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THE 
 
 WINE-DRINKER'S 
 
 MANUAL. 
 
 IN VINO VERITAS. 
 
 BOSTON COLLEGE LIBBAWf 
 CHESTNUT HILL, MASS, 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 MARSH AND MILLER, 137, OXFORD STREET, 
 AND CONSTABLE AND CO. EDINBURGH. 
 
 1830. 
 
r\fO^ 
 
 PRINTED BY C. RICHARDS, 100, ST. MARTIN'S LANE, CHARING CROSS. 
 
To J. H. 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS INSCRIBED, 
 
 EVERY SENTIMENT OF ESTEEM 
 
 AND FRIENDSHIP, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 April 27, 1830. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 At p. 26, for ' Vienna/ read ' Vienne.' 
 
 35, for ' St. Lawrence/ read l St. Laurence.' 
 140, for ' Gestaccio/ read ' Testaccio.' 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The object of the following pages is to 
 exhibit a sketchy outline of the most cele- 
 brated vineyards, and the several processes 
 of wine-making in different countries : in 
 short, to represent the general economy of 
 one of the most interesting branches of hu- 
 man invention. The subject was of no 
 very facile complexion ; but one from which 
 the Author would have shrunk with due 
 sense of his incompetence to treat, had he 
 not been induced to the task, by the super- 
 abundance of materials,which, much reading 
 and laborious research enabled him to ren- 
 der available. His duties, therefore, became 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 rather those of arrangement than author- 
 ship ; although it is hoped that the candour 
 with which this distinction is made in the 
 subsequent pages, renders this explanation 
 almost superogatory. 
 
 As the present volume aspires only to the 
 rank of a u Manual," the reader will not 
 expect to find it contain any extensive re- 
 searches into the antiquarian history of 
 Wine, or the ancient and modern philoso- 
 phy of its manufacture. Had these divi- 
 sions of the subject been largely expatiated 
 on, the work must necessarily have assumed 
 too scientific a character for the general 
 reader. On the other hand, the Author has 
 endeavoured to produce a book of pictu- 
 resque details of the wine-countries, and the 
 practical points of wine-making ; at the 
 same time, illustrating the latter by the 
 results of the most recent enquiries of 
 men of experimental and practical science. 
 To these the Author has added his own ex- 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 perience, which, though comparatively un- 
 pretending, has, he hopes, enabled him to 
 adapt and arrange the contributions of 
 others with propriety and effect. 
 
 Although the Author's claim to originality 
 in these pages is thus humbly rated, it 
 would be false delicacy not to express his 
 confidence in the appreciation of the labour 
 which was requisite for their production. 
 Anxiety to furnish the reader with the pre- 
 sent face of the wine-countries, has led him 
 to consult the journals of the most recent 
 and accredited travellers; and equal dili- 
 gence has prompted him in the more prac- 
 tical and technical portions of his work. 
 Few attempts have been made at ornate 
 style, or embellishment of the subject; since 
 it would have been folly to attempt in prose 
 what the poets of all ages have so divinely 
 blended with their happiest productions ; 
 but some relief was occasionally neces- 
 sary. 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 A glance at the annexed Table of Con- 
 tents, will excuse the Author adding more 
 in a prefatory form ; but, as the subject is 
 rife with delight, he will not trespass on the 
 patience of the reader, further than by ex- 
 pressing a hope, that his gratification will 
 be identified throughout the pages of the 
 Wine-drinker's Manual. 
 
 Kichmond, April, 1830. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ON WINE-DRINKING. 
 
 Adam and Noah — Ancient Physicians — Ancient Drink- 
 ing — Quantity — The Poets — Statesmen — Medical quali- 
 ties — National Drinking — Origin of Wine — Persia, &c. 
 
 Page 1-15. 
 
 WINES OF THE ANCIENTS : 
 
 Greek and Roman Vineyards and Wines. 15-26. 
 
 FRENCH WINES: 
 
 Classification — Wines of Gaul — Modern Wines : Cham- 
 pagne, Burgundy, Dauphiny, Bordelais, Languedoc, Pro- 
 vence, and Rousillon — Manufacture of Champagne and 
 Claret — Management — Count Chaptal on the choice of 
 a Cellar — Bottling, Forcing, &c. — Wine-trade of France 
 — Consumption, &c. 27-68. 
 
 SPANISH WINES: 
 
 Mismanagement of the Peasantry — Xeres, or Sherry — 
 Paxareta — Tinta di Rota — Malaga — Alicant— Benicar- 
 lo — Vine in Catalonia — The Canaries — Teneriffe — Vi- 
 donia— Chacoli — Majorca and Minorca — Vineyards at 
 Yepes. 69-81. 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 PORTUGUESE WINES: 
 
 Lisbon and Port— Wine Country of the Douro— Oporto 
 Company — Methuen Treaty — Adulterations of Port 
 Wine — Exports from Oporto — Management — Introduc- 
 tion in England — White Wines — Carcavellos, Setuval, 
 and Termo — Red Wines of Lisbon — Vintage, p. 82-97. 
 
 GERMAN WINES : 
 Introduction of the Vine into Germany — Circle of Cob- 
 lentz — Soil of the Banks of the Rhine — Rhinegau, Hoch- 
 heim,andMayn— Immense Casks of Tubingen,Heidelberg, 
 and Grumingen — Autumn on the Rhine — Bacharach and 
 the ara Bacchi — Vineyards of Wurtemburg — Qualities 
 of Rhenish Wines — the Moselle — German Wines drunk 
 in England — Hock and Soda Water — Oil from the 
 Stones of Grapes. 98-114. 
 
 HUNGARIAN WINE : 
 
 The Vine in Hungary — Peasants' Vineyards — Tokay, 
 Ausbruch, and Essence ; its properties and rules for 
 judging — Red and White Wines of Hungary — Vineyards 
 ofMenes, and description of the Vintage, 115-128. 
 
 ITALIAN WINES: 
 
 Luxuriance of the Vineyards — Improved Culture — Wine 
 at Naples — North of Italy — Ancient and Modern Italian 
 Wines — Wine-making in Tuscany — Montifiascone — Epi- 
 taph in the Cathedral at Siena — Wine Festivals of the 
 Roman peasantry — Vines of the Campagna — Tuscany 
 and Genoa — Wines of Vesuvius — Lacryma Christi — ■ 
 Vines of Southern Italy — Sicilian Wines — Syracuse — 
 Policy of introducing Italian Wines into England — 
 Wine-trade at Florence — Wines of Elba — Culture of the 
 Vines, &c. 129-153. 
 
CONTENTS. Xi 
 
 GREEK WINES: 
 
 Neglect of the Vine — Zante Currants — Vines of Corinth 
 — Candia and Crete — Malivisi — Rettimo — 'Ancient and 
 Modern Cyprus Wine — Barout — Wines of Zante, Ithaca, 
 Rhodes, Cos, Samos, Tino, Lampascus — Vineyards at 
 Leuctra — Adulteration of Greek Wines. p. 156-168. 
 
 RUSSIA WINES: 
 
 Wines consumed in Russia — Cultivation of the Vine in 
 the South — Valley of Soudak — Vintage at Akerman — 
 Georgian Wine— Tiflis. 162-176. 
 
 PERSIAN WINES : 
 
 Discovery of Wine by Jem-sheed — Grapes of Shiraz' — 
 Persian Vine-dressers — Wine forbidden by the Koran — 
 Shah Suffee — Abbas II. — Royal Wine-drinkers — the Per- 
 sian love of Wine — Vineyards of Shiraz, Ispahan, Te- 
 heran — Persian Poets in Praise of Wine. 177-186. 
 
 MADEIRA WINES : 
 
 Introduction of the Vine — Varieties of Wine — Sercial 
 and Malmsey — Culture, &c. — Soil of the Vineyards de- 
 scribed by Mr. Bowdich —Manufacture — Quantity — Im- 
 provement by a voyage explained — Maturation of Ma- 
 deira — Flavouring— Climate of the Island. 187-203. 
 
 CAPE WINES: 
 
 Climate of the Cape — Culture of the Vine — Constantia 
 — Cape Madeira — Wine-trade at the Cape — Duties — 
 Brandewyn — Quantity of Wine exported — Improvement 
 of the Manufacture — Training — Management of the 
 Vines— Soil, Adulterations, &c. — Constantia, 204-211. 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 BRITISH WINES: 
 
 Introduction of the Vine — Saxon Vineyards — Domesday — 
 Monasteries — Vineyards in London — Gloucester — Wind- 
 sor — Foreign Wines introduced — Vineyards in Sussex, 
 Surrey, and in the Isle of Wight — Painshill — Change 
 of Climate — Chaptal on Vines — Earliest Foreign Wine 
 Statute duties — Wine-Conduits — Wine at Breakfast — 
 Aristocratical Enactments — Duties and Importation — 
 Wine in Scotland — Theory of Wine-making — Failure of 
 British Wines explained — Dr. Macculloch's System — 
 Synthetical preparations. p. 212-241. 
 
 ADULTERATION OF WINE : 
 
 Early English Mal-practices — Vintner's Company — 
 Enactments of Henry VI., Mary, and Charles II. — Addi- 
 son, in " the Tatler." — Lead Adulteration, and Tests for 
 its Detection — Washing Bottles — Correcting Acidity — 
 Brandying Port Wine — To detect Adulterated — Tests for 
 the natural Colouring — Flavouring — Dry Rot. 242-229. 
 
 ART OF DRINKING WINE : 
 
 Rationale of Drinking — Fashion — a French Dinner — 
 Precedence of French Wines — Wines for different tem- 
 peraments — Wine - Melancholy — Claret and Cham- 
 pagne — Port — Sherries — Philosophy of Wine-drinking — 
 Poets and Essayists — Plutarch's authority — Morris, 
 Burns, and Moore — Tahle Companions. 260-276. 
 
 APPENDIX : 
 
 The Cellar — Champagne — Claret — Iceing Wines — Dr. 
 Maculloch's Receipts: Wine from unripe Gooseberries — 
 from unripe Grapes — from ripe Gooseberries and Cur- 
 rants — from ripe Grapes — French Method of making su- 
 perior Gooseberry and Currant Wines — Improved Me- 
 thod of making Raisin Wine. 277-296. 
 
THE 
 
 WINE-DRINKER'S MANUAL. 
 
 ON WINE-DRINKING. 
 
 The love of Wine may almost be classed 
 with the innate principles of our very being. 
 It is believed that the father of the human 
 race drank wine, and were the antediluvian 
 records more complete, this point of belief 
 might be settled by the next Antiquarian 
 meeting at Somerset House. We have, 
 however, "confirmation strong as holy writ" 
 that Noah planted a vineyard, and, more- 
 over, " that he drank of the Wine and was 
 " drunken." [Genesis, ix. 20.) Adam, good 
 man, for aught we know, did the same. 
 " Driven by sin from Paradise," says old 
 Christopher North, " what liquor could 
 " ever have raised his spirits? How dismally 
 B 
 
2 WINE-DRINKER'S 
 
 " in his cups must lie have sung c Auld lang 
 " syne !' What a hollow hip, hip, hurra !" 
 
 A moderate use of Wine has been sanc- 
 tioned by the wise and good in all ages, 
 St. Paul says, (Tim. i. v. 23^ " Use a little 
 " wine for thy stomach's sake :" and this 
 seems to have been the opinion of the most 
 ancient philosophers and physicians. As- 
 olepiades wrote upon Wine, the use of which 
 he introduced with almost every remedy, ob- 
 serving, that the gods had bestowed no more 
 valuable gift on man : even Diogenes drank 
 of it; for it is said of him that he liked 
 that Wine best, which he drank at other 
 people's cost: no bad proof of the policy of 
 his philosophy. A modern, however, adopted 
 this notion, who, when asked, — " What 
 " Wine do you drink, Doctor?" answered, 
 " Port at home, Claret abroad !" 
 
 Hippocrates recommended a cheerful 
 glass; and Ithases, an ancient Arabian 
 physician, says no liquor is equal to good 
 Wine. Reineck wrote a Dissertation, " De 
 Potu Yinoso-" and the learned Dr. Shaw 
 lauded the juice of the grape. But the 
 stoutest of its medical advocates was Tobias 
 Walker, physician to Charles II, who 
 
MANUAL. 3 
 
 undertook to prove the possibility of main- 
 taining life, from infancy to old age, without 
 sickness, by the use of Wine. But Toby 
 lived in too free an age to warrant his 
 doctrine, although no one can say that his 
 theory was unacceptable to his monarch, or 
 the times in which he practised. 
 
 In a musty old tract on " voracitie and 
 " immoderate drinking," of sundry stories 
 of "no man drinking beyond a certaine ring 
 " about the glasses and cups," a conscien- 
 tious scruple which is easily wiped away by 
 plain glasses. There is also " a strange 
 historie" of three quaff ers in Germany, in 
 1549, who, with a coal, " painted the divell 
 " on the wall, and drank freely to him, and 
 " talked freely to him as though hee had 
 " been present. The next morning they 
 " were found strangled, and dead, and were 
 " burried under the gallowes," Mahomet, 
 another crafty wight, persuaded his followers 
 when he forbad them the drinking of wine, 
 that "in every grape there dwelt a divell." 
 The attachment of Alexander Cambyses to 
 Wine, is proverbial. Hiolmus, a king of the 
 Goths, was so fond of it, that " he would sit a 
 " great part of the night quaffing with his 
 B 2 
 
4 wine-drinker's 
 
 " servants,"/ for which gracious condescen- 
 sion, they (in sport) threw him into " a great 
 " vessell of drinke, in the middle of the 
 " room," and thus, " he misserably and 
 ridiculously ended his life." Paulus Dia- 
 crius tells us of a drinking wager between 
 four old men, each of whom drank as many 
 bowls of Wine as he had lived years, and 
 thus one of these jolly old fellows drank 92 
 bowls. Cyrus, however, preferred water to 
 Wine; and Antonius Pius " commanded that 
 " none should presume to sell Wine but in 
 " apothecaries' shops, for the sicke or 
 " diseased." Had his edict remained in force 
 to this age, every house would be required 
 for a hospital, and the Wine-haters find 
 room in the hospitals. 
 
 The antiquity and propriety of drinking 
 Wine is not, however, matter of question. 
 The Archbishop of Seville, Antonio de 
 Solis, who lived to be 110 years old, drank 
 Wine ; and even that wonderful preacher of 
 propriety, Cornaro, did the same. All we 
 differ about is quantity ; and this is a point 
 on which we do not pretend to reconcile our 
 readers, for that would be too quackial a 
 pretension for any Wine-drinker to aspire to. 
 
MANUAL. 5 
 
 Sir William Temple, as good and grave a 
 man as any of the " illustrious" of our 
 country, was pleased to lay down a rule, 
 and limit propriety to three glasses. " I 
 " drink one glass," says he " for health, a 
 " second for refreshment, a third for a 
 " friend ; but he that offers a fourth is an 
 " enemy." It is, however, fit that we show 
 " this" and " that" picture of the antient 
 quantity. In modern times, we hear no- 
 thing at all equal to the account given of 
 some of the ancients. The elder Cato, we 
 are told, warmed good principles with " a 
 " pretty considerable" quantity of good 
 Wine ; and he allowed his slaves, during the 
 Saturnalia, four bottles of Wine per diem. 
 What sort of a figure would a royal footman 
 cut at a rout after such a modicum ! But 
 Cicero's son exceeded all others : so much 
 so that he got the name of Bicongius 5 
 because he was accustomed to drink two 
 congii at a sitting ; but as congii are not in the 
 last authorized measures, it may be neces- 
 sary to inform the reader that two congii 
 are seven quarts or eight bottles! Pliny 
 and others abound in grand examples, which 
 
6 WINE-DRINKERS 
 
 prove we have degenerated at any rate in 
 this respect ; for these convivials were neither 
 sick nor sorry. Even Nero was only three 
 times sick in fourteen years, a boast in which 
 no crowned head of our times can join. 
 We now come to the nobler effects of Wine, 
 in the invigorating of the mind, as well as 
 the body; and of the former effect we have 
 the highest authority. To begin with the 
 poets, as the lex suprema, Martial says 
 
 Regnat nocte calix, volvuntur biblia mane, 
 Cum Phoebo Bacchus dividit iraperium. 
 
 . All night I drink, and study hard all day : 
 Bacchus and Phoebus hold divided sway. 
 
 Horace has done ample justice to Wine; 
 and even Homer, whose bearded busts we 
 contemplate with such veneration, says 
 
 The weary find new strength in generous Wines. 
 
 This is a poetical license which was 
 sure to be imitated ; and doubtless, upon this 
 principle of expanding the imagination, so 
 early as 1874, old Geoffrey Chaucer had 
 allowed him a pitcher of Wine a day. Rare 
 Ben Jonson, in after times, had the third of 
 a pipe annually ; and, says Mr. Wadd, " a 
 
MANUAL. 7 
 
 " certain share of this invigorating aliment 
 "has been the portion of Laureates down to 
 " the present day; probably to aid the inspi- 
 " ration of their birth-day odes and epithala- 
 "mia." 
 
 Nor are the poets the only eulogists of 
 Wine. Some of the genteel names in history 
 are to be found in the list. We find Mr. 
 Burke furnishing reasons why the rich and 
 great should have their share of Wine. He 
 says, they are among the unhappy; they 
 feel personal pain and domestic sorrow; 
 they pay their full contingent to the contri- 
 butions levied on mortality in these matters ; 
 therefore they require this sovereign balm. 
 " Some charitable dole" says he " is want- 
 " ing to these, our often very unhappy 
 " brethren, to fill the gloomy void that 
 " reigns in minds which have nothing on 
 " earth to hope or fear; something to 
 " relieve the killing languor and over- 
 " laboured lassitude of those who have 
 "nothing to do." It is rather out of date, 
 but as we are talking of statesmen, let us 
 hear an argument held by the learned Sir 
 Thomas More. Sir Thomas was sent by 
 Henry VIII as ambassador to a foreign 
 
8 WINE drinker's 
 
 court. The morning* he was to have his 
 audience, knowing the virtue of Wine, he 
 ordered his servant to hring him a good 
 large glass of sack ; and having drank that, 
 called for another. The servant, with offi- 
 cious ignorance, would have dissuaded him 
 from it, but in vain ; the ambassador drank 
 off a second, and demanded a third, which 
 he likewise drank off, insisting on a fourth; 
 he was over-persuaded by his servant to let 
 it alone; so he went to his audience. But 
 when he returned home, he called for his 
 
 * Wine in the morning is rather a ticklish ven- 
 ture with some folk. That mad wag, Tom Browne, 
 says — 
 
 Wine in a morning 
 
 Makes us frolic and gay, 
 That like eagles we soar 
 
 In the pride of the day; 
 Gouty sots of the night 
 
 Only find a decay. 
 'Tis the sun ripes the grape, 
 
 And to drinking gives light ; 
 We imitate him, 
 
 When at noon we're at height : 
 They steal wine who take it 
 
 When he's out of sight. 
 Boys, fill all the glasses, 
 
 Fill them up now he shines : 
 The higher he rises, 
 
 The more he refines, 
 For wine and wit fall 
 
 As their maker declines. 
 
MANUAL. 9 
 
 servant, and threatened him with his cane. 
 " You rogue," said he, " what mischief 
 " have you done me ! I spoke so to the 
 " Emperor on the inspiration of those three 
 " first glasses that I drank, that he told me 
 " I was fit to govern three parts of the 
 " world. Now, you dog! if I had drank 
 " the fourth glass, I had been fit to govern 
 " all the world." After this brilliant ex- 
 ample, we recommend all the premiers of 
 Europe to drink Wine ad libitum. We 
 should like to know how many glasses 
 Bonaparte drank, or rather, how many he 
 found it necessary to drink before he re- 
 solved on the domination of Europe. 
 
 The French, who are, in truth, a very 
 sober people, have a proverb : — 
 
 Qu'il faut, a chaque mois, 
 S'enivrer au moins une fois. 
 
 which some, on this side of the water have 
 improved into an excuse for getting drunk 
 every day in the week, for fear the specified 
 day should be missed. It would, however, 
 startle some of our sober readers, to find 
 this made a question of grave argument : 
 yet " whether it is not healthful to be drunk 
 
10 wine-drinker's 
 
 " once a month," is treated on by Dr. Can- 
 in his letters to D'Quincy. A French 
 author writes too, to the following effect : — 
 
 Drink my dear friends and deeply too, 
 Ages of health you have before you. 
 
