be gathered, not only when perfectly dry, but also warm, the cutters never commence work until the sun has attained a certain height, and invariably suspend their labours when rain threatens, or mists begin to rise. At the first gathering they detach simply the _graines rôties_, or such grapes as have dried after arriving at proper maturity, rejecting those which have shrivelled without thoroughly ripening, and, from the former, a wine of extreme softness and density, termed _crème de tête_, is produced.

“By the time the first gathering has terminated, other grapes will have sufficiently ripened and rotted, or dried, and both sorts are now detached, yielding the wine called _vin de tête_, distinguished by equal softness with the _crème de tête_, but combined with a larger amount of alcohol, and greater delicacy of flavour. At this point, a delay generally ensues, according to the state of the weather, it being requisite, towards the end of October, to wait while the rays of the sun, combined with the night dews, bring the remainder of the grapes to maturity, when the third gathering takes place, from which the wine, termed _centre_, frequently very fine and spirituous, is produced. Another delay now ensues, and then commences the final gathering, when all the grapes remaining on the stalks are picked, which, when the vintage has been properly conducted, is usually only a very small quantity, yielding what is termed the _vin de queue_.”

However, although it is not given to all of us to be able to afford Château d’Yquem, yet there are many of the other white wines of France, which are within ordinary limits, and which compare more than favourably with the red wines.

BURGUNDY AND OTHER WINES.

Verily there cannot be much amiss with wine that causes a holy man (by profession) to break forth into song as follows:—

“Nous les boirons lentement,
Nous les boirons tendrement,
Ton Clos Vougeot, ton Romanée:
Par nous la sainte liqueur,
Qui nous rechauffe le cœur,
Ne sera jamais profanée.”

More generous than the wines of Bordeaux, it has been the drink of Kings and Popes, and perhaps no vineyard has a similar honour done it as that of Clos-Vougeot (Napoleon’s favourite wine); for when a French regiment marches past that celebrated vineyard, it halts, and presents arms. On the golden slope—the Côte d’Or—is grown this wine of Burgundy, and the _vignerons_ divide the district into two parts, the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune, the first of which produces the finest wines, from Vosne especially, whence come Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Richebourg, Romanée-St. Vivant, La Grande Rue, Gaudichat, Malconsort, and others; but of all these Romanée Conti is king. Unfortunately the yield of this vineyard is very small, and genuine Romanée is seldom to be met with. But there are plenty of good wines to be bought at moderate prices, those of Chambertin, Volnay, Beaune, Mâcon, and Beaujolais. Chief among the white Burgundies is Chablis; but there are other sorts, not half enough drank in England—Mâcon, Pouilly, Meursault, Chevalier-Montrachet, Montrachet-Ainé, and many other fine white wines. Sparkling Burgundy is not to be despised.

The Côtes du Rhone produce fine wines, too, such as Hermitage, Côte Rôtie, Condrieu, and St. Peray; but of these, perhaps, Hermitage red and white are best known to us.

Much wine is made in the South of France, in the departments of the Hérault, the Gard, the Aude, and the Pyrenées-Orientales, whilst Languedoc has always been famous for its wines, which are very similar to some Spanish varieties. Roussillon is nearly as good as Burgundy, and, after being manipulated at Cette, is often palmed off as “Vintage Port,” and the Muscat wines of the Hérault and the Pyrenées-Orientales are particularly luscious, especially those from Lunel.

Some wines come from Corsica, but they do not find their way, as such, into the English market; no doubt, though, but we have them in some shape, for the mystifications of the wine trade are stupendous, and, to an outsider, unfathomable.

J. A.

GERMANY: Rhine Wines—Heidelberg
Tun—Hock—Stein-wein—Asmannhäuser—Straw Wines—Goethe’s
Opinion of Wine GREECE: Verdea—Vino Santo—The Wine of Night.
HUNGARY: Maszlacz—Tokay—Carlowitz—Erlauer. ITALY: Monte
Pulciano—Chianti—Barolo—Barbera—Montefiascone—Lacryma Christi,
etc. MADEIRA: Malvasia—Tinta—Bual, etc. PERSIA: Shiraz.

GERMANY.