 Wine as a remedy or medicine often gives 
 rise to ludicrous associations. " Thus," says 
 Mr. Wadd, (in a pleasant article in Brandos 
 J&urndl,No.YITL)"we find particular Wines 
 recommended by particular doctors, having 
 a fashionable run as specifics : — at one 
 time, all the gouty people were drinking 
 Madeira, and many a man persuaded him- 
 self he had a flying gout, for the sake of the 
 remedy. Somebody, however, found out 
 that Madeira contained acid, and straight 
 the cellars were rummaged for old Sherry; 
 and Sherry, and nothing but Sherry, could 
 or would the Podagres drink. Dr. Rey- 
 nolds, who lived and practised very much 
 with the higher orders, had a predilection 
 for that noble and expensive comforter 
 Hock! which short word, from his lips, 
 has often made the Doctor's physic as costly 
 as the Doctor's fee. In short, Wine has 
 been recommended by the highest medical 
 
MANUAL. 11 
 
 authorities as alleviating the infirmities of 
 old age ; probably on the authority of the 
 Greek physician, who recommended it to 
 Alexander as the pure blood of the earth. 
 After such authority, need we wonder at the 
 penchant which the sick poor feel for Wine, 
 even when labouring under the simoom of 
 a fever ? " 
 
 The proper quantum of wine, however, yet 
 remains undecided. Thus, drunkenness pre- 
 vails to a much greater extent in northern 
 than in southern latitudes. The nature of the 
 climate renders this inevitable, and gives to 
 the human frame its capabilities of with- 
 standing liquor : hence, a quantity which 
 scarcely ruffles the frozen current of a Nor- 
 wegian's blood, would scatter madness and 
 fever into the brain of the Hindoo. In 
 speaking of this subject, it is always to be 
 remembered that a person is not to be con- 
 sidered a drunkard because he consumes a 
 certain quantity of liquor ; but because what 
 he does consume produces certain effects upon 
 his system. The Russian, therefore, may take 
 six glasses a day, and be as temperate as 
 the Italian who takes four, or the Indian 
 who takes two. But even when this is 
 
12 wine-drinker's 
 
 acceded to, the balance of sobriety will be 
 found in the favour of the south : the inha- 
 bitants there not only drink less, but are, 
 bond fide, more seldom intoxicated than 
 others ; those who have contrasted London 
 and Paris, may easily verify this fact : and 
 those who have done the same to the city 
 of Moscow* and Rome, can bear still stronger 
 testimony. Who ever heard of an En- 
 glishman sipping eau sucree, and treating 
 his friends with a glass of lemonade? yet 
 such things are common in France. 
 
 To bring the argument down to our own 
 times, before we censure the Romans for 
 their potent draughts, or discredit their 
 drinking prodigies, we should remember the 
 
 * According to Dr. Granville, who, in his re- 
 cently published Travels, is very minute in every 
 point which relates to eating and drinking in Rus- 
 sia, Champagne is drunk in great profusion at all 
 the great entertainments in St. Petersburgh. In 
 the Doctor's account of a Russian wedding, he des- 
 cribes the company as walking in procession to 
 the bed-chamber of the bride and bridegroom, each 
 visitor quaffing a goblet of Champagne to the 
 health of the parties, kissing the bride's hands, who 
 returns the salutation on the cheek, and embracing, 
 d lafranqaise, the cheeks of the bridegroom. 
 
MANUAL. 13 
 
 feats of which Caesar speaks, as transfixing 
 three soldiers through their shields, with 
 javelins, &c. Wine, drunk in large quanti- 
 ties, doubtless, flew through their brawny 
 and sinewy arms, and fitted them for such 
 exploits, which throw into the shade all the 
 glory of modern cuirassiers, or the gigantic 
 men of " the Guards." 
 
 The belief that wine was the only inebri- 
 ating liquor known to antiquity, is, how- 
 ever, erroneous. Tacitus mentions ale or 
 beer as common among the Germans ; — the 
 Egyptians swigged malt liquor in the Delta ; 
 — a kind of Bell's beer deluged the middle 
 ages ; the interior of Africa was ever famous 
 for brewing ; — our Saxon ancestors were 
 often drowned in mead ; — the worshippers 
 of Odin were drunkards of the first water, 
 whence the songs of the Scandinavian 
 Scalds, and the fuddled futurity of Valhalla ; 
 ardent spirits were quaffed by the Arabians 
 many centuries ago, and from time imme- 
 morial arrack has been manufactured in the 
 island of Java, and the continent of Hin- 
 dostan. 
 
 It must, nevertheless, be admitted, that 
 almost every country in which the vine is 
 
14 wine-drinker's 
 
 indigenous, has boasted of some individual, 
 or native deity, to whom the honor of the 
 invention of Wine has been attributed. — - 
 Among a number of fictions, the following 
 is, at least, amusing. Jem-sheed, the founder 
 of Persepolis, is by Persian writers said to 
 have been the first who invented Wine. He 
 was immoderately fond of grapes, and, de- 
 siring to preserve some, they were placed 
 for this purpose in a large vessel, and lodged 
 in a vault for future use. When the vessel 
 was opened, the grapes had fermented ; and 
 their juice, in this state, was so acid, that 
 the king believed it must be poisonous. He 
 had some vessels filled with it : "poison" was 
 written upon each, and they were placed in 
 his room. It happened that one of his favor- 
 ite ladies was affected with a nervous head- 
 ache, and the pain distracted her so much, 
 that she desired death. Observing a vessel 
 with "poison" written on it, she took it, and 
 sw^allow^ed its contents. The Wine, for such 
 it had become, overpowered the lady, who 
 fell into a sound sleep, and awoke much 
 refreshed. Delighted with the remedy, she 
 repeated the dose so often, that the mo- 
 narch's poison was all drank ! He soon 
 
MANUAL. 15 
 
 discovered this, and forced the lady to con- 
 fess what she had done. A quantity of 
 Wine was made ; and Jeni-sheed, and all 
 his court, drank of the new beverage ; — 
 which, from the circumstance that led to 
 its discovery, is this day known in Persia 
 by the name of Zeher-e-Kooshon, the de- 
 lightful poison ! 
 
 Only let the Wine-drinker, be he a three- 
 glass, or three-bottle man, think of this de- 
 lightful apologue, and we venture to predict 
 that his ecstatic pleasure will be enhanced, 
 and his illusion brightened by the glorious 
 recollection. 
 
 WINES OF THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 From the pleasures of wine-drinking 
 among our ancestors, we pass to the vine- 
 yards of the ancients, and the processes 
 used by them in the preparation of their 
 Wines ; and it is curious to observe in how 
 few circumstances their most approved sys- 
 tem differed from that of the moderns. The 
 varieties of their Wines were considerable, 
 
16 wine-drinker's 
 
 and attempts have been made to point out 
 their affinities to our modern varieties; 
 but when we consider the changes which 
 soil and culture produce in the vine, even 
 in a few years, it would be absurd to ima- 
 gine, that after a lapse of two thousand 
 years, we should be able to assign the exact 
 place, in a modern botanical arrangement, 
 to the varieties that adorned the Massic or 
 Surrentine hills. The variety which they 
 most esteemed appears to have been the 
 Arimean, producing a small grape, which 
 is described as surpassing all others in rich- 
 ness and flavor. The most remarkable 
 fact connected with the vineyards of the 
 ancients, is their productiveness ; the Roman 
 jugerum, which was less than an English 
 acre, being computed to yield fifty-four hogs- 
 heads of Wine ; whereas, in the best vine- 
 yards in the Lyonnais, the most productive in 
 France, the acre affords little more than one 
 fifth of this quantity. This superiority, 
 however, in a great degree, arose, according 
 to Columella, from the ancients allowing 
 their vines to grow to a degree of luxuriance 
 quite incompatible with the rules of good 
 
WINES OF THE ANCIENTS. 17 
 
 husbandry, and forcing them to bear, till, 
 in the end, they became exhausted, and lost 
 all their original excellence. 
 
 Little is known respecting the modes of 
 manufacturing some of the most celebrated 
 of the ancient wines. The general processes 
 did not perhaps differ much from those at 
 present in use. The fruit was collected, 
 bruised by the feet, and subjected to pres- 
 sure, as now practised.* Both Greeks and 
 Romans appear to have frequently concen- 
 trated their wines, either by spontaneous 
 evaporation, or by boiling. For this pur- 
 pose, the wine was sometimes introduced 
 into bladders or large jars, and exposed in 
 the chimney to the heat of fire, or in the 
 upper parts of the house to the heat of the 
 sun. Sometimes the fruit was converted 
 into raisins by drying, and the wine pre- 
 pared from such fruit was denominated pas- 
 sum. At other times, the must was reduced 
 by boiling to one half. This formed the 
 
 * Of this we have scriptural testimony : "Where- 
 fore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy gar- 
 ments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat ?" — 
 " I have trodden the wine-press alone." — Isaiah, 
 chap, lxiii. v. 2, 3. 
 
18 WINES OF THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 vinum defrwctwn : occasionally even to one 
 third, when it was termed sapa. By one, 
 or perhaps more, of these methods, the wines 
 were reduced to the state of syrup, or in 
 some instances even to dryness, and were 
 capable of being preserved a very long time. 
 Thus, Aristotle states, that the Arcadian 
 wines required to be diluted with water be- 
 fore they were drunk, as indeed was the 
 case with most of the ancient wines ; and 
 Pliny speaks of wines as thick as honey, 
 which it was necessary to dissolve in warm 
 water, and filter through linen before they 
 were used. These remarks apply chiefly 
 to very old wines* Thus, that compared to 
 honey had been made two hundred years ; 
 and wines of a hundred years old and up- 
 
 * The passion for old wine has been carried to 
 a very ridiculous excess among the moderns. At 
 Bremen there is a wine cellar, called the Store, 
 where five hogsheads of Rhenish wine have been 
 preserved since the year 1625, or 204 years. 
 These five hogsheads cost 1200 francs, or £50. 
 Had this sum been put out to compound interest, 
 each hogshead would now be worth above a thou- 
 sand millions of money : a bottle of this precious 
 wine would cost 21,799,480 francs, or about 
 £908,311; and a single wine-glass, 2,723,808 
 francs, or about £l 13,492 I 
 
WINES OF THE ANCIENTS. 19 
 
 wards seem not to have been uncommon 
 among- the luxurious citizens of ancient 
 Rome. Indeed, seven years was the short- 
 est period, according to Aristotle and 
 Galen, ior keeping wine before it was fit for 
 drinking. The ancients, too, were as fond 
 of giving their wines an artificial flavor, as 
 are the moderns ; and for this purpose, the 
 former introduced pitch, turpentine,* and 
 different herbs, into the must ; a practice 
 still followed by the modern Greeks. 
 
 Such are a few of the facts known re- 
 specting the manufacture of celebrated an- 
 cient wines; which, as Chaptal justly re- 
 marks, appear in general to have rather 
 deserved the name of extracts, or syrups, 
 than wines. They must have been sweet, 
 and little fermented, and consequently have 
 contained a very small portion of alcohol. 
 
 The earliest of the Greek wines was the 
 Maronean, a sweet black wine, which Ho- 
 mer describes as " rich, unadulterate, and 
 fit drink for the gods," and as so potent, 
 that it was usually mixed with twenty mea- 
 
 * Probably with the Chio turpentine, now used 
 in medicine, and to be purchased at the druggists. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 WINES OF THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 sures of water. Nearly of equal antiquity 
 was the Pramnian, a strong, hard, astrin- 
 gent, red wine, from the island of Icarus. 
 It may be compared to our Port wine ; like 
 which, also, it was often used medicinally, 
 and on that account was sometimes called 
 pharmacites. The best Greek wines, how- 
 ever, and which surpassed those of all other 
 nations, were the sweet luscious wines, the 
 products of the Ionian and the Egean seas; 
 particularly Lesbos, Chios, and Thasos. 
 They were wines of a pale amber color, with 
 much odour, and a high flavor. ThePhanean, 
 which is extolled by Virgil, as the " king 
 of wines," was from Chios. The lighter 
 wines were the Medean, the Argitis, and 
 the Omphacites : but the Greeks were also 
 familiar with the African and Asiatic wines, 
 several of which were in high reputation. 
 According to Florentinus, some of the Bi- 
 thynian wines, but especially that procured 
 from a species of grape called Mersites, were 
 of the choicest quality : the wines of Byblos, 
 in Phoenicia, on the other hand, vied in 
 fragrancy with the Lesbian ; and if we may 
 confide in the report of Athenaeus, the white 
 wines of Mareotis and Taenia, in Lower 
 
WINES OF THE ANCIENTS. 21 
 
 Egypt, were of almost unrivalled excellence. 
 The former, which was sometimes called 
 Alexandrian, from the neighbouring terri- 
 tory, was a light, sweetish, white wine, with 
 a delicate perfume, of easy digestion, and 
 not apt to affect the head ; though the allu- 
 sion of Horace to its influence on the mind 
 of Cleopatra, would seem to imply that it 
 had not always preserved its innocuous 
 quality. The wine of Meroe, however, 
 which was produced at the feast given by 
 Caesar to that voluptuous female, would ap- 
 pear to have been in still higher estimation, 
 and to have borne some resemblance to the 
 Falernian. The Tseniotic, on the other 
 hand which derived its name from the nar- 
 row slip of land where it grew, was a grey 
 or greenish wine, of a greater consistence, 
 and more luscious taste than the Mareotic, 
 but accompanied with some degree of as- 
 tringency, and a rich aromatic odour. The 
 wine of Antylla, also the produce of the vi- 
 cinity of Alexandria, was the only remain- 
 ing growth from among the numerous vine- 
 yards which adorned the banks of the Nile, 
 that attained any degree of celebrity. 
 
 The wines of ancient Italy were even 
 
22 WINES OF THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 more celebrated than those of Greece. The 
 choicest of the Roman wines were the Mas- 
 sic and Falernian. " No wine," says Dr. 
 Henderson, " has ever acquired such exten- 
 sive celebrity as the Falernian; or more 
 truly merited the n ame of" immortal," which 
 Martial has conferred upon it. At least, of 
 all ancient wines, it is the one most gene- 
 rally known in modern times. But although 
 the name is thus familiar to every one, 
 scarcely any attempt has been made to de- 
 termine the exact nature and properties of 
 the liquor ; and little more is understood 
 concerning it, than that the ancients valued 
 it highly, kept it until it became very old, 
 and produced it only when they wished to 
 regale their dearest friends. All writers, 
 however, agree in describing the Falernian 
 wine as very strong and durable, and rough 
 in its recent state; — that it could not be 
 drunk with pleasure, but required to be kept 
 a great number of years before it was suffi- 
 ciently mellow. Horace even terms it a 
 " fiery" wine, and calls for water from the 
 spring to moderate its strength ; and Per- 
 sius applies to it the epithet " indomitum," 
 probably in allusion to its heady quality.— 
 
WINES OF THE ANCIENTS. 23 
 
 From Galen's account, it appears to have 
 been in condition only from the tenth to the 
 twentieth year ; and afterwards it was apt 
 to contract an unpleasant bitterness ; yet 
 we may suppose that, when of a good vin- 
 tage, and especially when procured in glass 
 bottles, it would keep much longer, without 
 having its flavor impaired. Horace, who 
 was a lover of old wine, proposes, in a well- 
 known ode, to broach an amphora which 
 was coeval with himself, and which, there- 
 fore, probably, was not less than thirty-six 
 years old. As he bestows the highest com- 
 mendation on this sample, ascribing to it 
 all the virtues of the choicest vintage, and 
 pronouncing it truly worthy to be produced 
 on so happy a day, we must believe it to 
 have been really of excellent quality. In 
 general, however, it probably suffered more 
 or less from the mode in which it was kept ; 
 and those whose taste was not perverted by 
 their rage for high-dried wines, preferred it 
 in its middle state." 
 
 Among our present wines, Dr. Henderson 
 has no hesitation in fixing upon those of 
 Xeres and Madeira, as the two to which the 
 Falernian offers the most distinct features 
 
24 WINES OF THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 of resemblance. Both are straw-colored 
 wines, assuming a deeper tint from age, or 
 from particular circumstances in the quality, 
 or management, of the vintage. Both of 
 them present the several varieties of dry, 
 stout, and light. Both of them are exceed- 
 ingly strong and durable wines ; being, when 
 new, very rough, harsh, and fiery, and re- 
 quiring to be kept about the same length of 
 time as the Falernian, before they attain a 
 due degree of mellowness. Of the two, how- 
 ever, the more palpable dryness and bitter 
 sweet flavor of Sherry might incline us to 
 decide, that it approached most nearly to 
 the wine under consideration ; and it is 
 worthy of remark, that the same difference 
 in the produce of the fermentation is ob- 
 servable in the Xeres vintages, as that which 
 Galen has noticed with respect to the Faler- 
 nian ; it being impossible always to predict 
 with certainty, whether the result will be a 
 dry wine, or a sweetish wine, resembling 
 Paxarite. But, on the other hand, the soil 
 of Madeira is more analogous to that of the 
 Campagna Felice ; and thence we may con- 
 clude, that the flavor and aroma of its wines 
 are similar. Sicily, which is also a volcanic 
 
WINES OF THE ANCIENTS. 25 
 
 country, supplies several growths which an 
 inexperienced judge would very readily mis- 
 take for those of the former island. Another 
 point of coincidence is deserving of notice : 
 both Xeres and Madeira wines are, as is well 
 known, infinitely improved by being trans- 
 ported to a warm climate ; and latterly it 
 has become a common practice, among the 
 dealers in the island, to force the Madeira 
 wines by a process which is absolutely iden- 
 tical with the ancient operation of the fu- 
 mar'ium. If Madeira, or Sherry, but parti- 
 cularly the latter, were kept in earthern 
 jars until it was reduced to the consistence 
 of honey, there can be little doubt that the 
 taste would become so intensely bitter, as 
 to be " intolerable," an epithet applied by 
 Cicero to Falernian. 
 
 Among the other wines of the Roman 
 territory, may be noticed the Sabinum, the 
 Nonuntanum, (which resembled Claret) Ve- 
 nafranum, the wine of Spoletum, distin- 
 guished by its bright golden color, the wines 
 of Mamostinum, in Sicily, the Pollium of 
 Syracuse, the growths of Cassina, Liguria, 
 and the territory of Verona; the Gallic 
 wines of Dauphiny, Marseilles, and Nar- 
 
26 WINES OF THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 bonne ; with those obtained from the violet- 
 scented grape of Vienna, and the rich Mus- 
 cat of Languedoc. From the valuable source 
 already quoted, we could likewise add many 
 curious facts with respect to the consump- 
 tion of wine at Rome, the dilution of ancient 
 wines, and the method of iceing the juice of 
 the grape, employed by the epicures of the 
 eternal city. On the use of wine at the 
 banquets of the Greeks and Romans, much 
 amusing information might also be quoted. 
 The extent to which they carried the plea- 
 sures of the table, their self-indulgence and 
 ostentation, devoid of hospitality, will not, 
 however, enhance the veneration with which 
 we are accustomed to consider these won- 
 derful people. 
 
FRENCH WINES, 
 
 The classification of wines is a task of 
 no trifling difficulty ; and, accordingly, va- 
 rious methods have been adopted to ensure 
 its accuracy. M. Jullien, the editor of the 
 Revue Encyclopedique, at Paris, has at- 
 tempted to arrange wines in genera, or or- 
 ders, deterenined by the qualities of sweet- 
 ness, dryness, body, and color ; and species, 
 by the comparative excellence of their 
 qualities. Dr. Henderson, however, prefers 
 the division of wine into two principal 
 classes, viz. Red and White, which may 
 be again separated into two orders, Dry 
 and Sweet ; while the genera are made to 
 depend on the distinctive characters derived 
 from soil and climate, the species on parti- 
 cular localities, and the varieties on the re- 
 spective qualities of the different growths. 
 
28 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 According to the latter arrangement, we 
 shall attempt an outline history of the dif- 
 ferent modern wines of Europe, beginning 
 with those of France. 
 
 We are told by Posidonius and Strabo, 
 that the vine was partially cultivated in the 
 south of Gaul ; yet it does not appear that 
 its culture was general, even at the time of 
 Columella, who wrote in the first century 
 after Christ. It nevertheless afterwards 
 became so ; and even Normandy, Picardy, 
 and Brittany, provinces in which the vine, 
 as in England, has yielded to crops more 
 suitable to the climate, produced their vines ; 
 but they were sour and harsh, in conse- 
 quence of the cold winds and fogs to which 
 these countries are exposed. In the wine 
 districts of France, however, every advan- 
 tage which can be desired for the perfection 
 of the vine, is found : for example, every 
 species of strata that is congenial, much di- 
 versity of surface, and consequently the 
 most favorable exposures, and a sufficient 
 range of temperature to occasion the great- 
 est variety in the character of the grapes. 
 The French, therefore, by the improvement 
 of these gifts of nature, at present deservedly 
 
FRENCH WINES. 29 
 
 rank as tlie first ivtne makers in the world. 
 According to Count Chaptal's calculations, 
 in the year 1808, the land in France occu- 
 pied by vines amounted to 1,639,939 hec- 
 tares, or 3,988,974 acres. The average 
 production of wine was 35,358,890 hecto- 
 litres, or934,184,500 gallons, and the value 
 of the whole 718,941,675 francs, or upwards 
 of twenty-eight millions sterling*.* 
 
 The wines of Champagne, of Burgundy, 
 Dauphiny, and Bordelais, are decidedly the 
 best which France now supplies ; to which 
 may be added those of Languedoc and 
 Roussillon. 
 
 * In tracing the history of French wines, we 
 find that many vineyards, which have little or no 
 repute, were in former times renowned for the ex- 
 cellence of then growths ; while those which of late 
 years have maintained the greatest celebrity, were 
 then unknown or almost unnoticed. Thus, the 
 wines of Orleans and the Isle of France were at 
 one time in greater estimation than those of Bur- 
 gundy and Champagne ; and even Mantes, which 
 is on the borders of Normandy, was famed for the 
 produce of its wines. These changes are attributed 
 chiefly to transfers of property, particularly from 
 the church to the laity, and the changes of ma- 
 nagement consequently introduced. 
 
30 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 The wines of Champagne* are commonly 
 divided (following a distinction occurring 
 so early as the 19th century) into River 
 Wines, — vins de la riviere de Marne, which 
 are for the most part white • and Mountain 
 Wines — vins de la mmtagne de Reims, which 
 are red. The former are for the most part 
 brisk or sparkling wines, and distinguished 
 by their delicate flavor and aroma. But the 
 briskest wines are not always the best, and 
 unless they are very strong, much of the al- 
 cohol is carried off with the carbonic acid 
 gas, which occasions the froth. Hence the 
 slightly frothing wines fcremans, or demi- 
 mousseux) are preferred by connoisseurs. 
 Sillery, which has obtained its name from 
 the vineyards which yield it, formerly be- 
 longed to the Marquis of Sillery, and holds 
 the first rank among the white wines of 
 Champagne. It was brought into vogue 
 
 * If wine be bottled before the fermentation is 
 completed, part of the sugar remains undecomposed, 
 the fermentation will go on slowly in the bottle, and 
 on drawing the cork, the wine sparkles in the 
 glass, as, for example, in Champagne. 
 
 In Champagne wines the red are generally in- 
 ferior, because the species of fermentation required 
 to extract the color, dissipates part of the flavor. 
 
FRENCH WINES. 31 
 
 by the peculiar care bestowed on the manu- 
 facture by the Marechale d'Estrees, and was 
 long known by the name of Vin de la Mare- 
 chale. The most celebrated of the river, or 
 white, wines, strictly so called, is that of 
 Ay, the vinum del of Bandius ; but Dr. Hen- 
 derson thinks that the wine of Closet, a 
 small vineyard which lies in the bosom of 
 the hill to the south-west of Epernay, yields 
 a wine fully equal to that of Ay. Similar 
 to the wine of Ay also are those of the ter- 
 ritories of Mareuil and Dizy ; while those 
 of Hautvilliers, Cramant, Avise, Oger, Me- 
 nil, and Pierry, are decidedly inferior. 
 
 Of the Reims, Mountain, or red wines, 
 those of Verzy, Verznay, Mailly, Bouzey, 
 and St. Basle, are most esteemed. But the 
 St. Clos, and St. Thierry, furnish the only 
 red wine that can be said to unite the rich 
 color and aroma of Burgundy with the de- 
 licate lightness of Champagne. The soils 
 throughout Champagne are composed of a 
 loose marl resting on beds of chalk, and in 
 some places mixed with flints ; but the ex- 
 posures are not favorable, and even the 
 Sillery and Mountain red wines, are almost 
 all grown on the northern or eastern decli- 
 
32 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 vities of the hills. The best Champagne 
 wines will retain their good qualities from 
 ten to twenty years, if kept in a temperature 
 of 54° Fahrenheit, which is that uniformly 
 maintained in the vaults of M. Moet, at 
 Epernay. The white wines of Arbois and 
 Papillon, in the department of Jura, resem- 
 ble those of Champagne in many of their 
 qualities; but they are not managed with 
 the same care, and do not equal the first 
 rate growths of Champagne. In 1778, a 
 verdict of the faculty of Paris pronounced 
 Champagne to be the finest of all wines. 
 
 The wines of Burgundy, as far as re- 
 gards richness of flavor and perfume, and 
 all the most delicate qualities of the juice of 
 the grape, are more perfect than those of 
 Champagne. Accordingly, the dukes of 
 Burgundy merit their ancient designation of 
 "princes des bons vim." The choicest of the 
 Burgundy wines is that of Komanee Conti, 
 a wine scarcely known in England, and pro- 
 duced in small quantities, the vineyard being 
 not more than six and a half English acres 
 in extent. The next was that of the Clos- 
 Vougeot, when that small domain was the 
 property of the church ; but it is now con- 
 
FRENCH WINES. 33 
 
 sidered as the third or fourth growth, and 
 is surpassed hy those of the Romanee de 
 St. Vivant, Massigny, Clos de Premeau, and 
 some others : some, however, obtained from 
 a vineyard in the vicinity of Dijon, is said 
 to surpass all the other growths of the Cote 
 d'Or, and has been sold, on the spot, at the 
 enormous price of twelve francs the bottle. 
 Under the name of Macon, which is the red 
 Burgundy best known in England, is com- 
 prehended, not only the growths of the Ma- 
 connais, but also the chief part of the Beau- 
 jolais, forming a tract of the department of 
 the Rhone. These wines are all red ; but the 
 white wines of Burgundy, although less 
 known than the red, maintain the highest 
 rank among the French white wines. The 
 best is the Mont-Itachet wine, famous for its 
 high perfume and agreeable nutty flavour. 
 Of this wine there are three varieties, the 
 last of which sells for only one third of the 
 price of the first. Yet, says Dr. Henderson, 
 these three qualities are produced from vine- 
 yards which are only separated from one 
 another by a foot-path; which have the 
 same exposure and apparently the same 
 soil; in which the same species of vines are 
 
 D 
 
34 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 cultivated, and which are managed in every 
 respect precisely in the same manner. 
 
 The wines of Dauphiny are among the 
 most ancient in France ; but the celebrity 
 of some of them, the Condrieux, the Her- 
 mitage, and the Cote Rotie, is of very recent 
 date. The Hermitage, which derives its 
 name from the ruins of a hermitage on the 
 rock on which the vineyard is situated, is 
 both red and white ; the former being the 
 production of the siras, and the latter that 
 of the Marsanne and romanne grapes. The 
 Cote Rotie resembles the Hermitage in fla- 
 vor and perfume ; and the department of 
 Vaucluse furnishes a few growths analogous 
 to both, but inferior in quality. Dauphiny 
 yields also a luscious wine, resembling the 
 best Con stan tia. It is made from the ripest 
 grapes, which are hung up, or spread upon 
 straw, for six or eight weeks, or until they 
 become half dried ; from which circumstance 
 the liquor obtained from these is named 
 Straw Wine (vln de paille.) Lunel is like- 
 wise from this district. 
 
 Languedoc,* Provence, and Roussillon, 
 
 * The canal of Languecloc, by which means 
 
FRENCH WINES. 35 
 
 from their climate and soil, might be ex- 
 pected to surpass the more northern depart- 
 ments in the production of the grape ; yet 
 neither of these districts supplies wine equal 
 or approaching to the best vintages of the 
 Hermitage, or of the Cote Rotie. They are, 
 however, superior in the class of sweet 
 wines. 
 
 The wines of Tavel, Chuzclan, St. Geniez, 
 Lirac, and St. Lawrence, are the best of the 
 red wines of Languedoc. They have a 
 bright rose tint. The red wines of Roussil- 
 lon are the strongest and most durable that 
 France produces : the choicest are those of 
 Bagnols, Cosperon, and Collioure. The 
 wines of Provence are of very ordinary 
 quality. Among the dry, white wines of 
 these districts, are the Bivesaltes, and the 
 Frontignan, the former of which Dr. Hen- 
 derson thinks too little prized in this coun- 
 try. When sufficiently matured by age, it 
 is of a bright golden color, and has an oily 
 
 much of the wine-trade is earned on, is 152 miles 
 long, and six feet deep. It was finished during 
 the reign of Louis XIV, at an expense of about 
 £650,000. It has 100 locks, and its summit 
 level is 639 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
36 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 smoothness, a fragrant aroma, and a delicate 
 flavor of the quince, by which it is distin- 
 guished from all other sweet, or Muscadine 
 wines. 
 
 The wines of Gascony and Guienne are 
 better known, by name, in England, than 
 any other of those of the French vineyards. 
 Thus, the vineyards of the Bordelais are 
 those of Medoc, Grave, Palus, and Vignes 
 Blanches, which furnish the prime wines. 
 Medoc comprehends the vineyards of Lafitte 
 and Latour, Leoville, Chateau-Margaux, 
 and Rausan. The white wines are St. Bris, 
 Carbonnieux, Sauterne,Barsac and Preinac. 
 The names of the greater part of these are 
 familiar to English ears ; but the genuine 
 wines are seldom drunk here, owing to the 
 trickery of the Bordeaux merchants, in 
 adapting them for different markets. Thus, 
 the strong rough growths of the Palus, and 
 other districts, are frequently bought up, 
 for the purpose of strengthening the ordi- 
 nary wines of Medoc ; and there is even a 
 particular manufacture, called travail a 
 VAnglaise, which consists in adding to each 
 hogshead of genuine Bordeaux wine, three 
 or four gallons of Benicarlo, half a gallon 
 
FRENCH WINES. 37 
 
 of stum wine, and sometimes a small quan- 
 tity of Hermitage. This mixture undergoes 
 a slight degree of fermentation ; and when 
 the whole is sufficiently fretted, it is ex- 
 ported under the name of claret. Some- 
 times to that intended for England a small 
 quantity of raspberry brandy is added.* A 
 
 * Choice Claret is one of the wine-drinker's 
 finest luxuries ; and to give the reader some 
 idea of its cost, we subjoin the following accurate 
 information regarding the expenses attending the 
 importation of genuine first growth wine into this 
 country; also respecting the price at which the 
 wine-merchant can, with a fair profit, afford to sell 
 it to his consumers. This information is from a 
 valuable little treatise on the wines of Bordeaux, 
 by Mr. Paguierre, a retired wine-broker resident 
 there : — 
 
 Average price, charged by the first £. s. d. 
 houses at Bordeaux, per hhd. for 
 first growth wine of a prime vintage 50 
 Insurance and freight . . , . . 1 
 
 Landing charges 
 
 Duty, at Is. 3d. per gallon .... 16 
 Bottles, corks, wax, &c 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 73 3 6 
 
 Interest, expense of premises, &c. to 
 
 time of sale, 8| per cent .... 6 4 4 
 
 £79 7 10 
 
38 FEENCH WINES. 
 
 great proportion of the wine, however, which 
 is drunk under this denomination, is nothing 
 but the vin ordinaire, or, at best, the second- 
 ary growths of the country ; for the prime 
 growths fall far short of the demand which 
 prevails for these wines, not only in this 
 kingdom, but in Flanders, Holland, the 
 
 This sum (equal to about 3/. 10s. 6d. per dozen) 
 is, then, what the wine actually costs the importer 
 before he can bring it to market; but, as he must 
 have a profit on his business, he should get some- 
 thing more than this, even when the wine is sold 
 immediately; and, if he kept it to acquire age, he 
 must, besides, be paid for his risk, and the locking 
 up of his capital, as well as all the other charges 
 affecting his business. 
 
 If what is here stated be just — and we think it 
 cannot be proved to be otherwise — it must be a 
 mere delusion in any person in this country to 
 suppose he can get first growth wine of a fine 
 vintage, below the rate current among respectable 
 merchants. It is true that, at this moment, we 
 may purchase at Bordeaux, from some shipping 
 houses, warranted Chateau-Mar g aux , vintage 
 1825, at 1000 francs per hogshead; but, as it is 
 perfectly well known that the whole produce of 
 that estate was sold immediately after the vintage 
 at very nearly that price, and that, after near three 
 years keeping, 1000 francs is a fair price for good 
 third growth wine, we may judge what degree of 
 confidence can be had in such warranters and their 
 warranty. 
 
FRENCH WINES. 39 
 
 north of Europe, and the East and West 
 Indies. In favourable years, the produce 
 of Lafitte, Latour, and Chateau-Margaux, 
 sells at from 3000 to 3,300 francs (£125 to 
 £137. 10s.) the tun, which contains 242 gal- 
 lons ; and when these wines have been in the 
 chais, or vault, for six years, the price is 
 doubled, so that, even at Bordeaux, a bottle 
 of the best wine cannot be purchased at less 
 than six francs (five shillings). "During 
 " twenty years that I have been living at 
 " Bordeaux," says one of Roziere's corres- 
 pondents, " I have not tasted three times 
 u any wine of the first quality ; yet I am in 
 " the way of knowing it, and getting it 
 " when it is to be had. The wines of the 
 " year 1784 were so superior to those of other 
 " years, that I have never since met with any 
 " like them." 
 
 Of the Red wines of Bordeaux the 
 Lafitte is the most choice and delicate, and 
 is characterized by its silky softness on the 
 palate and its charming perfume, which 
 partakes of the violet and the raspberry. 
 The Latour has a fuller body, and at the 
 same time a considerable aroma, but wants 
 the softness of the Lafitte. The Chateau 
 
40 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 Margaux is, on the other hand, lighter, 
 and possesses all the delicate qualities of 
 the Lafitte, except that it has not quite so 
 high a flavour. The Haut-Brion, again, 
 has more spirit and body than any of the 
 preceding, but it is rough, when used, and 
 requires to he kept six or seven years in the 
 wood; while the others become fit for 
 bottling in much less time. These are the 
 first-rate wines of the Bordelais. Among 
 the second-rate, that of Rozan, in the parish 
 ofSt.Margaux, approaches in some respects 
 to the growths of the Chateau-Margaux ? 
 while that of Gorce in the same territory, 
 is little inferior to the Latour. . 
 
 The white wines of Bordeaux are of two 
 kinds: those called Graves, which have a 
 dry, flinty taste, and an aroma somewhat 
 resembling cloves; and those made at Sau- 
 terne, Barsac, Preignac, and Beaumes. 
 The choicest Grave wines are from St. Bris 
 and Carbonnieux, Villenave-en-Rions, and 
 Pontac andDulamon. The other Grave wines 
 are more ordinary; in four years they may 
 be put in bottle. They have this inconve- 
 nience, that if a bottle remain some hours 
 open, the wine tarnishes and becomes black 
 
FRENCH WINES. 41 
 
 in colour. Sauterne is in much repute at 
 Paris, and in the interior of France. It has 
 not quite so much strength as Barsac ; but 
 is very fine and mellow. Barsac is distin- 
 guished by its strength and flavour in good 
 years, and is generally lively and sparkling, 
 and very mellow. This wine is much 
 drunk in Russia, and all the north. The 
 Preignac wines are divided into three 
 classes : the first is very agreeable, strong, 
 and has a particular flavour. When old, 
 they are fiery, and have a fine almond after- 
 taste. They are much drunk in Prussia and 
 Russia, Denmark and Sweden. All these 
 wines keep very well, with an amber 
 colour, and a very dry taste, as they get 
 old. Some Sauterne that dates from the 
 middle of the last century, is said to be 
 still in existence. 
 
 From this succinct view of the principal 
 wines of France, we pass to some account 
 of their 
 
 MANUFACTURE. 
 
 As the details of the respective processes 
 would occupy too large a portion of our 
 
42 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 pages, we can only admit those of Cham- 
 pagne, and Bordeaux. In Champagne, the 
 middle grounds, and those which face the 
 south, as at Ay and Hautvilliers, generally 
 furnish the best grapes ; and the wines 
 which are produced from vineyards with an 
 eastern or western aspect are usually valued 
 one third less; Sillery and Mountain red 
 wines are almost all grown on the northern 
 and eastern declivity of the hills. All the 
 best vines of these territories are old, though 
 they have the appearance of young plants. 
 They are trained very low, seldom rising 
 more than 18 inches, and are planted about 
 the same distance asunder. In March 
 they are pruned to within three or four 
 eyes, and the stalk is pressed down an 
 inch or two towards the hill. Every three 
 or four years, however, the whole is 
 buried in the same direction, leaving only 
 two or three eyes above the surface, 
 at the extremities of the branches. Then 
 follows the first dressing. Another is 
 given in May, and, in some places, a 
 third, later in the season. The plants 
 generally cultivated, are pineau and plant 
 odre ; the former giving the best quality of 
 
FRENCH WINES. 43 
 
 wine. Latterly a new species called the 
 plant vert, has been introduced, which is 
 said to be less apt to drop its fruit than the 
 other kinds. 
 
 For the manufacture of white Champagne 
 wines, black grapes are now generally 
 used. They are picked with great care, those 
 which are unripe, shrivelled, or rotten, being 
 rejected: they are gathered in the morning, 
 while the dew is yet upon them; and it is 
 remarked, that when the weather happens 
 to be foggy at the time of the vintage, the 
 produce of the fermentation is considerably 
 increased. They are then pressed rapidly, 
 which occupies about an hour. The wine 
 obtained from this first operation is called 
 vin d'elite, and is always kept apart from 
 the rest. After the edges of the must have 
 been cut, and turned into the middle, 
 another pressing takes place, which fur- 
 nishes the vin de taille; and the repetition 
 of these processes gives the vin de deuxieme 
 taille or tisanne. The liquor procured by 
 these successive pressings is collected, as it 
 flows, in small vats, from which it is re- 
 moved, early on the following day, into 
 puncheons which have been previously 
 
44 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 sulphured. In these the must undergoes a 
 brisk fermentation, and is allowed to remain 
 till towards the end of December, when it 
 becomes bright. It is then raked, and 
 fined with isinglass; and in less than a 
 month or six weeks more, is raked and 
 fined a second time. In the month of 
 March it is put into bottle. After it has 
 been about six weeks in bottle, it becomes 
 brisk, and towards autumn, the fermenta- 
 tion is so powerful as to occasion a con- 
 siderable loss, by the bursting of the bottles; 
 but after the first year such accidents rarely 
 happen. A sediment, however, is generally 
 formed on the lower side of the bottle, 
 which it becomes neeessary to remove, 
 especially if the wine be intended for expor- 
 tation. This is accomplished either by 
 raking the wine into fresh bottles, or, if it 
 be already brisk, allowing the sediment to 
 settle in the neck of the bottle, from which 
 it is forced out on drawing the cork. These 
 operations, and the loss sustained by them, 
 and by the bursting of the bottles, which is 
 seldom less than 25 per cent, necessarily 
 enhance the price of the wine. The Sillery 
 
FRENCH WINES. 45 
 
 wines are kept in the wood from one to 
 three years before they are bottled. 
 
 In manufacturing pink Champagne, the 
 grapes are first slightly trodden and freed 
 from the stalks, and the fermentation is 
 allowed to commence before they are 
 pressed, in order to facilitate the solution of 
 the colouring matter. After this, the pro- 
 cess is managed in the same way as with 
 the white wines* 
 
 In manufacturing red wines, the grapes 
 are trodden before they are introduced into 
 the vat. The wines of the higher grounds 
 are generally put into bottles in the 
 November following the vintage; but the 
 produce of Clos St. Thierry will improve by 
 being allowed to remain on its lees a year 
 or two longer. 
 
 All these wines, says Dr. Henderson, 
 when well made and placed in cool cellars, 
 will retain their qualities from ten to 
 twenty years ; the creaming wine of Ay 
 
 * Henderson's History of Wines, 4to. At 
 present pink Champagne is less in request than 
 the colourless. An inferior sort is manufactured, 
 by adding a few drops of decoction of elderberries 
 with cream of tartar. 
 
46 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 has been known to keep, and continue 
 to improve even for a longer period. The 
 vaults in which they are stored at Reims, 
 Epernay, Avise, &c. are excavated in a rock 
 to the depth of 30 or 40 feet. In those of M. 
 Meet at Epernay, which are the best and most 
 extensive, the thermometer is generally 54° 
 Fahrenheit, and the variation from winter 
 to summer does not amount to one degree. 
 
 The manufacture of the Red and White 
 wines of Bordeaux may be thus briefly 
 explained : — The vine-dresser ought to 
 seize the proper time when the vine has 
 come to perfect maturity, to gather the 
 grapes so as to make good wine. The 
 wine, if it has succeeded, ought to be clear, 
 transparent, of a fine soft colour, a lively 
 smell, and balsamic taste, slightly piquant, 
 but agreeable, inclining to that of the 
 raspberry, violet, or mignonette, filling the 
 mouth, and passing without irritating the 
 throat, giving a gentle heat to the stomach, 
 and not getting too quickly into the head. 
 
 The proprietors of the vineyards, after 
 having prepared the wine-vessels, and 
 cleansed and rinsed them with spirits of 
 
FRENCH WINES. 47 
 
 three-sixths* or with brandy, gather the 
 grapes together, and pick them. This is 
 done as soon as they are gathered. Their 
 first care is to make a principal vat of the 
 best fruit, which is called the mother cask 
 fcuve mere], into which, after picking, they 
 put the first and best grapes which arrive, 
 till they are from fifteen to twenty inches 
 deep; after which, they throw about two 
 gallons of old Cognac or Armagnac upon 
 them, and then another bed of picked 
 grapes, followed by two gallons more of 
 brandy, and so on till the vat is full. When 
 full, they throw two or four gallons of 
 spirits of trois-siv, according to the size of 
 the vat, taking for proportion about four 
 gallons 3-6 ths for a wine-vat from thirty 
 to thirty-six tun. 
 
 In the very bad years, such as 1816, 1817, 
 or 1826, the crop not being able to ripen, 
 and the juice unable to enter into fermen- 
 tation, it was necessary to excite it by 
 artificial heat from chafing dishes, &c; but 
 this seldom happens. 
 
 * Esprit de trois six, is the spirit of wine of the 
 highest proof. 
 
48 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 The cuve mere being filled, it is shut 
 hermetically, and is well covered with 
 blankets, in order that the air may not 
 penetrate. The vat is left in this state for 
 three weeks or a month without being- 
 touched ; taking care to visit it from time 
 to time in case of accident. A small brass 
 cock is put in the side of the vat, at about 
 the height of a third of its depth from the 
 bottom, in order to be able to judge of 
 the progress of the fermentation, and to 
 know the moment when, the ebullition 
 having subsided, it may be racked off and 
 put into casks, prepared beforehand by 
 scalding and rinsing with a little spirits of 
 trois six. 
 
 It is known that the liquor is fit to be 
 drawn off, when it has become cool and is 
 sufficiently clear. 
 
 While the cuve mere is at work, the vin- 
 tage is continued in the usual manner: viz. 
 as the grapes are brought in and picked, 
 they are trodden in the press, and put with 
 their stalks into the vats, where the fermen- 
 tation takes place naturally. These vessels 
 are not entirely filled ; about one foot or 
 
FRENCH WINES. 49 
 
 fifteen inches are left for the fermentation, 
 which sometimes overflows, especially when 
 the vintage has attained perfect maturity. 
 
 The vintage being finished, and the vats 
 covered lightly, they are left to ferment, 
 taking care to visit them twice a-clay. To 
 rack them, you must wait till they are 
 quite cold, which is from eight to twelve 
 days. 
 
 In making the white wine, the grapes 
 are trodden, and when taken from the 
 press, the juice, skins, and seeds are put 
 into the casks (the stalks separated) ; here 
 it ferments, and becomes wine of itself. 
 When the fermentation has entirely ceased, 
 it is racked off. 
 