The Germans, says Cyrus Redding, like vain men of other nations, have wasted a good deal of idle conjecture on the antiquity of the culture of the vine in their country; and then, as though to show by example that this waste of idle conjecture is not confined to the Germans, Mr. Redding continues the investigation of this important matter himself. In the opinion of an experienced merchant these wines have a “distinct character and classification of their own.” Their alcoholic strength is low, averaging about 18 per cent.

To the north of Coblentz the wines are of little comparative value, though a Rhenish wine has been produced at Bodendorf, near Bonn. On the Rhine or its tributary rivers between Coblentz and Mayence, all the most celebrated wines of Germany are grown. The grapes preferred for general cultivation are the Riessling, a small, white, harsh species. The true _Hochheimer_, daily consumed in Germany, is grown to the eastward of Mentz, between there and Frankfort. The wines mellow best in large vessels, an experience which has produced the celebrated Heidelberg Tun, holding some six hundred hogsheads. The distinguishing characteristics of German wine have been said to be generosity, dryness, fine flavour, and endurance of age. The dyspeptic will learn with delight that the strong wines of the Rhine are extremely salutary, and contain less acid than any other. It is also averred that they are never saturated with brandy. _Liebfrauenmilch_[27] is grown at Worms. It is full bodied, as is that of _Scharlachberg_. Wines of _Nierstein_,[28] _Laubenheim_, and _Oppenheim_ are good, but _Deidesheimer_ is considered superior to them. _Hock_[29] is derived from Hochheim; but nearly every town on the banks of the Rhine gives its name to some lauded vintage. The flavour of Hock is supposed to be improved by thin green glasses. Perhaps, says the judicious Redding, this is mere fancy. The Palatinate wines are cheaper Hocks. Moselles have a more delicate perfume. The whole eastern bank of the Rhine to Lorich, called the Rheingau, about fourteen miles in extent, has been famous for its wines for ages. Naturally, therefore, it was once the property of the Church. Here is _Schloss-Johannisberger_, once nearly destroyed by General Hoche, where a leading Rhine wine is made. _Steinberger_ takes the next rank to _Johannisberger_. _Gräfenberg_, also once ecclesiastical property, produces wine equal to _Rüdesheimer_, which is a wine of the first Rhine growths. _Marcobrunner_, _Roth_, _Königsbach_ are excellent drinks. _Bacharach_ has lost its former celebrity. The conclusion to which a celebrated connoisseur has arrived after an exhaustive examination of German wines is this: “On the whole, the wines of _Bischeim_, _Asmannshäuser_, and _Laubenheim_ are very pleasant wines; those of rather more strength are _Marcobrunner_, _Rüdesheimer_ and _Niersteiner_, while those of _Johannisberg_, _Geissenheim_, and _Hochheim_ give the most perfect delicacy and aroma.” The Germans themselves say _Rhein-wein, fein-wein; Necker-wein, lecker-wein; Franken-wein, tranken-wein; Mosel-wein, unnosel-wein_.[30]