 To make Muscat Wines, the grapes, (as 
 with other white wines) are left till quite ripe, 
 and the stalks of the bunches are twisted on 
 the vine, till they become withered and dried 
 in the sun ; the grapes are afterwards 
 gathered, pressed, and the must is left to 
 fennent ; but as this juice is glutinous and 
 syrupy, the sun having deprived it of a 
 great part of its water, the operation takes 
 place imperfectly. Muscat wine can thus 
 only be made in warm countries, as in Lan- 
 E 
 
50 FRENCH WINES, 
 
 guedoc and Provence, where the sun has 
 great force. The best wines are from Fron- 
 tignan and Lunel : to be good they ought 
 to be rather pale, white, glutinous, of a 
 musky odour, having a sweet and strong 
 taste. 
 
 Such is an outline of the manufacture of 
 the principal wines of France. Our next 
 point is to familiarize the reader with the 
 best methods for their 
 
 MANAGEMENT. 
 
 The first object to be attended to previous 
 to laying in a stock of French wines, is to 
 provide a good cellar. The exposition ought 
 to be north, if possible ; it should be pro- 
 perly ventilated, and as quiet is a grand 
 requisite in keeping French wines, — a cellar 
 under the house is preferable to one 
 under the street: it should be kept con- 
 stantly clean and free from cobwebs. 
 Any unpleasant smell in the cellar when 
 French wines are bottling, is calculated to 
 spoil them, so delicate are the finer kinds, 
 and so susceptible are they of being affected 
 by any offensive odour in the atmosphere. 
 The cellar ought to be of an equal tempera- 
 
FRENCH WINES. 
 
 ture all the year round ; if damp, it is very 
 injurious to the quality of the wines. In 
 this case, they ought to be ranged in the 
 bins, at least three inches from the wall, 
 and the first layer on pieces of wood, so as 
 not to touch the ground : and if the cellar 
 be very damp, the roof and walls ought to 
 be covered with lead, so that all the humid- 
 ity may be collected ; a channel ought also 
 to be made, to carry it off out of the cellar. 
 
 Count Chaptal, in his Art of Making 
 Wines, thus expresses himself on the care 
 to be taken in the Choice of a Cellar : — 
 
 " 1. The exposure ought to be north, as 
 " the temperature is then less variable than 
 " when the openings are towards the south. 
 
 "2. It ought to be deep enough to allow 
 " the temperature to be always the same. 
 
 " 3. The humidity ought to be regular, 
 " without being excessive. When too 
 " damp, the paper, corks, and casks, become 
 " mouldy ; if too dry, the casks will give 
 " way, and the wine will exude, 
 
 " 4. The light ought to be moderate : a 
 i( strong light dries too much, and total 
 6c darkness, or nearly so, rots every thing. 
 
52 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 " 5. The cellar ought to be free from all 
 " shocks : motion, or sudden agitation, or 
 " the shaking occasioned by the passage of 
 " carriages in the street, stirs up the lees, 
 " which incorporate again with the wine 
 " and remain suspended in it, and thereby 
 " often turn the wine sour. Thunder, and 
 " all sudden shocks, are calculated to pro- 
 " duce the same effect. 
 
 " 6. Green wood, vinegar, and all matters 
 " susceptible of fermentation, ought care- 
 " fully to be removed from the cellar. 
 
 " 7. The rays of the sun, if they enter a 
 " cellar, change the temperature, and alter 
 " the properties of the wine. 
 
 " 8. Hence a good cellar ought to be 
 " several fathoms under ground, opening 
 " towards the north, and out of the way of 
 " streets, roads, work-shops, sewers, currents 
 " of water, water-closets, wood-cellars, &c. 
 " and vaulted." 
 
 The cellar being thus prepared, we will 
 suppose the order for wine to be given, the 
 selection depending greatly on the taste of 
 the consumer. However, Clarets form a 
 necessary part of the stock of every good 
 
FRENCH WINES. 53 
 
 cellar; they will support any climate, where- 
 as the Hermitage wines are very tender, 
 and bad travellers ; if poor, they turn sour; 
 if good, bitter ; especially the Beaume wines, 
 and the tender delicate Volnay. But Cham- 
 bertin la Romanee, and a few others of the 
 good vintages, may be safely imported, and 
 will, if properly attended to, give the owner 
 a high reputation for the choice of his wine. 
 The order should be given for the importa- 
 tion of wines when the season is temperate, 
 as great heat or cold is equally injurious to 
 wine. 
 
 The wines being received in the cellars, 
 are to be placed for fining perfectly level, 
 and not inclining forward, as some erro- 
 neously recommend. 
 
 The management of French wines in 
 wood, which are not ripe enough to put 
 into bottles, is, however, an important point. 
 In the choice of wine your own taste must 
 guide you, as to its age and ripeness. New 
 wines have a violet tinge, are hard and sour 
 in the mouth, and leave an unpleasant sen- 
 sation on the palate ; but if the wine be of 
 a fine ruby color, soft and mild to the pa- 
 late, having both a pleasant flavor and bow- 
 
54 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 quet, (the aromatic odour of the wine, which 
 in Claret resembles the smell of violets) you 
 may bottle it immediately. When they re- 
 quire to be kept, the following observations 
 must be carefully attended to. 
 
 Ullage is fatal to French wines ; therefore 
 the casks must be examined every month, 
 and the ullage filled up with wine of the 
 same quality, or, at least, of the same na- 
 ture. If the casks are not kept full, the 
 mephitic air in the space tends to turn the 
 wine sour, and generate a mustiness on the 
 surface ; when this mould appears, it is ab- 
 solutely necessary to draw off the wine into 
 another cask, which must be pure ; and to 
 be certain it is so, it should be fumigated 
 with sulphur. This operation of putting 
 wine into fresh casks must, in all cases, be 
 done at least once a year. New wines de- 
 posit tartar; and, at the periods of fermen- 
 tation, in spring and autumn, this tartar, or 
 dregs, being acted on more strongly than 
 the wine, it incorporates with it again, and 
 the wine, holding it a second time in solu- 
 tion, does not readily part with it. In draw- 
 ing off wines which are mouldy, it is neces- 
 sary to cover the end of the cock which goes 
 
FRENCH WINES. 55 
 
 into the cask with crape or gauze, to pre- 
 vent any of the mould getting into the se- 
 cond cask. 
 
 BOTTLING. 
 
 M. Jullien says the preservation and me- 
 lioration of wines depend on the following 
 points : — 1. On the maturity of the wine in 
 the wood. 2. Their limpidity or brightness 
 when bottled. 3. The proper time for bot- 
 tling. 4. The bottles employed. 5. The 
 quality of the corks. 6. The care employed 
 in bottling. 7. The method of arranging 
 the bottles ; and 8. The wax to preserve 
 the corks from humidity and insects.* 
 
 M. Paguierre, of whose experience we 
 have already spoken, gives the following 
 excellent instructions for bottling wine ; to- 
 gether with the customs of various countries 
 in this art, and of the manner in which the 
 wines are worked, mixed and flavored, for 
 the English market: — 
 
 * Corks should be supple, and as little porous as 
 possible. The best corks are always the cheapest. 
 It is on this account that the Champagne wine- 
 merchants pay foi their corks six times the price 
 of common corks. 
 
56 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 Bottling should take place in fine weather, 
 if possible, in March or in October ; because 
 at these two periods the wine being- clearer, 
 we are more certain of its not leaving any 
 sediment in the bottle ; and this, especially 
 for the choice wines, which ought to remain 
 long in bottle before being used.* 
 
 Before you bottle off a barrel, you must 
 force it with seven or eight whites of eggs, 
 very fresh (or with isinglass fining prepared 
 for the purpose) after which, you must leave 
 it ten or fifteen days, according to the wea- 
 ther, taking care to keep the cask always 
 close and well bunged, or, to avoid the incon- 
 venience of filling it up, the bung may be 
 put to the side, immediately after the ope- 
 ration. It will clarify as well, and in this 
 state you must draw it off into bottles. 
 
 N. B. — Great care must be taken to keep 
 the bung-hole clean, lest the egg, which 
 
 * A new method of stopping wine has lately 
 been introduced in the south of France. This is 
 to tie a piece of bladder, or parchment, over the 
 mouth of the bottle, instead of using cork : the 
 wine, says an amateur of great experience, will ac- 
 quire, in a few weeks, all the qualities of age, 
 which it would require years to give it on the old 
 system. 
 
FRENCH WINES. 57 
 
 may stick to it, become mouldy, and give a 
 taste to the wine. 
 
 To force properly, the number of eggs 
 must be in proportion to the quantity and 
 quality of the wine, as also to its age. The 
 common and new wines require more isin- 
 glass than the fine and old ones, because 
 these last are more free from tartar and 
 dregs ; besides, if too many eggs were put 
 to the old wines, not only would it take 
 away too much of the color, already faded 
 by age, but would deprive them of a part of 
 their taste and smell. It must also be ob- 
 served, that when the wines are racked off, 
 or put into bottles, they lose momentarily 
 great part of their flavor, which evaporates 
 during the operation. This ought not, how- 
 ever, to give any inquietude, because, the 
 casks once racked off, the wine regains its 
 flavor in about a month or six weeks ; and, 
 in bottles, as it is in small quantities, its 
 primitive qualities return in all their per- 
 fection at the end of five or six months. 
 
 Each country has its customs. In France 
 as in Holland, every one wishes for natural 
 wines ; and it is for that reason that Hol- 
 land imports her wine from France upon the 
 
58 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 lees, in order to manage or take care of them 
 after trie manner of trie country. 
 
 In the north, especially in Russia and 
 Prussia, experience has taught men to pre- 
 fer importing wines from France at two or 
 three years old, because they are already 
 freed from the greater part of their dregs and 
 tartar. 
 
 In England, every one being long accus- 
 tomed to drink strong Port wines, Madeira, 
 and heady Spanish wines, the pure wines 
 of France are not so much esteemed, because 
 they are found, in comparison with the 
 others, too cold. 
 
 But in order to give the Bordeaux wines 
 some resemblance to those wines of Spain 
 and Portugal which are used in England, to 
 render them of the taste preferred in that 
 kingdom, from the effect of long habit, — - 
 the greater part of the French wine mer- 
 chants who trade with England, are obliged 
 to work them, that is to say, to mix them 
 with other wines by means of a particular 
 operation. This is the reason why in gene- 
 ral the wines shipped for England are not 
 pure, and can no longer be known to be the 
 same, when compared with those which re- 
 
FRENCH WINES. 59 
 
 main at Bordeaux. The operation consists 
 in mixing a certain quantity of Hermitage, 
 and other kinds of fine strong wines of the 
 south, which give fire to the Claret, but 
 which render it dry when old, turn it of a 
 brick-red color, and cause a deposit of sedi- 
 ment when it has been some time in bottle. 
 
 When, by the effect of mixing several 
 sorts of wines, a working or fretting results 
 which might injure the quality, they take 
 some mineral crystal, reduce it to powder, 
 and put an ounce into each barrel, beat up 
 with a proper quantity of isinglass, and rack 
 off the wine about fifteen days after, when 
 it has got clear, and has entirely ceased to 
 work. 
 
 To give odour (bouquet) to the wine, they 
 take two drams of orris-root, (racine cflr'ts) 
 in powder, put into a fine rag, and let it 
 hang about fifteen days in the cask ; after 
 which it is taken out, because the wine has 
 then acquired sufficient odour; you may 
 also, if desired, put the powder into a bar- 
 rel, beat up with fining, and fifteen days 
 after it may be racked off. 
 
 Many persons, to make wine appear older 
 and higher flavored, and at the same time 
 
60 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 to prevent the injuring its quality, employ 
 raspberry brandy (esprit framboise) ; in this 
 case the dose is two ounces for each cask : 
 this spirit is well mixed with the wine, and 
 fifteen or twenty days after, the wine has 
 acquired a certain degree of apparent matu- 
 rity, which is increased by a kind of odour 
 which this mixture gives it. 
 
 The bouquet which by these means is 
 given to the common or ordinary wines, 
 never perfectly replaces the natural flavor 
 which distinguishes the choice wines of 
 Medoc and Grave, which ought to embalm 
 the palate. It is very easy to distinguish 
 the fictitious bouquet which has been given 
 to the wine, if you are but little in the habit 
 of tasting ; for the smell of the iris as well 
 as the raspberry, always predominates in 
 the wines which have been worked, and 
 forms a striking contrast with the natural 
 flavor of the same wines. 
 
 In the Appendix of Receipts, will be 
 found the best method for recovering 
 French wines, which will complete the 
 instructions for their management. 
 
 We have already glanced at the Count 
 Chaptal's calculations of the land in France 
 
FRENCH WINES. 61 
 
 occupied by vines, in the year 1808. The 
 following statement, however, is calculated 
 to the present time, and has been obtained 
 from a French scientific Journal, of high 
 authority. It may therefore be implicitly 
 received as a synoptical view of the recent 
 state of the 
 
 WINE TRADE OF FRANCE. 
 
 The land at present in culture with 
 vines is estimated at 1,728,000 hectares, 
 (3,499,200 acres), yielding 40,000,000 hecto- 
 litres (800,000,000 gallons), and giving a 
 value of 600,000,000 francs (24,000,000/.) 
 
 The general duties yield a total produce 
 of 100 millions (4,000,000/.); the local 
 or municipal duties, 20,000,000 francs 
 (800,000/.) ; amounting, together, to a charge 
 on the entire produce of more than 20 per 
 cent. According to M. Dupin, the expense 
 of levying the indirect duties amounts to 
 the exorbitant sum of 20,800,000 francs on 
 a revenue of 138 millions; while, in Eng- 
 land, the expense of collecting similar 
 duties does not exceed 7 millions in 138. 
 
 The duties to which the wines of France, 
 
62 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 white or red, are subject in various countries, 
 are as follow : — 
 
 In Sweden, 400 francs the pipe; in 
 Norway, 200 francs ; in Prussia, 520 francs ; 
 in Russia, 750 francs; in England, 1200 
 francs; in the United States, 189 francs 
 90 centimes. 
 
 Previous to 1789, the annual exportation 
 of wines from Bordeaux amounted to about 
 100,000 pipes ; but the trade has greatly di- 
 minished since that period. The following 
 is the amount of the annual exportation s 
 since 1819, as stated in a petition of the 
 wine-growers, to the Chamber of Deputies, 
 in the Session of 1828 : 
 
 1820 ....61,110 pipes 
 1821 .... 62,224 pipes 
 1822 .... 39,955 pipes 
 1823 ....51,529 pipes 
 
 1824 .... 39,625 pipes 
 
 1825 ....46,314 pipes 
 1826 .... 48,464 pipes 
 1827 .... 54.492 pipes 
 
 The documents laid before the Chambers 
 by the ministry, state the average value of 
 the three years, 1787-8-9, at 32,000 francs, 
 wine, and 17,000,000 francs, brandy : the 
 mean value of the exportation for 1825-6-7, 
 at 48,000,000 francs in wine, and 20,000,000 
 francs in brandy. 
 
 In France, great complaints have, there- 
 
FRENCH WINES. 63 
 
 fore, been made within the last two years, 
 of the languishing- and depressed state of 
 the wine-trade ; and the investigation of 
 its actual condition has occupied much of 
 the time and attention of the French govern- 
 ment. A question has been raised, whether 
 the high duties imposed on French wines, 
 in foreign countries, have brought about 
 this stagnation and want of demand now 
 experienced ? and, it has been shown, that, 
 with the exception of England,* the foreign 
 tariffs cannot have contributed much to this 
 effect. The remedy suggested, and, indeed, 
 the only probable one, is the reduction of 
 the internal duties. The wine-growers suf- 
 fer grievously, not only from the pressure 
 of the government taxes, or droits generaux, 
 
 * The duty on French wines, imported into 
 England, is 7s. 6d. per gallon. A sensible writer, 
 in a paper on the Arts and Manufactures in France, 
 in the Foreign Quarterly Review, observes, the 
 reduction of this duty, or the introduction of a 
 scale, on the ad valorem principle, into our tariff, 
 as is the case in America, and in several countries 
 in Europe, would be as great a benefit to the French 
 vine proprietors, as it would be an acceptable boon 
 to our middling and lower classes, and a certain 
 augmentation to the Revenue. 
 
64 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 wine pays, on entering the barrier of a town, 
 but of which no drawback is allowed on its 
 exit. These town dues are very arbitrary, 
 and in some places so excessive, that it is 
 by no means uncommon to find French 
 wines dearer at home, than in other coun- 
 tries of Europe. The octroi of Paris is 21 
 francs (or 17s. 6d.) per hectolitre, although 
 the quarter part of the wine consumed is 
 not worth more than 15 francs (or 12s. 6d.) 
 the hectolitre ; and it is a strange anomaly, 
 that those who wish to get wine at a mode- 
 rate price, cannot do it without stepping 
 outside one of the barriers* of Paris, where 
 but of the octroi, or municipal tax, which 
 
 * The untravelled reader will probably require 
 some explanation of the term barrier, which implies 
 a gate, or entrance, of which there are fifty, bearing 
 different names, at Paris. Beside an iron-gate, are 
 two lodges, or rather temples or pavilions, called bu- 
 reaux d' octroi, where the duties are received. Some 
 of these buildings are very elegant, and surmounted 
 with triumphal arches, &c. At the eastern and 
 western extremities of the barriers, boats, called 
 patdches, are stationed upon the river, to collect the 
 duties upon goods entering Paris by water. The 
 octroi duty on wine, therefore, may perhaps be 
 compared to the duty on all coals entering the port 
 of London. 
 
FRENCH WINES. 65 
 
 they are at once in the "Islands of the 
 Blest," — in a land flowing with Bordeaux 
 and Macon, — which, freedom from the octroi 
 makes the chosen seat of the votaries of 
 Bacchus. 
 
 We have stated six hundred million francs 
 to be the value of the annual produce of 
 wine in France ; of this, one hundred mil- 
 lions are exacted by the droits generaux, 
 and twenty millions more by the octroi, 
 making a total taxation of one-fifth part of 
 the whole. The proprietors of vineyards 
 have petitioned repeatedly for liberation 
 from these restrictions ; and in every case 
 where relief has been granted, the increase 
 of consumption has surpassed expectation. 
 At Bordeaux, where the duty is one-half less 
 than at Paris, twice as much wine is con- 
 sumed in proportion to the number of inha- 
 bitants, as in the French metropolis. 
 
 As the object of this work is the conve- 
 nience and information of the consumer, 
 it may not be uninteresting to give a few 
 memoranda of the retail prices of wine in 
 Paris. Thus, at a warehouse, equal to Mo- 
 rel's in Piccadilly, the following are a few 
 charges : — 
 
 F 
 
66 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 Chambertin-la-Romanee . . 4 francs 
 
 Macon 1| to If 
 
 Mont-Rachet 3 
 
 Chablis 2 
 
 Champagne,— Ay — Mousseux 4 to 5 
 
 , Sillery . . . 
 
 Bourdeaux, Lafitte . ... 6,7 and 8 
 
 Chateau-Margaux . . . . 4 to 6 
 
 Medoc 2 
 
 Bourdeaux (ordinaire) 60 cents, to 1 franc 
 
 Sauterne 4| francs 
 
 Barsac 3f 
 
 Graves . 2 to 3 
 
 Hermitage ........ 4 
 
 C6te-R6tie 3| 
 
 St. Peray 3 
 
 Rancio, Roussillon (siveet) . . 5| 
 
 Rivesaltes 4f 
 
 Frontignan 4| 
 
 Lunel 2| to 3| 
 
 Inferior Bourdeaux or Burgun- 
 dy, at 11 or 12 sous 
 
 The wine trade of Paris is conducted in a 
 market for the purpose, called the Halle auoc 
 Tins, on one of the quays of the Seine. The 
 market was established in 1656, but the 
 present was begun by Napoleon, 1813. It will 
 be enclosed with walls on three sides, and 
 towards the quay is fenced by an iron rail- 
 ing ; and is one of the most magnificent mar- 
 kets in Europe. It is divided into streets, 
 called after different wines, as Rue de Cham- 
 
FRENCH WINES. 67 
 
 pagne, Rue de Bourgogne, Rtie de Languedoc, 
 and Rue de la Cote oVOr. Beneath, are for- 
 ty-nine cellars, vaulted with hewn stone; 
 the whole will contain about 400,000 casks, 
 or even double that number, if necessary. 
 In the halle there is an office containing 
 measures of all the casks of the different 
 parts of France ; where any purchaser can 
 require a cask to be measured. Every cask 
 that enters, pays one franc duty to the govern- 
 ment ; frequently, fifteen hundred enter daily. 
 The conveyance of wine to different parts of 
 the city, is by a sort of dray, somewhat like 
 a wine-merchant's pulley for lowering casks : 
 upon this carriage, 4, 5, or even 6, casks are 
 placed, at length, (not abreast, as on our 
 drays) and are thus confined by strong ropes, 
 tightened by a windlass. These narrow 
 conveyances are well suited for the confined 
 streets of Paris, but, at turnings, they are 
 nearly as awkward as a load of timber in 
 our metropolis. 
 
 The wine-shops, or shops of the marchands 
 de vin, are about upon the same scale as spi- 
 rit-shops in London ; except that, in the 
 French capital, the eye is spared the disgust 
 of drunkenness. Here wine is sold by the 
 
68 FRENCH WINES. 
 
 measure, as the litre, demi-litre, &c* Some 
 cabarets have tables and seats, where ecarte, 
 and dominoes are played from morn till eve. 
 Grocers and confectioners likewise deal in 
 wines and liqueurs, as commonly as they 
 sold home-wines in England a few years 
 since. Upon the arrival of the current year's 
 wine, it is usual to place a placard of " Vin 
 Neuf" in the window ; and this may al- 
 ways be obtained a few weeks after the vin- 
 tage. 
 
 * The consumption of French wines in France, 
 has very naturally increased with the increase of 
 national wealth. In 1821, the quantity retailed 
 as above, and, of course, chiefly consumed by the 
 lower classes, scarcely amounted to 12,900,000 
 hectolitres;* in 1826, it exceeded 14,400,000. 
 The quantity sold wholesale, (and consequently 
 consumed by families of opulence, or at least, in 
 easy circumstances,) exhibits a still more strongly 
 marked progress. In 1818, it was 2,665,948 hec- 
 tolitres ; in 1826, is amounted to 3,973,486 ; and 
 in 1828, to 25,264,208. 
 
 The quantity of French wine imported into the 
 United Kingdom, in the year ending January 
 1829, amounted to 475,374 gallons; the amount 
 of duty paid 172,000/. 2s. 6d.; and the quantity 
 remaining in bond, 510,816 gallons. — Parliamen- 
 tary Papers. 
 
 * A hectolitre, is about 25 gallons. 
 
SPANISH WINES. 
 
 Spain, from the productiveness of her 
 vineyards, is entitled to high rank among 
 the wine countries of Europe, and is second 
 only to France. Possessing all the advan- 
 tages of aspect and soil, Spain might rise 
 still higher, hy improvement in the modes 
 of treatment and manufacture of her wines ; 
 but, in this, as in other countries of the con- 
 tinent, where Nature has been lavish of her 
 wealth, art and invention receive but little 
 stimulus from her bounty * 
 
 The wines of Spain are white and red : 
 the former are for the most part excellent ; 
 
 * By way of illustrating the fine climate of 
 Spain, Mr. Jacob describes objects as being more 
 distinct at two leagues distance, than the same 
 would appear in England, at the short distance of 
 a mile. 
 
70 SPANISH WINES. 
 
 but the red are spoiled by bad management,* 
 and but little esteemed. For dry, white 
 
 * Of this mismanagement many instances might 
 be quoted. Thus, bottles and casks are rarely met 
 with in the villages of Spain, where the peasantry 
 store the produce of their vintages in skins, which 
 are smeared with pitch ; hence the wine is often 
 muddy and nauseous. Indeed, the accounts given 
 by travellers of the common Spanish wines almost 
 represent this neglect as an abuse of Nature's bounty, 
 and exhibit a sad picture of the indolence of the 
 natives. Mr. Jacob, who visited the south of 
 Spain in the year 1809, relates one of these in- 
 stances. "The mountains round Grenada" ob- 
 serves this intelligent traveller, " are well calculated 
 t( for vines, but so little attention is paid to the cul- 
 il tivation of them, that the wine produced is very 
 " bad." He could only obtain at the inn where he 
 resided, " a kind of inferior sweet white wine," 
 which was not drinkable ; " but we had the best 
 ( ' proof that good wine is made here, in some that 
 " a gentleman sent us from his cellar : it was equal 
 " to any Burgundy I have ever tasted, and of the 
 " same colour, without any flavour of the skin ; in 
 f fact, he had sent bottles to a vineyard about three 
 " leagues distant, celebrated for its excellent wine, 
 " in order to have it free from that taste which all 
 " the wines here acquire from being brought from 
 " the vineyards in sheep-skins with tarred seams. 
 What follows, is, however, still more extraor- 
 dinary, that " in a country where cork trees 
 " abound, the trifling operation of cutting them is 
 " so ill done, that, to have his wine in good order, 
 
SPANISH WINES. 71 
 
 wines, and certain varieties of sweet wines, 
 Spain is, however, almost without a rival ; 
 hence, the trade in these wines is one of the 
 most important of her commercial resour- 
 ces. 
 
 Foremost among the wines of Spain are 
 those grown at Xeres, near Cadiz, in the 
 province of Andalusia, and better known 
 under the name of Sherry. Much of the 
 celebrity of this wine is, however, attribut- 
 able to the superior management of British 
 and French settlers, in whose hands are 
 many of the principal vineyards ; yet, such 
 is the diversity of the soils of this district, 
 that the best vines yield twice the quantity 
 of wine that is obtained from the inferior 
 soils. 
 
 The manufacture of Sherry wines is an 
 interesting process ; especially as the wines 
 themselves are so extensively drunk in this 
 country. Dr. Henderson describes the ma- 
 nufacture as follows : — " Red and white 
 grapes are used indiscriminately. They 
 
 this gentleman thought it necessary to send to 
 Malaga for English corks, as well as for English 
 bottles." 
 
72 SPANISH WINES. 
 
 are gathered as they become ripe, and are 
 spread on mats to dry. At the expiration 
 of two or three days, they are freed from 
 the stalks and picked; those that are un- 
 ripe or rotten being rejected. They are 
 then introduced into vats, with a layer of 
 gypsum on the surface, and are trodden by 
 peasants with wooden shoes. The juice 
 that flows from them is collected in casks ; 
 and these, as they are filled, are lodged in 
 the stores, where the fermentation is allow- 
 ed to take its course, — continuing generally 
 from the month of October, till the begin- 
 ning or middle of December. When it has 
 ceased, the wines are racked from the lees, 
 and those intended for exportation receive 
 whatever addition of brandy they may re- 
 quire, which seldom exceeds three or four 
 gallons to the butt. The wine thus pre- 
 pared, has a new, harsh, and fiery taste ; 
 but is mellowed by being allowed to re- 
 main four or five years, or longer, in the 
 wood; though it only attains its full fla- 
 vor and perfection, after having been kept 
 fifteen or twenty years. Sometimes bitter 
 almonds are infused in it, to give that nutty 
 flavor which is so highly prized in this 
 
SPANISH WINES. 73 
 
 wine."* To this we may add, that the most 
 esteemed are those of a pale straw color. 
 The peculiar taste of leather, which is so 
 often observable in Sherry, is owing to the 
 custom of bringing the wine down the 
 country in large leathern vessels, or, as the 
 Spaniards call them, a boot, bota; whence 
 we derive the term butts which we bestow 
 on the casks wherein Sherry is imported. 
 Sherries are dry and sweet; but the dry are 
 the most esteemed in this country : on their 
 
 * The quantity of wine annually made at 
 Xeres, is about 40,000 pipes ; of this, 25,000 are 
 consumed in this city, in Cadiz, and the vicinity : 
 15,000 are exported, of which about 7,000 are sent 
 to England; and the remainder to the United 
 States, or to the different Spanish dominions in 
 South America. The value of the wine, when 
 new, is from £8 to £10 per pipe; it increases in 
 value by age : and that which is sent to England 
 is always mixed with brandy, which occasions a 
 further augmentation in the price. Most of the 
 wine-merchants in Xeres, have distilleries to make 
 brandy, to add to their wine ; but do not export 
 any. There are no staves, nor iron hoops, in this 
 part of Spain ; so that supplies are obliged to be 
 obtained from foreign countries for the package in 
 which they export their most important production. 
 The United States of America furnish the staves, 
 and the iron-hoops are sent from England. — 
 Jacob's Travels in Spain, Ato. 1809. 
 
74 SPANISH WINES. 
 
 native soil, the choice is reversed, the Spa- 
 niard uniformly 'preferring such wines as 
 are rich and sweet. The driest species of 
 Sherry, is the Amontillado, made in imita- 
 tion of the wine of Montilla, near Cordova. 
 The quantity manufactured is, however, 
 very limited, notwithstanding" the frequent 
 occurrence of " Amontillado" in the wine- 
 merchant's vocabulary.* 
 
 Paxareta, a luscious malmsey, is also of 
 this district ; its name being derived from 
 Paxareta, an ancient monastery, in the en- 
 virons of Xeres. This is, in fact, a species 
 of sweet Sherry; where the fermentation 
 has ceased before the saccharine matter 
 has been entirely decomposed. At St. Lu- 
 
 * The term Sherry has given rise to much con- 
 troversy among antiquarians and commentators, 
 especially with respect to Falstaff's Sherries sack: 
 there can be no doubt, but that it was dry Sherry ; 
 and the French word sec, dry, corrupted into sack. 
 In a poem, printed in 1619, sack and sherry are 
 noted throughout as synonimous, every stanza of 
 twelve ending, — 
 
 Give me sack, old sack, boys, 
 
 To make the muses merry ; 
 The life of mirth, and the joy of the earth, 
 
 Is a cup of old Sherry. 
 
 Pasquil's Palinodia. 
 
 
SPANISH WINES. 75 
 
 car, another sweet wine is manufactured ; 
 but this is not so highly prized as the 
 other wines of Xeres. Paxareta is highly 
 prized in this country : it is sparkling and 
 elegant in the glass, and one of the most 
 delicious wines known to our table. 
 
 In this province also is made the Tinta 
 di Rota, Tint'dla, or Tent wine ; this is very 
 strong and sweet, and is an excellent sto- 
 machic, but is seldom drunk at table. 
 
 In the province of Grenada, is made the 
 celebrated Malaga, or Mountain, so called 
 from the name of the town, and the declivi- 
 ties on which the vines grow. The soil 
 consists of clayey slate or limestone, and the 
 lower the rock, the better it is calculated for 
 vineyards. Thus, the slate splits into lay- 
 ers, and is perhaps covered with twelve or 
 eighteen inches of mould, and so loose is 
 this earth, that, to prevent its being washed 
 away by the rains, it is banked into terra- 
 ces. Vines, in this district, yield three se- 
 parate harvests * of grapes, though several 
 
 * On the hills round Malaga, are upwards of 
 7,000 vineyards, which produce annually 80,000 
 arobas of wine. The first harvest of grapes com- 
 mences in the month of June, which is solely for 
 
76 SPANISH WINES. 
 
 thousand feet above the level of the sea. 
 This fertility may be attributed to the great 
 capacity of slate and slaty soils for retain- 
 ing the heat of the sun. Slate has also been 
 turned to account in ripening grapes on 
 roofs; and slate-walls have even been sug- 
 gested for the same purpose, in our less ge- 
 nial climate. 
 
 Malaga is both dry and sweet, and 
 and red white. The sweet, white Moun- 
 tain, is, however, most sought after as a 
 dessert wine. Peroximenes, or Pedro Xi- 
 menes, is a very fine-flavored, full-bodied 
 wine of this district, and much resembles 
 Paxareta Malmsey, already mentioned. 
 
 In Valentia is found the Alicant, a red 
 
 those dried by the sun ; the heat of which,, by 
 extracting the saccharine juice, preserves them 
 without any other process; and this species is 
 known through Europe, as Malaga raisins. In 
 September, the second crop is gathered, which is 
 made into a dry wine resembling Sherry, and called 
 by that name ; but, to my taste, much inferior. 
 The last vintage of the year, is in October and 
 November, and produces those wines, called in 
 Spain and her colonies, Malaga; and in England, 
 Mountain : the natives of Spain prefer these to 
 the dry wines of Xeres, or even of Madeira. — 
 Jacob. 
 
SPANISH WINES. 77 
 
 wine, resembling the Rota, and much used 
 in France. It is sweet, when new, but 
 grows thick and ropy with age ; like the 
 Tent, it is a good stomachic. Among the 
 other red wines of Valentia, is Benicarlo, 
 from the sea-port of that name. This wine 
 is red, dry, and thick, and is much used by 
 the Bordeaux merchants in the manufac- 
 ture, or rather adulteration of Claret, as 
 already explained *. The poorer wines of 
 Bordeaux are, however, materially im- 
 proved by the admixture of Benicarlo. An- 
 other purpose for which the latter is used, 
 is as a substitute for Port wine, to which, 
 it need hardly be added, it is very inferior, 
 both in quality and price. An imposition 
 of this sort may be detected, by observing 
 whether the wine offered, has a ruby 
 color instead of a deep black ; a generous 
 flavor, and not that harshness which imme- 
 diately offends a good palate ; if not, it as- 
 suredly cannot be Port wine. 
 
 In Catalonia, the vine is also extensively 
 cultivated, though with such negligence is 
 the manufacture of wine conducted there, 
 
 * See page 36. 
 
78 SPANISH WINES. 
 
 that the maker seldom racks or fines the 
 liquor, but sends it to market as from the 
 vat. Still, some of the white wines of this 
 district are very choice, as Sitgas, a Malm- 
 sey, nearly equal to Malaga. Arragon has 
 likewise many fine vineyards,especially of red 
 grapes ; the finest wine produced, from which, 
 is from the Gamacha vine. The best of all 
 these, is a red wine, named Hospital, which 
 is of excellent flavor and strength : some of 
 the white wines are also much esteemed. 
 In the same province, are made, Mountain, 
 Tent, and Mataro, all of which are sweet, 
 thick, ropy, and unwholesome. 
 
 Peralta, in Navarre, also yields a delicate 
 dessert wine. A particular sort of this dis- 
 trict receives the name of Runcio, when it 
 is old enough to merit that distinction. 
 
 The wines of the Canaries, although not 
 actually Spanish, are to be met with in most 
 of the ports of Spain, and are usually classed 
 with the wines of the latter country. The 
 whole of the Canaries produce excellent 
 wines ; but the preference is given to those of 
 Parma and Teneriffe. In favorable vintages, 
 Teneriffe makes up about thirty thousand 
 pipes of Vidonia, or, as it is sometimes de- 
 
SPANISH WINES. 79 
 
 nominated, bastard Madeira, from the simi- 
 larity of its flavor, and appearance to the dry 
 wine of the last-mentioned island. Tene- 
 riffe also produces a sweet wine, resembling 
 Malmsey Madeira. Chacoli, in Biscay, 
 produces a second-rate wine; in order to 
 obtain which, the Biscayans engraft five 
 or six different vines on the same stalk. 
 Most part of Biscay abound in these vines, 
 which border upon the high road, generally 
 growing to the height of three or four feet. 
 The wine in Biscay is sold at a certain 
 price, as regulated by the police, and until 
 the whole produce of the vintage is dis- 
 posed of, no foreign wine is permitted to be 
 brought into the province. Hence, the sole 
 object of the wine-growers is to collect a 
 large quantity of wine, without attending 
 to its quality, and " Chacoli" has become a 
 bye-word in Spain. Ripe and unripe 
 grapes are mixed together in the manufac- 
 ture, and thus the produce is good for 
 little ; whereas the fruit of this province 
 would, with proper care, produce a wine 
 little inferior to the Champagne of France. 
 Majorca and Minorca produce wines 
 which are sometimes exported; but the 
 
80 SPANISH WINES. 
 
 qualities are spoiled by the bad system up- 
 on which the vintage is treated. To the na- 
 tives of a northern climate, this negligence 
 is truly painful, and appears a species of 
 ingratitude, which is a no very enviable 
 feature of national character. 
 
 Among the other Spanish wines entitled 
 to mention, are the wines of Guidas, in 
 Castille, which is made from cherries, and 
 is a sort of ratifia. Fuencaral, a village 
 near Madrid, is also known for its wine ; 
 and those of Val de Pen as, and Ciudad 
 Real, may be compared to the stronger 
 wines of Bordeaux, and vary but little ex- 
 cept in colour. 
 
 Yepes, a small town of Spain, surrounded 
 by vineyards, is also celebrated for a very 
 delicious white wine. The vintage here, 
 which is one of the most gratifying scenes 
 of luxuriant nature, is thus described : — 
 66 It was the season of the vintage when 
 " we arrived ; and, for the first week, we 
 " saw nothing but cars and mules, laden 
 " with baskets of ripe, luscious-looking, 
 " grapes, and surrounded and followed by 
 " groups of vintagers of both sexes, and all 
 iC ages, smiling and singing, and looking 
 
SPANISH WINES. 81 
 
 " contented and happy. In this town also, 
 " we could procure the finest red wine from 
 " Val de Penas, in La Mancha. Long 
 " strings of asses, remarkable for their size 
 " and beauty, brought this, every week, from 
 " the interior of the province ; and we were 
 " enabled, during our stay, to keep tables 
 " quite luxurious."* 
 
 The happy scene at Yepes, is indeed a 
 Carnival of Nature; and assimilates to 
 some of the classic Triumphs of the God of 
 Wine. 
 
 * Recollections of the Peninsula. 
 
PORTUGUESE WINES. 
 
 Without entering into an historical 
 view of the circumstances which led to the 
 introduction of the wines of Portugal into 
 this country, we may briefly state, that 
 their adoption resulted rather from the poli- 
 tical relations of the two countries, than 
 from the intrinsic worth of the wines them- 
 selves ; France and Spain producing many 
 varieties which will bear comparison with 
 the best of the Portuguese vintages. 
 
 The vine is extensively cultivated through- 
 out Portugal. The two varieties of wine 
 known in this country, are Lisbon and Port, 
 which are obtained from vineyards in the 
 vicinity of Lisbon, and upon the banks of 
 the Douro, about fourteen or fifteen leagues 
 from Oporto ; occupying a space about six 
 leagues in length, and two leagues in 
 breadth. The vine of the latter district 
 
PORTUGUESE WINES. 83 
 
 originally grew in Burgundy ; but the cli- 
 mate of Portugal has so altered the grape, 
 that no two wines are more unlike than the 
 produce of these territories. 
 
 The wine country, or district of the Upper 
 Douro, is under the superintendance of a 
 chartered company, established in the year 
 1756; and to such a height had the mono- 
 poly of this company once risen, that, be- 
 sides fixing the prices of the wines, they 
 even restricted the growth of the vine to cer- 
 tain limits * 
 
 * In a law of the Company's charter, we find 
 the following : — 
 
 " The principal object of this Company is the 
 " better to support the reputation of their wines, by 
 " the culture of their vineyards ; to establish a fair 
 " price for the cultivators and traders, and to raise 
 " a fund, out of which the company should assist 
 " the necessitous vintagers by loans, without tak- 
 w ing from them for these loans, a higher interest 
 " than 3 per cent. ; provided such loans do not ex- 
 " ceed half the common value of the wines." 
 
 The reader may not, therefore, be aware, that by 
 a treaty entered into between Great Britain and 
 Portugal, usually called the Methuen treaty, the 
 inhabitants of this country, are in some measure 
 forced to drink Port wine, from the advantages 
 given to Portugal, in her wine-trade with England, 
 over every other nation, on the sole condition that she 
 
84 PORTUGUESE WINES. 
 
 The vintages are divided into factory and 
 secondary wines. From the factory wines, 
 
 will take our woollens in return. This being the case, 
 we could not reasonably expect that so much care 
 would be taken to supply the market with the best 
 wines, as if there had been a fair competition with 
 other countries exporting wine; but, it could 
 scarcely be conjectured, that the Portuguese go- 
 vernment would sanction the establishment of a 
 company, by which such a monopoly might be 
 established, as would effectually destroy the wine 
 trade of Portugal, if circumstances ever turned up 
 to annul the Methuen treaty. 
 
 From a " Report of the Proceedings of the Com- 
 " mittee of Wine Merchants, in London, Corres- 
 11 pondents of the Royal Wine Company, at 
 " Oporto, in consequence of a petition presented 
 ". to Parliament in the year 1812, by certain per- 
 " sons, calling themselves Merchants of the late 
 " Factory," we gather much information, though 
 the conflicting statements of a party question like 
 this, must not occupy our pages. From the Ap- 
 pendix to this pamphlet, we learn, that " One cause 
 " of Port wine being in so short a period so very 
 " generally drunk in England, appears to have 
 " been ^the establishing a body of merchants in 
 " England ; so far considered as beneficial in tak- 
 " ing off the woollen manufactures of England, 
 " under the sanction of those most valuable privi- 
 " leges, ceded by John IV. King of Portugal, in 
 " the year 1654, to Oliver Cromwell, and the go- 
 " vernment of England; from which time (forbe- 
 " fore that they only went as supercargoes, and 
 
PORTUGUESE WINES. 85 
 
 are selected those for the English market — 
 those for other foreign markets — or, for 
 
 " returned again to England,) we may date the 
 " first settlement of the English in Portugal." 
 
 The treaty already alluded to, has, however, been 
 frequently infringed by the Portuguese. Accord- 
 ingly, the petition of Merchants trading to Por- 
 tugal, was presented by Mr. Canning, in 1812. 
 During the authority of the Cortes, some attempts 
 were made to destroy the monopoly of the Com- 
 pany ; but only a few of the obnoxious privileges 
 were abated. 
 
 The admixture and adulterations of Port wine, 
 as we have already said, gave rise to the establish- 
 ment of the Company; since, upwards of forty years 
 before, brandy was mixed with the wines, from an 
 idea that it was essential for their preservation. 
 This supposition is, however, entirely gratuitous. 
 Certain regulations were formed, to suppress this 
 and other pernicious practices; but, no sooner 
 were the Company established, than they set about 
 countenancing the very evils they professed to 
 abolish. At first, elder-trees were rooted up, and 
 forbid growing under severe penalties; and if any 
 elder-berries, or elder juice, was found in any 
 lodge, or repository of wine, all the wines of that 
 lodge were confiscated, and the owner was liable to 
 imprisonment, fine, or transportation; and all 
 other articles of adulteration were proscribed with 
 equal rigour. One of the privileges of the Com- 
 pany was, power of buying and making brandy ; 
 and when taxed with this species of adulteration, 
 they not only pleaded its necessity for exportable 
 
86 PORTUGUESE WINES. 
 
 home consumption. The secondary wines 
 supply the taverns and distillers. The 
 
 wines, but attributed the adulteration to the cor- 
 rupt policy of the English merchants, who wished 
 the wine " to exceed the limits which nature had 
 " assigned to it ; and, that when drunk, it should 
 " feel like liquid fire in the stomach ; that it should 
 " burn like inflamed gunpowder ; that it should 
 " have the tint of ink ; that it should be like the 
 " sugar of Brazil in sweetness, and like the spices 
 " of India in aromatic flavor. They began by 
 " recommending, by way of secret, that it was 
 " proper to dash it with brandy in the fermentation, 
 " to give it strength ; and with elder-berries, or the 
 " rind of the ripe grape, to give it colour : and, as 
 " the persons who used the prescription found the 
 " wine increase in price, and the English mer- 
 " chants still complaining of a want of strength, 
 " color, and maturity, in the article supplied, the 
 " recipe was propagated till the wines became a 
 ' ' mere confusion of mixtures." Whether this be, 
 or be not, a true idea of the English taste in Port 
 wines, the result is, that the greater part of the Port 
 wine, which is now brought direct to this country, is 
 the juice of a variety of grapes, both white and red, 
 pressed together, along with the stalks, carelessly 
 fermented, and mixed with brandy ; and when 
 there is a deficiency of black grapes, corn, colored 
 with elder-berries ; whereas, but for this diabolical 
 trickery, the Portuguese wines would have been the 
 finest in the world ; we mean, had the most skilful 
 means been adopted in their manufacture, and the 
 spirit of monopoly been rooted out from their trade. 
 