The red wines of the Rhine are considered inferior to the white. Red _Asmannshäuser_ is perhaps the best. Near Lintz _Blischert_ is made. Königsbach and Altenahr yield ordinary wines. The most celebrated of Moselle wines is the _Brauneberger_, of which the varieties are numerous. A variety called _Gruenhäuser_ was formerly styled the Nectar of the Moselle. The wines of Ahr, of which some are red, resemble Moselles, but will keep longer. Of the wines of the Neckar the most celebrated is _Besigheimer_. Baden, Wiesbaden, Wangen, and Würtzberg, all grow good wines. Of the last is _Stein-wein_, produced on a mountain so called, and named by the Hospital to which it belongs, _Wine of the Holy Ghost_. _Leisten_ wines are grown on Mt. Saint Nicolas. _Straw_ wines are made in Franconia. _Calmus_, a liqueur wine, like the sweet wines of Hungary, is made in the territory of Frankfurt. The best vineyards are those of Bischofsheim. Wines of Saxony are of little worth. Meissen and Guben produce the best. Naumburg makes some small wines, like inferior Burgundy. The excellence of the Rhine wines has seldom perhaps been proved more clearly than by one who loved them well. Goethe, in his _Aus einer Reise am Rhein, Main und Neckar_, says: “_Niemand schämt sich der Weinlust, sie rühmen sich einigermaassen des Trinkens. Hübsche Frauen gestehen dass ihre Kinder mit der Mutterbrust zugleich Wein geniessen. Wir fragten ob denn wahr sey, dass es geistlichen Herren, ja Kurfürsten geglückt, acht Rheinische Maass, das heisst sechzehn unserer Bouteillen, in vierundzwanzig Stunden zu sich zunehmen? Ein scheinbar ernsthafter Gast bemerkte, man dürfe sich zu Beantwortung dieser Frage nur der Fastenpredigt ihres Weihbischofs erinnern, welcher, nachdem er das schreckliche Laster der Trunkenheit seiner Gemeinde mit den stärksten Farben dargestellt, also geschlossen habe—_” But for those who understand not the German tongue we will give some of the sermon of this Church dignitary on the Rochusberg in English. “Those, my pious brethren, commit the greatest sin who misuse God’s glorious gifts. But the misuse excludes not the use. Wine, it is written, rejoices man’s heart. Therefore we are clearly intended to enjoy it. Now perhaps, beloved brethren, there is not one of you who cannot drink two measures of wine without feeling any ill effects therefrom; he, however, who with his third or fourth measure has so far forgotten himself as to abuse, beat and kick his wife and children, and to treat his dearest friend as his worst enemy, let such a one discontinue to drink three or four measures, which thus render him unpleasing to God and despicable to man. But he who with the fourth measure, nay, with his fifth or his sixth, still maintains his sense in such a manner that he can behave properly to his fellow-Christian, attend to his domestic duties, and obey his spiritual superiors as he ought, let him be thankful in modesty for the gift accorded to him. But let him not advance beyond the sixth measure, for here commonly is the term set to human power and endurance. Rare indeed is the occasion in which the benevolent God has lent a man such especial grace that he may drink eight measures—a grace which He has, however, accorded to me His servant. Let, therefore, every one take only his allotted measure _und auf dass ein solches geschehe, alles Ubermaass dagegen verbannt sey, handelt sämmtlich nach der Vorschrift des heiligen Apostels welcher spricht; Prüfet alles und das Beste behaltet!_”

GREECE.

The vinification of Greece is commonly imperfect. Most of its wines become vinegar in summer. Avoid, says a well-known guide-book, the wine of this country, which is generally acid and always impure.[31] The best Greek wines are those of the islands Ithaca, Zante, Tenos, Samos, Thera (Santorin),[32] and Cyprus. The white wine of Zante, called _Verdea_, resembles Madeira in flavour. The wine of Naxos is of considerable strength, and is greatly improved by age. A quantity of it, known as _Vino Santo_, is exported. Andros was sacred to Dionysus, and a tradition (Plin. ii. 103; xxxi. 13; Paus. vi. 26) says that for seven days during a festival of this god the waters of a certain fountain were changed to wine. The wine did no credit to the god, if it resembled that which this island at present produces. The “Nectar” of _Morta_ is bitter and astringent. Dr. Charnock has recommended the _Monthymet_ as a good mild wine, and the _œconomos_. A white wine, called “_the wine of night_,” is supplied under the distinctive names of _St. Elie_ and _Calliste_; the latter is the better.

HUNGARY.

The wines of Hungary, we are told, “possess considerable body with a moderate astringency.” The varieties of wine known as _Ausbruch_ and _Maszlacs_, including the _Tokays_, _Rust_, _Menes_, and many more, are of the most important character. Without the addition of dry berries the so-called natural wine or _Szamorodni_ is obtained. The Tokay essence, a very sweet wine, should be also very old. When fifty years in bottle it costs some £3[33] for a small flask. Ausbruch, also sweet, should be also old. _Maszlacz_ is of four different kinds. The _Mezes_, _Male_ or _Imperial_, does not get into trade. _Meograd_, _Krasso_, and _Villany_ from the West of Hungary are good strong wines of the second class. Wines of the third class are very numerous. There is no space to mention more than the red wines: _Baranya_, _Presburger_, _Somogy_, _Vagh-Ujhelyer_, _Paulitsch_, and _Erdöd_, and the white _Miszla_, _Balaton_, _Füred_, _Hont_, _Pesth_, and _Weissenburger_. _Samlauer_ is one of the best white wines made at a place called Samlau, as _Erlauer_ another good wine at Erlau. The most commonly known Hungarian wines of the present are _Oedenburger_, _Samlauer_, _Neszmely_, and _Carlowitz_.

ITALY.