PORTUGUESE WINES. 87 
 
 finest Ex-Porf, (whence the name,) or Fac- 
 tory wine, from its superior strength, and 
 
 The system of adulteration, once begun in the native 
 country, would, of course, be earned still further in 
 that wherein the wines were exported. Thus, the 
 pernicious practice is sometimes carried on, with- 
 out regard either to science or humanity; and 
 many compounds sold in London, and elsewhere, 
 intended to imitate Port, and other wines, agree 
 with them in no other character, save in color and 
 astringency. Hence, the practical paradox of more 
 Port wine being manufactured in the vaults be- 
 neath the streets of London, than is procured from 
 the vineyards of Oporto. 
 
 But the most objectionable of the company's pri- 
 vileges remains to be noticed, — that of fixing the 
 maximum of price for the wines of the district. 
 Nothing could more clearly expose the cupidity of 
 the association than this privilege. Quantity, not 
 quality, became their object : hence the culture of 
 fine growth was neglected for the most productive ; 
 and, as Dr. Henderson pertinently observes, " the 
 " adulterations to which the best wines of the 
 " Cima do Douro are subjected, have much the 
 " same effect, as if all the growths of Burgundy 
 " were to be mingled into one immense vat, and 
 " sent into the world as the only true Burgundian 
 " wine ; the delicious produce of Romanee, Cham- 
 " bertin, and the Clos Yougeot, would disappear ; 
 ' ' and in their places, we should find nothing better 
 " than a second-rate Beaune, or Macon wine." 
 
 The brandying of wines is carried to consider- 
 able extent in this country. Port wines, otherwise 
 
88 PORTUGUESE WINES. 
 
 consequent demand for it, is three or four 
 times as dear as the thinner wines of the 
 adjacent districts. 
 
 Certain districts on the banks of the 
 Douro produce wines remarkable for their 
 strength, flavor, and color ; harsh and un- 
 pleasant, when new ; sound, high-flavored, 
 and delicate, when old ; but the district be- 
 yond there produces a hungry, thin wine : 
 in a warm climate pleasant, and fit for the 
 common drink of the inhabitants, but sel- 
 dom for exportation. 
 
 of excellent quality, are thus frequently rejected 
 by determined Port wine drinkers. White wines 
 are still more injured by brandy, unless where a 
 secondary fermentation ensues. To such a length 
 is brandying carried even in Portugal, that very 
 little of the spirit is exported, nearly the whole 
 being used in adulterating the wines. The same 
 practice is also common in making up Spanish 
 wines. 
 
 The use of elder-berries, it seems, originated 
 with one of our own countrymen, a Mr. Peter 
 Bearsley, a factor, resident at Viana ; who, travel- 
 ling into the wine-country, put, as an experiment, 
 elderberry juice into some pale-colored wine, to 
 add to it a red tint ; deepness of color, in new 
 wines, being considered as a proof of their excel- 
 lence. Finding it to answer, it hence became used 
 among factors and merchants for this purpose. 
 
PORTUGUESE WINES. 89 
 
 The finest wine is grown in the territory 
 of the Cirna do Douro, or Alto Douro. This 
 superiority is accounted for as follows : — 
 " When the demand for the thin Methuen 
 " wines, (or wines made from red and white 
 " grapes mixed, so called from Mr. Paul 
 " Methuen, who first made them,) became 
 " greater than its produce, it put some 
 " English supercargoes, who resided there, 
 " and at Viana, near Oporto, on teaching 
 " Portuguese to cultivate the vineyards on 
 " the heights, or mountains, bordering on 
 " the river Douro, from whence the district 
 " takes the name of Cima (high, up aloft,) 
 " do Douro. It is about forty or fifty miles 
 " from Oporto, where the harbour is, and 
 " where it runs into the sea. It is there vul- 
 " garly called the English Factory, and the 
 " Wine Country ; from thence it is the wines 
 " are transported and conveyed down to the 
 " city of Oporto, in proper vessels, being a 
 " sort of lighters, or keels."* 
 
 A great variety of species of vines are 
 cultivated here, according to the flavor of 
 the wines just mentioned. The plants are 
 
 * Appendix to the " Defence/' already quoted 
 
90 PORTUGUESE WINES. 
 
 kept low, and trained on poles. The grapes 
 are gathered when they shrivel, and, with 
 the stalks, are trodden, in broad and shal- 
 low vats, several times, during the fermenta- 
 tion ; which, for superior wines, extends to 
 three days. The fermentation over, the 
 liquor is put into immense tuns, of from 
 1,000 to 2,500 gallons each. The racking 
 is guided by the fair of the Douro, usually 
 in February ; when the wine is conveyed in 
 pipes down the river, into the Factory cel- 
 lars ; or into those of the wine merchants, 
 who purchase at this period.* 
 
 The prices are regulated by the govern- 
 ment : as soon as they are promulgated, the 
 factors and individuals send in their names 
 to the proprietors of the wines. The whole 
 of this trade is carried on at Villa Nova, 
 near Oporto. The quantity annually shipped 
 for Great Britain has been variously stated. 
 The following has been given as official 
 accounts for eight years : — 
 
 * It is well known, that all liquids increase in 
 bulk with heat : hence the policy of the merchants 
 purchasing at this cold season, and selling in the 
 summer. 
 
PORTUGUESE WINES. 91 
 
 In 1818, the Factory wine exported from 
 
 Oporto, amounted to 32,843 pipes ; of this 
 
 quantity, 32,465 were for England. 
 In 1819, the total quantity exported was 19,502 
 
 pipes ; nearly the whole to Great Britain. 
 In 1820, the quantity exported was 23,740 pipes ; 
 
 almost the whole to Great Britain. 
 In 1821, 24,640 pipes; nearly the whole to 
 
 Great Britain. 
 In 1822, 27,758 pipes; of which 27,470 pipes 
 
 came to Great Britain. 
 In 1823, 23,758 pipes; of which 23,208 to 
 
 Great Britain. 
 In 1824, 19,164 pipes; the same proportion to 
 
 Great Britain. 
 In 1825, 40,524 pipes; of which 40,277 to 
 
 Great Britain. 
 In 1826, 18,604 pipes; of which 18,310 to 
 
 Great Britain.* 
 
 The usual color of Port wine, on its ar- 
 rival in this country, is purplish, or inky ; 
 
 * Foreign Quarterly Review, No. III. 
 
 * In the ten years, 1813—1822, the annual 
 average quantity of wine exported from Oporto to 
 Great Britain, was 24,364 pipes ; and to all other 
 parts of the world, only 1,094 pipes per annum. 
 — Vide p. 98, of a Pamphlet, by James Wan*, Esq. 
 1823. The quantity exported since 1822, has not 
 materially altered. 
 
 The largest vintage of the Alto Douro was in 
 1804, when it amounted to 76,665 pipes ; in 1810, 
 it was only 36,250 pipes. In 1798, 64,442 pipes 
 were exported. 
 
92 PORTUGUESE WINES. 
 
 rough and full body ; of an astringent and 
 bitter sweet taste ; and odour and flavor of 
 brandy, proportionate to the genuineness of 
 the wine. Keeping the wine in the wood, 
 will abate all these peculiarities, except 
 those of the brandy ; which, age, in the bot- 
 tle, as from eight to fourteen years, will 
 alone qualify ; and the genuine wine is then 
 obtained. In the meantime, the coloring 
 and other matter becomes crusted on the 
 sides of the vessels, frequently carrying with 
 it much of the flavor of the wine, which is 
 then technically termed tawneij. 
 
 It may not be uninteresting to state, that 
 Port wines were introduced into England 
 about the year 1700. Howel, in his Let- 
 ters, 1634, says, " Portugal afforded no 
 " wines worth transporting." Another 
 writer, in 1788, says — " it does not appear, 
 " that Port wines have been at all known 
 " in the northern countries of Europe, above 
 " sixty or seventy years at farthest. So 
 " late as Queen Anne's time, the importa- 
 " tion was very small ; for, it is related, tra- 
 " ditionally, that it was then customary in 
 " London, upon the meeting of two friends, 
 " the one to invite the other to a tavern to 
 
PORTUGUESE WINES. 93 
 
 " drink ; or, in a vulgar phrase, to crack a 
 " bottle of Claret dashed with Port :" which 
 intimates the extreme scarcity of the latter, 
 compared with the former. Davenant, In- 
 spector-General of the Imports and Ex- 
 ports, in his Report to the Commissioners, 
 in 1662, says, " that no Portugal wines were 
 " entered in the Custom House Books at that 
 " time." In the year 1702, the war broke 
 out with France and Spain; and the Portu- 
 guese joining the allies, the next year, a 
 new treaty, commonly called the Methuen 
 treaty, was concluded by Queen Anne ; by 
 which Portugal wines were to pay one-third 
 less duty than French wines. From this 
 time, we may date the general use of Port 
 wines in Great Britain. In years, when the 
 Clarets were strong and plentiful, before 
 the war with France, in the reign of Wil- 
 liam and Mary, 500 pipes would glut the 
 market. In 1717, the duties on French 
 wines were 55/. 5s. per tun ; and on Port, 
 only 11. os. 3d. — l-7th. The French wine 
 trade, consequently became depressed ; and 
 Portugal wines came into more general use : 
 and Dr. Halley observes, " that the encou- 
 " ragement was so great, that the Porta- 
 
94 PORTUGUESE WINES. 
 
 " guese became industrious, and cultivated 
 " and increased their vineyards, for thirty 
 " to forty leagues, on both banks of the 
 " Douro ; so that the country became not 
 " only enriched, but new peopled by the 
 " trade. Thus, it appears by the records of 
 " this date, as well as by the importation of 
 " late years, (see page 91,) that England is 
 " the only country that drinks Port, for the 
 " benefit of the wine-growers of the Douro." 
 Red wines are also furnished by other 
 territories besides those of the Douro : most 
 of these resemble the second growths of the 
 Bordelais. Moncaon, is, however, described 
 as very celebrated, and affording sufficient 
 for a kingdom. Cintra, and its vicinity, 
 also yield red wines : here, 
 
 Hard by the olive, and the purple vine, 
 Their mingled treasures lavishly bestow ; 
 Oh favor'd land ! thus corn, and soil, and wine, 
 Along thy happy vallies ever flow, 
 And bid man's ravished heart in grateful 
 warmth to glow.* 
 
 The wine known in this country as Colares 
 Port, is grown near Cintra. 
 
 The principal white wines of Portugal, 
 
 * Lisbon : by Marianne Baillie, 12mo. 
 
PORTUGUESE WINES. 93 
 
 are Bucellas, from a few miles above Li% 
 bon ; the sweet wines of Carcavellos and Se- 
 tuval, and the dry wines of Termo. Most 
 of them reach us as Lisbon wines : and Mrs. 
 Baillie, in one of her Letters from Lisbon, 
 says, " At the door of every Caso de Pasta, 
 " or public-house, we observed the ancient 
 " symbol of a bush ; but, we are assured, 
 " that the wine found within, is of so excel- 
 " lent a quality, as to require no sign of this 
 " nature." Of the Termo wine, this intel- 
 ligent lady also thus speaks : — " We have 
 " tasted a sort of white light wine, sold 
 " here, which we thought almost as refresh- 
 " ing and excellent as hock, and for which 
 " the common charge is about two-pence a 
 " bottle ; it is made in the vicinity of Lisbon, 
 " and is known by the name of vinho de 
 " Termo."* 
 
 About a century since, the red wines of 
 Lisbon were considered richer, stronger, 
 and better, than the wines of Oporto ; and 
 their white wines were excellent. The red 
 are, however, now unknown ; and the white, 
 comparatively, in disrepute. " One to two 
 
 * Lisbon, vol. i. 
 
96 PORTUGUESE WINES. 
 
 " thousand pipes are annually exported 
 " instead of upwards of 15,000."* 
 
 The vintage in the neighbourhood of 
 Lisbon, is described very graphically, by a 
 young soldier. " I returned to the camp, 
 " by a circuitous path, which led across a 
 " vineyard. Here, the order had suddenly 
 " broken in upon, and suspended the cheer- 
 " ful labours of the vintage. In one part, 
 " the vines were yet teeming with fruit ; in 
 " another, large heaps of grapes gathered, 
 " but not carried to the wine-press, lay 
 " deadening in the sun, with baskets half- 
 " filled near them ; and the print of little 
 " feet, between the vine-rows, showed, that 
 " the children had been sharing the light 
 " and pleasing toil, which, at that happy 
 " season, employs their parents."f Again, 
 in another village, " The cottages, in which 
 " we were quartered, were pleasingly scat- 
 " tered over the face of the country ; had 
 " all their little gardens, in the midst of 
 " which they stood ; and their walks, clothed 
 " with the creeping vine, which extended 
 
 * Defence of the Royal Wine Company, 1812. 
 f Recollections of the Peninsula. 
 
PORTUGUESE WINES. 97 
 
 w itself over their humble roofs ; or spread- 
 " ing along a sort of light trellis-work, 
 " formed grateful and shady porticoes be- 
 " fore their doors."* 
 
 The valley of Colares is one of the richest 
 and best cultivated spots in the kingdom of 
 Portugal. The greater part of it is planted 
 with fruit trees, particularly orange; and 
 though they are so close together, that their 
 boughs intertwine, yet they bear vast quanti- 
 ties of delicious fruit. Of the peculiarity 
 of the soil about this district, Carcavellos 
 furnishes a striking instance, — where there 
 is a vineyard of no considerable extent, that 
 yields grapes different from those of any 
 other part of the kingdom. 
 
 * Ibid. 
 
 H 
 
GERMAN WINES. 
 
 Notwithstanding the celebrity of Ger- 
 many as a wine country, the introduction of 
 the vine there is by few authorities referred 
 to the same period. Tacitus, in his per- 
 spicuous and minute details of the manners 
 and customs of the Germans, does not no- 
 tice the vine ; but speaks of the soil as un- 
 favourable to fruit trees, which is almost 
 a proof that the vine did not exist there in 
 his time. Again, beer is spoken of as being 
 almost universally the national beverage ; * 
 which custom also strengthens the opinion, 
 that the consumption of wines among the 
 Germans was then restricted to foreign kinds, 
 and those were only to be met with in such 
 districts, as by their proximity to rivers, were 
 adapted for commercial convenience. 
 
 Among the most satisfactory of the classi- 
 
 * See page 13, of the present volume. 
 
GERMAN WINES. 99 
 
 cal authorities which have been quoted 
 upon this point, the earliest is that of Auso- 
 nius, in the seventh century, who comme- 
 morates the vine-clad banks of the Moselle, 
 and the beautiful aroma of its wine, in some 
 of his most felicitous flights of song. The 
 culture of the vine, on the banks of the 
 Rhine, is of later date, — viz. in the time of 
 Charlemagne, whence the agricultural pros- 
 perity of Germany is dated ; and so favor- 
 able has the climate become to the culture 
 of the vine, that in certain places, the plant 
 flourishes beyond the latitude of the north- 
 ernmost vineyards of France. 
 
 The banks of the Rhine, from Mentz to 
 Coblentz, comprise the choicest vineyards. 
 The superficial extent of the circle of Cob- 
 lentz, is computed at 17,251 Prussian acres, 
 and the quantity of wine they produce, at 
 385,323 ankers, the value of which is esti- 
 mated at £265,000 ; so that each acre an- 
 nually yields above fifteen pounds sterling. 
 The wine districts in the circle of Treves, 
 contain 2,346 acres, producing 284,822 
 aulms of wine, valued at £364,950 ; whence 
 it seems, that each acre gives an annual 
 produce of more than thirty-nine pounds 
 
100 GERMAN WINES. 
 
 sterling* In this district, the vineyards 
 extend over both banks of the river, and 
 form a scene of indescribable richness 
 and beauty. The variety of rocks which 
 form the basis of their banks, have fur- 
 nished an excellent opportunity for ex- 
 amining the influence of their geological 
 structure upon the qualities of the soil and 
 wines, so successfully cultivated in this 
 country. The comparison, which would be 
 difficult to be established in other parts, 
 has here been easily made, and will serve 
 as a basis for other researches. This in- 
 quiry has been made by an ingenious Ger- 
 man, attached to the Botanic Garden and 
 Public Arboretum, at Heidelburg; and the 
 results are to be found in a work recently 
 published by this gentleman, On the Culti- 
 vation of the Vine upoii the Banks of the 
 Rhine, They will be interesting to the rea- 
 der, who is but slightly acquainted with 
 
 * The excise payable on each hundred weight, 
 containing thirty-six quarts, is four shillings ; but 
 on wines of foreign growth, it is twenty-four shil- 
 lings. The effect of this protecting duty, has been 
 to increase the domestic consumption, since 1819, 
 from 116,058 to 161,544 quarts. 
 
GERMAN WINES. 101 
 
 geological technicalities, and are subjoined 
 in a note.* 
 
 * " Granite, by the decomposition of mica and 
 " felspar, furnishes a very fertile and clayey ground. 
 " Quartz has a light and porous soil; it easily 
 " admits air, moisture, and heat ; and large bodies 
 " retain heat ; there the vine will afford good wine, 
 " if all things are equally favourable. 
 
 " Sienite produces at least a similar effect. 
 
 " Felspar Porphyry, like the granite, furnishes 
 " an excellent soil, on which the vine succeeds very 
 " well. 
 
 " Clay Slate, by its decomposition, supplies a 
 " very fertile soil ; if the quartz, which often runs 
 " in veins in this rock mix with the soil, it makes 
 " it lighter, and renders it more fit for retaining 
 " heat. The deep colour peculiar to this kind of 
 " soil increases also its temperature. This soil is 
 " most favourable for the vine. 
 
 " Basalt forms, also, by its decomposing quali- 
 " ties, a very productive and suitable soil for the 
 * vine, and becomes one of the best, where marl 
 " and pebbles of basalt are found mixed together. Its 
 " deep colour increases heat, and is one of the prin- 
 " cipal causes of its fertility for the vine. The best 
 ? sorts of vines grow on this soil. 
 
 " Dolerite produces the same effect as the basalt; 
 " the most valuable wines are supplied from this 
 " soil. 
 
 " Variegated Sandstone, in consequence of its 
 " decomposition, affords a light soil, more or less 
 41 productive ; where it is not mixed, it is barren, 
 f and the vine suffers on it in diy seasons. This 
 
10*2 GERMAN WINES. 
 
 In the district just particularized, are the 
 Rhinegau vintages, which, with those of 
 
 " is not the case where it is mixed with marl, clay, 
 " and other earths ; but in general it produces no 
 " remarkable wine. 
 
 " The clay soil, which is formed from the de- 
 " composition of Shell Marl, is difficult to culti- 
 " vate. If the calcareous properties prevail, it be- 
 " comes dry and poor, and requires much manure : 
 " but when the calcareous parts are mixed with a 
 " clay soil, it may produce vines which are of a 
 " very fair sort. In general, however, mountains 
 ie of this description are of a height too inconsider- 
 " able, and their summits too flat for such cultiva- 
 « tion. 
 
 " The Coarse Limestone, being very unsuitable 
 " (tres desagreable), furnishes a deep and fertile 
 " soil, when it is well tilled ; and good vines may 
 " be reared upon it. 
 
 " Gypsum when it composes the sediment of the 
 " soil, should produce, according to the author, 
 " good vines ; but he appears to have seen no in- 
 " stances of it. 
 
 " Kiffer, which is easily decomposed, furnishes 
 " a light soil, on which vegetation is similar to that 
 " on the variegated sandstone. The wine which it 
 " produces is weak. 
 
 " The Schistous Marl of the Lais is easily de- 
 " composed by the air, and yields a fertile soil, 
 " favorable to the vine. Its black colour is beneficial 
 " to the maturity of the grape ; however, it is not 
 " distinguished by the production of any remark- 
 " able wine. This soil, when it is interspersed with 
 
GERMAN WINES. 103 
 
 Hochheim, on the banks of the Mayn, are 
 considered the finest German wines. A 
 small white grape, and an Orleans grape, 
 are the fruit usually preferred here ; they are 
 allowed to become fully ripe, and the manu- 
 facture is conducted with great care : the 
 fermentation is carried on in casks, so as to 
 preserve the aroma, and the wine is then 
 allowed to mellow in tuns, usually holding 
 about 350 gallons, or eight aulms * Al- 
 
 " round pebbles mixed with clay and sand, is very 
 " fit for the vine. 
 
 " Vegetation commences only by the mixture of 
 f* clay in the sand, arising from the decomposition 
 " of different rocks. Such land can only produce 
 " wild vines, and vegetation is often completely 
 " impeded during dry seasons. 
 
 " The mud of gained land is generally little 
 ?* favorable to the vine. Wet seasons are espe- 
 " cially injurious to it, and it only produces a bad 
 " wine." 
 
 * The wine-growers of Germany, were for- 
 merly celebrated for the immense size of the vessels 
 in which they kept their wines. The most famous 
 of these were the casks of Tubingen, Heidelberg, 
 and Grumingen. The Tubingen cask was twenty- 
 four feet in length, and sixteen in depth ; that of 
 Heidelberg, thirty-four feet in length, and twenty- 
 one deep ; and that of Grumingen, thirty-four feet 
 long, and eighteen deep. The Heidelberg cask 
 
104 GERMAN WINES. 
 
 though these stupendous casks are usually 
 regarded as the wonders of the places 
 where they are situated, they are of some 
 practical service, since some of the stronger 
 wines were more effectually mellowed in 
 these immense vessels, than in those of 
 less magnitude. In this case, the casks 
 were kept filled up, else the wine soon be- 
 came worthless. 
 
 has long been dry, and the others are in similar 
 condition. Another remains to be mentioned, that 
 Konigstein made in the year 1725, and larger 
 than any of the former. This was erected at Fort 
 Konigstein, in the neighbourhood of Dresden, by 
 General Kyaw. The height is seventeen Dresden 
 ells, and its diameter at the bung twelve ells. It 
 is always replenished with excellent wine, and con- 
 tains 3,709 hogsheads. On its plate is a Latin 
 inscription, to the following purport r — " Welcome, 
 " traveller, and admire this monument, dedicated 
 " to festivity, in order to exhilirate the mind with 
 " a glass, in the year 1725, by Frederick Augustus, 
 " King of Poland, and Elector of Saxony ; the 
 " father of his country — the Titus of the age — the 
 " delight of mankind. Therefore, drink to the 
 " health of the sovereign, the country, the electoral 
 " family, and Baron Kyaw, governor of Konig- 
 " stein ; and if thou art able, according to the dig- 
 " nity of this cask, the most capacious of all casks, 
 i( drink to the prosperity of the whole universe — 
 " and, so farewell ! " 
 
GERMAN WINES. 105 
 
 A more graphic description of the wine 
 districts than we have hitherto quoted, will 
 be found in the lively journal of a recent 
 tourist* on the banks of the Rhine. " It 
 " runs," says the writer, " along- the right 
 ff bank of the Rhine, from Cassel opposite 
 " Mayence, to the junction of the river Lahn 
 " with the Rhine, near Coblentz, compre- 
 " hending the luxuriant Rhinegau, Hoch- 
 " heim, Johannisberg, Rlidesheim, and all 
 " the other genial spots which regale, with 
 " pure Rhenish, the bons vivans of Europe. 
 " Hochheim stands on a little sunny eleva- 
 " vation on the Maine, between Frankfort 
 " and Mayence. The little town is sur- 
 " rounded by vineyards, with scarcely a 
 " tree to obstruct a single ray of sun ; but 
 " the choice wine of the place, which every 
 y turtle-fed alderman flatters himself he 
 " drinks, is produced on a little hill of about 
 " eight acres, behind the ancient deanery, 
 " which seems formed to court the sun, and 
 f' is protected by the town from the north 
 " winds. Each acre contains about 4,000 
 " vine plants, valued at a ducat a-piece ; and 
 
 * Autumn near the Rhine, 8vo. 
 
106 GERMAN WINES. 
 
 " the little hill produces in a good year, 
 " about twelve large casks of wine, each of 
 " which sometimes sells, as soon as made, 
 " for 1,500 florins, (nearly £150). Hoch- 
 " heim was made a present by Buonaparte 
 " to General Kellerman." — " This baccha- 
 " nalian paradise, (the Rhinegau,) which ex- 
 " tends on the right bank to Lovrich, has 
 " from time out of mind been renowned for 
 " its superior wines. An old Carlovingian 
 " king first gave it to an archbishop of 
 " Mayence, and it was surrounded by a 
 " rampart and ditch, some remains of which 
 " are still visible. At some distance from 
 " the river, rose the Johannisberg mount, 
 " the rival of Hochheim, covered with a 
 " garden of vines. The wine produced here, 
 " is the dearest and most precious of the 
 " Rhenish wines." Rudesheim is described 
 as " a busy little town, at the foot of the 
 " bold mountain on which is produced the 
 " famous Rudesheimer wine." Travellers, 
 however, do not always enjoy the local ad- 
 vantages of the country through which 
 they are passing, for our present tourist 
 says, " though in face of the rich mountain, 
 " the Rudesheimer wine was not so good 
 
GERMAN WINES. 107 
 
 " as we might have procured a hundred 
 " miles distant." 
 
 "It is difficult," continues the writer, 
 " to give you an idea of the luxuriant rich- 
 " ness and beauty of the scenes we now 
 " passed. The mountains rose on each side, 
 " sometimes in rugged masses, and some- 
 " times in round regular slopes, immediately 
 " from the banks of the river. The right 
 " bank is far more fruitful than the left ; 
 " for several leagues from Bingen, its range 
 " of mountains is one verdant garden, co- 
 " vered from the summit to the base with 
 " the light green verdure of the well-trained 
 " vineyards ; here and there interspersed 
 " with ridges and masses of rough black 
 " rock, whose rude shapes defy cultivation. 
 " The magnificent Route Napoleon, cut 
 " with incredible labour out of the rocks 
 " which overhang the river, runs by its side 
 " from Cologne to Bingen ; — sometimes un- 
 " cler craggy shelves and abrupt rocks, co- 
 " vered with brushwood and heather, and 
 " interspersed with a few vineyards, in spots 
 " smooth enough to bear them ; — sometimes 
 " across little fertile plains, where the 
 " mountains slightly recede from the stream ; 
 
108 GERMAN WINES. 
 
 " or, through orchards, vineyards, and an- 
 " tique villages at their base. The black 
 " purply hue of the rocks, frequently com- 
 " posed of basalt, slate, &c. contrasted with 
 " the delicate green of the vines, which 
 " thrive in all their gullies and crevices, 
 " adds to the mellow luxuriant tone of the 
 " scene. A bacchanalian might drink in 
 " intoxication from the view — every thing 
 " has a blushing vinous colour ; if there was 
 " such a thing as an alderman of imagina- 
 " tion, his lips would water in descending 
 " the Rhine." 
 
 " The strongest wines are said to be made 
 " on the highest grounds, — the most whole- 
 " some on those of moderate height ; and 
 " the wine of the low grounds is sour and 
 " requires keeping. Among the multitude 
 " of wines which the country produces, the 
 " Laubenheim, Bischeim, and Asmans- 
 " hausen, are considered the most agree- 
 " able ; those of Hochheim and Johannis- 
 " berg, the most aromatic ; and those of 
 " Nierstein, Markebrunne, and Riidesheim, 
 " the strongest and most spirituous : a nicety 
 " of discrimination, which, at all events, 
 " vouches for the connoisseurship of the 
 
GERMAN WINES. 109 
 
 " worthy Germans in such matters, and 
 " which may give hints to some of our Lon- 
 " don amateurs of the grape." 
 
 " Below Lovrich, the mountains slightly 
 * diminish ; the town of Bacharach appears 
 " on the left bank, with its mouldering ram- 
 " parts half covered with vines, and with 
 " that gloomy slated gothic character which 
 " distinguishes all the towns on the Rhine. 
 " Bons vivans of all ages, appear to have 
 " been of one mind as to the wine of Bach- 
 " arach. The Romans called the place 
 " Bacchi ara. Pope iEneas Sylvius used to 
 " import a tun of the wine to Rome every 
 " year ; and the Emperor Vencezlaus was so 
 " fond of it, that he sold the citizens of 
 " Nuremberg their freedom for four casks. 
 " We passed the true ara Bacchi, a little 
 " lower down ; a stone, lying in the river 
 " between an island and the right bank. Its 
 " appearance above the water is hailed with 
 " j°y D y tne vintagers, as a sign of a dry 
 " and hot summer." 
 
 The number of vineyards in the kingdom 
 of Wurtemberg, is 595 ; the land cultivated, 
 is 82,729 acres, of which 61,514 acres are 
 exclusivelv devoted to the vine. The total 
 
110 GERMAN WINES. 
 
 wine produce in 1826, was 184,380 kilder- 
 kins, and the value 3,990,831 florins. 
 
 Dr. Henderson is inclined to class the 
 wines of the Rhine by themselves, and as 
 generally drier than the French white 
 wines ; although some of the lighter sorts 
 very much resemble the vlns de Graves: 
 yet, all the Rhenish wines have a peculiar 
 aroma, and what is more extraordinary, an 
 extreme durability, — notwithstanding they 
 contain, comparatively, but little spirit. 
 This preservative quality is attributed by 
 Dr. Henderson, to the full decomposition of 
 the saccharine matter in the Rhenish grapes, 
 and to " the large proportion of free tartaric 
 " acid" which the wines contain, " and 
 " which can only be separated by the usual 
 " chemical co-agents." Acidity is not a 
 characteristic of Rhenish wines, when ob- 
 tained in perfection, but is the result of 
 manufacture in ungenial seasons ; in illus- 
 tration of which, Dr. Henderson mentions, 
 that u the wines which have been made in 
 " warm and dry years, such as that of 1811,* 
 
 * The produce of the Steinberg vineyard, in 
 1811, has been sold on the spot for 5| florins, or 
 half-a-guinea the bottle. This is the strongest of 
 all the Rhine wines. 
 
GERMAN WINES. Ill 
 
 " or the year of the comet, as it is sometimes 
 " called, are always in great demand, and 
 " fetch exorbitant prices. Of preceding 
 " vintages, those of 1802, 1800, 1783, 1779, 
 " 1766, 1748, and 1726, are esteemed the 
 " best. That of 1783, in particular, is the 
 " most highly esteemed of any of the last 
 " century." 
 
 Hitherto we have spoken but of white 
 wines, with the exception of Asmanshausen, 
 mentioned by the ingenious tourist, at page 
 108. This wine is red, and compares with 
 fine Burgundy ; but the other red wines of 
 the Rhine, are hardly entitled to notice. 
 
 The banks of the Moselle jjroduce wines 
 of light pleasant flavour, somewhat resem- 
 bling the best Graves, and in great abund- 
 ance, — some of the vintage of the year 1829, 
 having been sold on the spot for one half- 
 fenny a bottle ! 
 
 Here our notice of the wines of Germany 
 must close, — although Eranconia, Swabia, 
 Moravia, and the Tyrol, produce wines ap- 
 proaching in quality those already mention- 
 ed; yet, their properties will scarcely in- 
 terest the general reader ; whilst their ex- 
 
11*2 GERMAN WINES. 
 
 cellence is not of sufficient character for the 
 bon vivant. 
 
 The German wines principally drunk in 
 England, are Johannisberger, Rudesheimer, 
 Hock, and a few of the Moselle wines. — 
 Hock, it would seem, is a restorer and 
 brightener of the intellect; if we only recol- 
 lect the jeu de mot attributed to Swift, of 
 "declining hoc" and the "hujus glass." Lord 
 Byron too, in one of his way ward fancies, com- 
 mends Hock to the bacchanalian ; and even 
 ranks it above the onion soup of the French, 
 which, by our neighbours, is thought highly 
 restorative, peculiarly grateful, and gently 
 stimulating to the stomach, after hard 
 drinking, or night- watching* It holds 
 among soups, the place that Champagne, 
 soda-water, or ginger beer, does among li- 
 quors. 
 
 The Germans, not content with procuring 
 
 * Ring; for your valet — bid him quickly bring 
 Some hock and soda-water, then you'll know 
 
 A pleasure worthy Xerxes, the great king. 
 For not blest sherbet, sublimed with snow, 
 
 Nor the first sparkle of the desert spring, 
 Nor Burgundy in all its sun-set glow, 
 
 After long travel, ennui, love, or slaughter, 
 
 Vie with that draught of hock and soda-water. 
 
 Don Juan. 
 
GERMAN WINES. 113 
 
 wine from the fresh grape, Ausbruch from 
 the raisins, brandy from the skins, and syrup 
 from the unfermented juice, have likewise 
 attempted to supply themselves with oil from 
 the stone* Dr. Crell, in the year 1783, in 
 his volume on New Chemical Discoveries, 
 published an account of this produce, stat- 
 ing, that from 100 pfwnds of the stones, 10 
 mass of a useful oil might be obtained; and 
 several authors, both in Germany and Italy, 
 mention the same subject. The process con- 
 sists simply in collecting the stones before 
 the mass of skins has begun to ferment, 
 drying them with care, and expressing the 
 oil in a mill suited to the purpose. One of 
 the earliest experimenters on this subject, 
 was a gentleman of the name of Lang, who 
 instituted extensive trials on some estates 
 
 * M. M. Schnebler and Beutsch, have also 
 found that other species of oleaginous seeds, give 
 the quantity of oil as follows : — filberts, 60 per cent. ; 
 garden cresses, 56 to 58; olives, 50; walnuts, 50 ; 
 poppies, 47 to 50; almonds, 46; colsa, 39; white 
 mustard, 36 ; tobacco seed, 32 to 36 ; kernels of 
 plums, 33 ; winter turnips, 33 ; summer turnips, 
 30 ; woad, 30 ; hemp seed, 25 ; fir, 24 ; linseed, 
 22; black mustard, 18; heliotrope, 15; beech mast, 
 12 to 16. — German Journal. 
 
114 GERMAN WINES. 
 
 in Styria, so that all the peasants supplied 
 themselves with oil for their domestic pur- 
 poses; and a calculation was made, that 
 Austria was capable of yielding this oil, 
 perfectly serviceable in all manufactures, 
 and for burning, at least 515,982 pfunds, of 
 which, Hungary alone would furnish 425,845 
 pfimds. 
 
HUNGARIAN WINES. 
 
 The mines of Hungary have yielded 
 their wealth with an unsparing hand ; but 
 in her vineyards, her harvests, and flocks, 
 are placed great and almost unbounded 
 resources.* The vine is therefore cultivated 
 to a very considerable extent. Schwartner 
 has estimated the annual vintage of Hun- 
 gary, at more than one half the whole vin- 
 tage of Austria and its provinces, estimated 
 by Blumenbach, at 32,873,971 eimers. The 
 consumption of wine in Hungary is very 
 great, but the export is also large ; and as 
 early as the year 1804, the Emperor of Aus- 
 tria, to encourage the consumption of Aus- 
 trian and Hungarian wines, had forbidden 
 any foreign wines to appear at his table. 
 
 * Bright's Travels in Hungary, 4to. 1818. 
 
116 HUNGARIAN WINES. 
 
 The vineyards of Hungary are, however, 
 chiefly in the hands of the peasantry, who 
 pay but little attention to the manufacture 
 of the wine. Dr. Bright describes most 
 of them as possessing a small piece of 
 land, but their peaceful labours are conti- 
 nually interrupted by the calls of their chief- 
 tains, and the claims of government: — 
 " what little time remains, they bestow upon 
 " their vineyard, as upon a lottery ; a blank 
 " is drawn, and the adventurer becomes a 
 " burdensome beggar, dependent on his 
 " lord;" or he not unfrequently seeks some 
 monied man, usually a Jew, to whom, for a 
 trifling advance, he pledges, by a verbal pro- 
 cess, the wine of the coming year ; but, of 
 which he can yet form no calculation : he 
 thus becomes involved more and more 
 deeply, and, at length, is irretrievably 
 ruined. 
 
 The quality of Hungarian wines might 
 be much improved by the selection of good 
 grapes, and the separation of the ripe from 
 the unripe fruit. This, however, is not to 
 be expected from peasants, whose measure 
 of a good wine year consists in the number 
 of casks which are filled, and not in the qua- 
 
HUNGARIAN WINES. 117 
 
 lity of the produce. The greater part of the 
 common wine found in the inns of Hun- 
 gary is, consequently, very poor. It is ge- 
 nerally a white wine, but faintly coloured, 
 from the mixture of grapes of every species. 
 Some of the finest sorts have, nevertheless, 
 obtained a celebrity, which originally arose 
 from the peculiar care bestowed upon the 
 manufacture. Foremost among these wines 
 is that of Tokay, which is the product 
 of the country around the town of Tokay, 
 called the Submontine district, or the He- 
 gallya, which extends over a space of about 
 twenty English miles. Throughout the 
 whole of this country, it is the custom to 
 collect the grapes which have become dry 
 and sweet, like raisins, by hanging on the 
 vines. They are gathered one by one, and 
 it is from these alone that the prime To- 
 kay, or, as it is termed, Tokay Ausbruch, is 
 prepared. They are first put together in a 
 cask, in the bottom of which holes are bored 
 to let that portion of the juice escape, which 
 will run from them without any pressure. 
 This, which is called Tokay essence, is gene- 
 rally in very small quantity, and very highly 
 prized. The grapes are then put into a vat, 
 
118 HUNGARIAN WINES. 
 
 and trampled with the hare feet, no greater 
 pressure heing permitted. To the squeezed 
 mass is next added an equal quantity of 
 good wine, which is allowed to stand for 
 twenty-four hours, and is then strained. 
 This juice, without further preparation, he- 
 comes the far-famed wine of Tokay, which 
 is difficult to be obtained, and sells in Vien- 
 na, at the rate of £\2 sterling per dozen. 
 Great part of these vineyards are the pro- 
 perty of the emperor; several, however, 
 are in the hands of the nobles. Although 
 called Tokay, this nectar of German epi- 
 cures * is not the produce of Tokay itself, 
 but of its environs, particularly Tarczal. 
 The yearly produce amounts on an average, 
 to 110,000 aulms. 
 
 Dr. Townson, in his Travels in Hungary, 
 also gives a minute account of the mode in 
 which Tokay is manufactured. The doctor, 
 however, does not rate this celebrated wine 
 so highly as might be expected : he says, 
 
 * It is equally prized in this country, — since in 
 some epicurean hints on the art of drinking wine, 
 " Champagne,with its argent foam, is to be sanctified 
 "by an offering of Tokay, poured from a glass so 
 "small, that you might fancy it formed of diamond." 
 
HUNGARIAN WINES. 119 
 
 " Tokay is, no doubt, a fine wine; but I 
 " think no ways adequate to its price : there 
 " are few of my countrymen, except on ac- 
 " count of its scarceness, who would not 
 " prefer to it good Claret or Burgundy, 
 " which do not cost one-fourth of the price. 
 " Some of the sweetish Spanish wines, 
 " begging its pardon, are, in my opinion, 
 " equally good ; and, unless it be very old, it 
 " is too sweet for an Englishman's palate." 
 The Tokay Essence is thick, and never 
 perfectly clear, — very sweet, and luscious. 
 It is chiefly used to mix with the other 
 kinds, and when joined to the Masslasch, 
 forms a wine equally good with the Aus- 
 bruch, and often is sold for it. The Aus- 
 bruch is the wine commonly exported, and 
 what is known in foreign countries under 
 the name of Tokay. The following are the 
 best rules for judging of it ; though in this, 
 and all similar cases, it requires experience 
 to be able to put such rules into practice. 
 1. The colour should neither be reddish, 
 which it often is, — nor very pale, but a light 
 silver. 2. In trying it, you should not 
 swallow it immediately, but only wet your 
 palate, and the tip of your tongue. If it 
 
120 HUNGARIAN WINES. 
 
 discover any acrimony to the tongue, or bite 
 it, it is not good : the taste ought to be soft 
 and mild. 3. It should, when poured out, 
 form globules in the glass, and have an oily 
 appearance. 4. When genuine, the strong- 
 est is always of the best quality ; and, 5. 
 When swallowed, it should have an earthy 
 astringent taste in the mouth, which they 
 call the taste of the root. The Poles, par- 
 ticularly, are fond of this astringency and 
 austerity in their Tokay. 
 
 Besides the qualities already mentioned, 
 all Tokay wine has an aromatic taste, — so 
 peculiar, that nobody who has ever drunk it 
 genuine, can confound it with any other 
 species of wine. The only species that bears 
 a resemblance to it, grows in a very small 
 quantity, in the Venetian Friule, and is 
 only to be met with in private families in 
 Venice, where, in the dialect of the place, 
 it is called vin piccolit. The Tokay wine, 
 both the Essence and Ausbruch, keeps to 
 any age, and improves by time ; it is never 
 good till it is about three years old. It is 
 much the best way to transport it in casks ; 
 for when it is on the seas, it ferments three 
 times every season, and refines itself by 
 
HUNGARIAN WINES. 121 
 
 these repeated fermentations. When in bot- 
 tles, there must be an empty space left be- 
 tween the wine and the cork, otherwise it 
 would burst the bottle. They put a little oil 
 on the surface, and tie a piece of bladder on 
 the cork. The bottles are always laid on 
 their sides in sand.* 
 
 Tokay, when new, is of a brownish yellow 
 colour, yet, changes with age, to a greenish 
 tint. Dr. Henderson relates several parti- 
 culars of its high value, by keeping ; and 
 tells us, that at Cracau, some vintages are 
 said to have been stored a whole century. 
 He also says, that " When the Emperor of 
 " Austria wished to make a present of some 
 " Tokay wine in return for a breed of horses, 
 " which had been sent to him by the ex- 
 " King of Holland, the stock in the impe- 
 " rial and royal cellars, was not deemed 
 " sufficiently old for the purpose ; and 2,000 
 " bottles of old Tokay wine, were therefore 
 " procured from Cracau, at the extravagant 
 (i price of seven ducats the bottle." 
 
 Hungary, perhaps, produces a greater 
 variety of wines than any other country in 
 
 * Philos. Transactions abridged, vol. xiii. p. 453. 
 
122 HUNGARIAN WINES. 
 
 Europe. They count as many as one hun- 
 dred different sorts. The most valuable 
 white wines, after the Tokay, are — 1. The St. 
 George, which grows in a village of that 
 name, about two German miles north of 
 Presburg, and in the same latitude with 
 Vienna. This wine approaches the nearest 
 of any Hungarian wine to Tokay. For- 
 merly, they used to make Ausbruch at St. 
 George; but this was prohibited by the 
 Court, it being supposed that it might hurt 
 the traffic of the Tokay wine. 2. The 
 (Edenburg wine, resembling the St. George, 
 but inferior in quality and value. (Eden- 
 burg is a town, situate about nine German 
 miles north-west of Presburg. 3. The Car- 
 lo witz wine, something like that of the 
 Cote Eotie, on the banks of the Rhone. Car- 
 lowitz stands on the banks of the Danube, 
 between 45 and 46 degrees of latitude. 
 
 The best red wines, are — 1. The Buda 
 wine, which grows in the neighbourhood of 
 the ancient capital of the kingdom. This 
 wine is like, and perhaps equal to Bur- 
 gundy, and is often sold for it in Germany. 
 A German author says, that a great quan- 
 tity of this wine used to be sent to England 
 
HUNGARIAN WINES. 123 
 
 in the reign of James I., overland by Bres- 
 lau and Hamburg, and that it was the fa- 
 vorite wine, both at the court, and all over 
 England. 2. The Sexard, a strong deep- 
 coloured wine, not unlike the strong wine 
 of Languedoc, which is sold at Bordeaux 
 for Claret. The Sexard wine, on the spot, 
 costs about five creutzers, or twopence-half- 
 penny a bottle. Sexard is on the Danube, 
 between Buda and Esseh. 3. The Erlau 
 wine, which is reckoned at Vienna almost 
 equal to that of Buda. Erlau is in Upper 
 Hungary, south-west of Tokay, between 47 
 and 48 degrees of latitude. 4. The Gros 
 Warden wine, strong-bodied, and very cheap, 
 Gros Warden is an old fortress, near the 
 confines of Transylvania, between 46 and 
 47 degrees of latitude.* 
 
 It is said, that the vine was first introduced 
 by the Emperor Probus,in the fourth century, 
 by whom it was planted in Sirmien. The To- 
 kay vineyards are known to have flourished 
 in the thirteenth century ; their great cele- 
 brity is, however, said to have arisen after 
 the destruction and neglect of the Sirmien 
 
 * Philos. Trans, abridged, vol. xiii. p. 454. 
 
124 HUNGARIAN WINES. 
 
 vineyards, subsequently to the battle of Mo- 
 hacs. The Sirmien wines, are now again 
 become valuable. The red wine from that 
 country, called Schiller wine, is much es- 
 teemed ; it is strong and sweet. They like- 
 wise make small quantities of Ausbruch, 
 and some of those preparations of wine 
 called Wermuth, particularly two sorts, de- 
 nominated Palunia and Tropfwermuth. The 
 exact process of forming the latter is a se- 
 cret ; but the former is prepared by putting 
 together fresh grapes, wormwood, bruised 
 mustard-seed, and several spices in layers, in 
 a cask, pouring old wine over the whole, 
 and closing the cask firmly. In a few 
 weeks, the liquor is fit for use ; but, as it 
 will not keep above a year at the utmost, 
 though much esteemed, it seldom forms an 
 article of commerce. 
 
 The vineyards of Menes, have been de- 
 scribed at some length, by Dr. Lubeck* 
 Their produce is a sweet red wine ; and as 
 the Tokay is not entirely the produce of the 
 mountain of that name, so the Menescher is 
 not only obtained from Menes, an inconsi- 
 
 * Hungarian Miscellany. 
 
HUNGARIAN WINES. 125 
 
 derable village, but from the whole extent 
 of a chain of hills, nearly covered with 
 vines and villages towards the descent. In 
 some parts, these hills are so steep, that 
 when heavy rains set in, large tracts of 
 ground are often carried away, and the la- 
 hour of many years is destroyed in a few 
 minutes. The rock of the whole of this 
 chain is clay slate. The labourers and inha- 
 bitants of this country, are almost entirely 
 Walachians ; the cultivation of the vine is 
 their principal occupations, and even women 
 and children labour in it, either for them- 
 selves, for their lords, or for hire. 
 
 Plums are here cultivated to a consider- 
 able extent, — that is to say, the trees are 
 planted, and the fruit gathered. From these 
 the peasants generally themselves manufac- 
 ture the well-known damson brandy. In 
 the vineyards are seen many cherry-trees, 
 apricot, peach, and almonds; and in the 
 valleys, the filbert. On the borders, and in 
 the divisions of the vineyards, they plant 
 culinary vegetables, particularly the beet 
 and carrot, which thrive well. 
 
 The vineyards are held by the peasantry 
 on the usual tenure, giving a ninth and 
 
126 HUNGARIAN WINES. 
 
 a tenth of the wine produce to the landlord, 
 and two florins for each still for preparing 
 spirit, with some other small dues. The 
 Ausbruchs, and the Maslas, pay no tenths. 
 Much care is bestowed on the cultivation of 
 the vineyards, because the lord has the 
 right of taking them away from such as 
 neglect them, and giving them to others. 
 Most of these vineyards belong to persons 
 who do not reside upon the spot, but who 
 have houses for their wine-presses, and for 
 temporary residence, which they occupy 
 from the beginning of October, to the end 
 of November; during which time, balls, 
 amusements, parties of pleasure, and fire- 
 works, add to the gaiety of the season. The 
 proprietor employs a peasant to keep his 
 house, and superintend the vineyard; his 
 usual pay is at least 30 gulden, 1 stein of 
 salt, 2 pair of shoes, a large cloak, lodg- 
 ing, and wood, besides his common allow- 
 ance as a workman, when he labours in the 
 vineyard. 
 
 The finest grape is the Hungarian Blue, 
 with a thin skin, which yields a very sweet 
 reddish-coloured juice. Almost as soon as 
 it is ripe, the watery parts begin to evapo- 
 
HUNGAKIAN WINES. 127 
 
 rate, and the grapes shrivel, whence they 
 are called Trockenbeeren, — these are fit for 
 making Ausbruch. The culture resembles 
 that of other vineyards ; but one rule, which, 
 Dr. Lllbeck observes, " and daily expe- 
 " rience confirms, is, that in proportion as 
 " the soil is poor and stony, and the vine 
 " feeble, the fruit and wines, though small 
 " in quantity, become more excellent in 
 " their quality." 
 
 When the season for gathering the grape 
 arrives, all the wine-presses and casks are 
 cleansed ; for remedying the defects of new 
 oak casks, nothing has been found more 
 efficacious than a decoction of the vine leaf. 
 Every thing being prepared, the labourers, 
 accompanying their work with songs, or the 
 well-known note of the bag-pipe, commence 
 the vintage. The vine-gatherers stand in 
 ranks, one hundred men and children, old 
 and young, freeing the vines from their 
 bonds, and collecting the grapes into wooden 
 troughs, or pails ; behind them follows the 
 Weinzedler, watching that no grapes are 
 left ungathered. The Trockenbeeren are ga- 
 thered, picked, and re-picked with extreme 
 care, those which are dead, rotten, or in- 
 
128 HUNGARIAN WINES. 
 
 jured by insects, being separated from the 
 sound fruit; as bad grapes, or other sub- 
 stances liable to ferment, would spoil the 
 whole. Frequently, where the peasantry 
 possess vineyards, the Trockenbeeren grapes 
 become articles of speculation; and when- 
 ever they are offered for sale, there is a great 
 competition of purchasers. 
 
 The vintage generally terminates early in 
 November, but sometimes later, when frost 
 or snow bespeaks the approach of winter. 
 The vines are then cut, the prunings carried 
 away, and the poles are removed; after 
 which, the whole vine-stock, with its 
 branches laid along the ground, is covered 
 one foot deep with earth, and thus the labour 
 of the vineyard is brought to a close before 
 the snow falls. The process of covering up 
 the vines, is only partially adopted; and, 
 " indeed," observes Dr. Liibeck, "it appears 
 " very doubtful, whether any material ad- 
 " vantage is derived from this practice ; for, 
 " it seems, that the vine is as capable as 
 " other plants of withstanding the winter 
 " frosts ; and, by its remaining uncovered, 
 " the cultivator is able to commence the 
 " operation of pruning earlier in the spring." 
 
ITALIAN WINES. 
 
 
 It lias been pertinently remarked, by a 
 
 popular writer, that " a vineyard, associated 
 
 " as it is with all our ideas of beauty and 
 
 " plenty, is, in general, a disappointing ob- 
 
 " ject. In France, the vines are trained 
 
 " upon poles, seldom more than three or 
 
 " four feet in height ; and the ' pole-clipped 
 
 " ' vineyard ' of poetry, is not the most in- 
 
 " viting of real objects. In Spain, poles for 
 
 " supporting vines are not used ; but cut- 
 
 " tings are planted, which are not permitted 
 
 " to grow very high, but gradually form 
 
 " thick and stout stocks. In Switzerland, 
 
 " and in the German provinces, the vine- 
 
 u yards are as formal as those of France. 
 
 " But in Italy is found the true vine of 
 
 " poetry, surrounding the stone cottage with 
 
 " its girdle, flinging its pliant and luxuriant 
 
 K 
 
130 ITALIAN WINES. 
 
 " branches over the rustic viranda, or twin- 
 " ing its long garland from tree to tree."* 
 It was the luxuriance and beauty of her 
 vines, and her olives, that tempted the rude 
 people of the north to pour down upon her 
 fertile fields : — 
 
 The prostrate south to the destroyer yields 
 Her boasted tithes, and her golden fields ; 
 With grim delight, the brood of winter view 
 A brighter day, and heavens of azure hue, 
 Scent the new fragrance of the breathing rose, 
 And quaff the pendant vintage as it grows.f 
 
 Associated too as Italy is with all the 
 classic lore of mythology, where 
 
 Sweet is the vintage, when the showering grapes, 
 
 In bacchanal profusion reel to earth 
 Purple and gushing : sweet are our escapes, 
 
 From civic revelry to rural mirth,^ 
 
 we might reasonably expect to find the 
 choicest wines among the produce of her 
 delightful clime. Yet, such is not the case ; 
 for, in proportion as nature has been more 
 bountiful here than in other countries, have 
 the culture of the plant, and the manufac- 
 ture of the wine, been neglected by the indo- 
 lence of the people. The vines are left to 
 
 * The Alpenstock, by C. J. Latrobe, 1829. 
 -j- Gray. j Lord Byron. 
 

 ITALIAN WINES. 131 
 
 luxuriate amidst fences, or the boundaries 
 of fields, and this rude growth supplies the 
 Italian peasant with sufficient wine for his 
 own consumption. Even where cultivation 
 is attempted,the vine appears to be a second- 
 ary object; the road in some parts of Italy 
 being bordered with vine-branches, draw T n 
 in festoons from elm to elm, not only bound- 
 ing the enclosures, but traversing them in 
 lines so near to each other, that, in Eng- 
 land, nothing could grow beneath, but rank 
 and rushy grass. Here, however, are sown 
 grain, or artificial grasses, and various sorts 
 of garden vegetables; the shade of Italy 
 being as productive as the sunshine of Eng- 
 land. Again, such pictures of neglect as 
 the following, are by no means rare among 
 the delights of an Italian villa: — "There 
 " was a long trellis, over which vines were 
 " trained ; under this was a walk, but the 
 " place was so suffocating, that it w r as not 
 u worth while to desire the gardener to 
 " clear away the weeds, with which, as they 
 " hindered not the ripening of the grapes, 
 " he allowed the walk to be encumbered."* 
 
 * Three Years in Italy, 1829. 
 
132 ITALIAN WINES. 
 
 The system of training the vine to pol- 
 lard elms is not, however, general through- 
 out Italy. In Lombardy, the Campagna, 
 and other provinces, it is raised on poles or 
 trellises, but still allowed to luxuriate ; and 
 it is only in a few districts, as in the Neapo- 
 litan kingdom, and Piedmont, that the 
 vines are pruned and trained, as in France 
 and Spain. Some of the more experienced 
 growers in Italy, have, for years past, adopt- 
 ed the plan of binding and protecting their 
 vines with iron wire : latterly, this system 
 has been applied by Dr. Fischer, of Cornem- 
 burg, in Austria, not only to the vine, but 
 to fruit-bearing trees in general, as a means 
 of encouraging their growth and fructifica- 
 tion ; and as a substitute for annular inci- 
 sion .* 
 
 * He recommends that the tree should be bound 
 with iron wire, on the very spot where the incision 
 has been usually made ; that the wire should be 
 tightly drawn two or three times round the trunk 
 or stem, and then that both ends should be twisted 
 together : the operation must be performed in win- 
 ter, particularly in the month of February, before 
 the sap has begun to circulate. The ligature is to 
 be applied to the branches of young shrubs, from 
 which fruit is derived, and is to be removed in 
 
ITALIAN WINES. 133 
 
 The culture of the vine, in some parts of 
 the Appenines, is, however, conducted with 
 great care ; and, as well as the general cul- 
 tivation of the district, deserves mention. 
 At the commencement of each ascent, vines 
 are dressed on terraces, cut in the side of 
 the hill ; wheat being sown between every 
 two rows of vines : above these, there fre- 
 quently is an olive-garden ; and on the more 
 elevated parts of the hill, are chestnuts. 
 
 Neither the culture of the vine, nor the 
 making, nor keeping of wine, appear to be 
 perfectly understood in Italy ; and the supe- 
 riority of the climate, and luxuriance of the 
 plant, render the erroneous methods adopted 
 by the peasantry still more to be lamented. 
 The classical mode of marrying the vine to 
 the elm, overshadows too much of its fruit. 
 " Yet," observes a recent tourist, " the wine 
 " of Asti, in Piedmont, of Orvieto, in the 
 " Roman territory, and that of Naples, — 
 " which I would rather call Vesuvian, these 
 
 summer, after the bloom is off, and at the time when 
 the fruit is beginning to expand. This may be 
 done every year, taking due care to change the 
 spot; and instead of iron-wire, a small hempen 
 rope, steeped in oil, may be used. 
 
134 ITAXIAN WINES, 
 
 " wines prove, that the Italian Peninsula, 
 " through the whole length of it, produces 
 " wine of excellent quality, and of a flavour 
 " which will be approved of by every taste 
 " that is not spoiled by brandy-mingled 
 " adulterations. I do not mean to say, that 
 " these wines are light or weak ; on the con- 
 " trary, they bear to be mingled with an 
 " equal, or more than equal quantity of 
 " water, — and are in that state a very plea- 
 " sant beverage." 
 
 " At Naples, 1 ' observes the same intelli- 
 gent traveller* " I had tolerable Nostrale, 
 u or vin du pays, for five grant, or two-pence. 
 " An Austrian officer of the army, told me 
 " that he had drunk there very good wine 
 " at two gram the bottle, less than one 
 " penny ; not one of those diminutive bot- 
 " ties, which are known in England to run 
 " fifteen or eighteen to the dozen, but a fair 
 " honest quart — the quarter of a gallon. 
 " Let not the incautious reader be misled by 
 " the phrase, vin du pays, — Claret, Bur- 
 " gundy, and Champagne, are vim du pays 
 " in Champagne and Burgundy, and on the 
 
 * Mr. Best, author of " Four Years in Italy." 
 
ITALIAN WINES. 135 
 
 " banks of the Garonne. In the cities, wine 
 " is dearer than in the country, on account 
 " of the expenses of transport and cellerage, 
 " and duties paid at the entrance of towns ; 
 " but, in Rome and Florence, I had wine 
 " generally at from three-pence to four- 
 " pence a bottle." 
 
 We ought not, however, to visit the Ita- 
 lians with too sweeping a censure of indo- 
 lence : although, they manage the art of 
 wine-making worse than any other coun- 
 try. It is not uncommon to see the finest 
 grapes mixed with those which are unripe 
 and unsound, — the must put into dirty ves- 
 sels, and the management often so badly 
 conducted, that the wine will hardly keep 
 a year or eighteen months. Other and more 
 formidable obstacles, however, arise, in the 
 petty acts of misgovernment which charac- 
 terize the Italian states. These consist of 
 certain impolitic laws, by which each state 
 grows its own wine, and is cut off from the 
 benefit of fair commercial intercourse with 
 its neighbour, however advantageous a more 
 liberal system might prove to the inhabit- 
 ants of both districts. Mr. Stewart Hose, 
 in his Tour through the North of Italy, met 
 
136 ITALIAN WINES. 
 
 with a striking instance of this unjust re- 
 striction. — When at Arqua, being parched 
 with thirst, he was directed to a little pub- 
 lic-house, where he begged a tumbler of 
 wine, and was presented with some, which 
 might have passed for nectar. On asking 
 the price, he was told it was three Venetian 
 soldi, equivalent to three-farthings of our 
 money; yet, the poison produced by the 
 plains of Padua cost five in that city. Here, 
 then, was a wine, which, if bottled for two 
 years, would be equal to the good white 
 wines of Gascony, nearly confined to the 
 Euganean hills ; though sold on the spot for 
 little more than half the price, and only ten 
 miles from Padua, with the facility of wa- 
 ter-carriage for more than half the distance. 
 On his return from Padua, Mr. Rose inquired 
 if it was not possible to have a bottle of 
 this precious liquor. He was answered, 
 " yes ! " and presented with a list of foreign 
 wines, and this amongst them, with the an- 
 nexed price of two francs, or nearly ten 
 times as much as it cost at Arqua ; and this 
 in consequence of the impediments. thrown 
 in the way of commerce, to which we have 
 just alluded. 
 

 ITALIAN WINES. 137 
 
 The inferiority of modern Italian wines, 
 compared with the produce of the ancient 
 country, renders the subject still more pain- 
 ful. Thus, in vain shall we look for the 
 " immortal" Falernian of Horace or Mar- 
 tial, and the epithet of " indomitum"* as- 
 cribed to it by Persius, loses its applica- 
 bility in the degeneracy of the wines of the 
 present age. 
 
 In Italy, wine is pretty generally drunk 
 " without a drop of allaying Tyber in it." 
 The juice of the grape does not receive 
 much time to prepare it for its use; nor 
 is new wine, if made of that juice, and of 
 nothing but that juice, by any means un- 
 wholesome : indeed, Ludovico Cornaro, the 
 noble Venetian who so wonderfully pro- 
 longed his life by temperance, always found 
 himself somewhat unwell during the two 
 months preceding the vintage, which he at- 
 tributes to the necessity of drinking wine 
 too old for his constitution, as he always 
 recovered his usual health when able to 
 procure wine just pressed from the grape. 
 This must be fatal to the prevailing pas- 
 sion for old wine. 
 
 * See page 22. 
 
138 ITALIAN WINES. 
 
 Wine-making is, however, better under- 
 stood in Tuscany than in any other of the 
 Italian States. Redi, in his celebrated 
 poem, " Bacco in Toscana," exalts the Tus- 
 can wines with pardonable poetical license. 
 Among these, the principal are luscious, 
 sweet wines : the colour is not the least ex- 
 traordinary ; one of them being of a beau- 
 tiful purple colour, and another of a bright 
 green. The manufacture is still but imper- 
 fectly understood, or neglected, and the du- 
 rability of Tuscan wines cannot be relied 
 on : when properly managed, and put in 
 flask or bottle, they may be kept for several 
 years. The author of " Three Years in 
 " Italy," says, " when at Tagliaferro, they 
 " brought us wine in a large flask, con- 
 " taining about three quarts, with a neck so 
 " long and slender, that I wondered how, 
 " when lifted up, it supported the weight 
 " of its round belly. In such flasks wine 
 " is kept ; the flask being filled up to the 
 " neck : a small quantity of oil is poured 
 " in, which completely prevents all com- 
 " munication with the air. When the wine 
 " is wanted, a little bit of toe is inserted, to 
 " draw off the oil, by capillary attraction." 
 

 ITALIAN WINES. 139 
 
 Montifiascone, in the Papal States, pro- 
 duces a Muscadel wine of such excellence, 
 that a German traveller, a prelate, died 
 from drinking it to excess. Siena likewise 
 contains a memorial of similar import. In 
 the church of the Holy Ghost, here, is an 
 epitaph on a Bacchanalian, which displays 
 " the ruling passion strong in death," as 
 vividly as any hie jacet we ever met with. 
 The epitaph has been noted in every 
 tourist's book of our time, as well as of 
 ages past: few of either, have, however, 
 favoured us with a versified translation ; 
 but in a very scarce book, entitled, " Vari- 
 " orum in Europa, &c. 1599, per Nathan 
 " Christseus, Edit. Secun." we find the epi- 
 taph and imitation, as follow : 
 
 POTATORES. 
 
 " Vina dabant vitam — Mortem mihi vini dedere 
 
 Sobrius Auroram cernere non potui. 
 
 Ossa merum sitium Vino consperge sepulcrum 
 
 Et calice epoto — care Viator abi. 
 Valete Potatores." 
 'Twas rosy wine, that juice divine, 
 
 My life and joys extended; 
 But death, alas ! has drain' d my glass, 
 
 And all my pleasures ended. 
 The social bowl, my jovial soul, 
 
 Ere morn ne'er thought of quitting, 
 A jolly fellow, his wine, till mellow, 
 
 To leave is not befitting. 
 
 
140 ITALIAN WINES. 
 
 My thirsty bones, oh ! spare their moans, 
 
 Cry out for irrigation, 
 I pray, then o'er my grave you'll pour 
 
 A copious libation. 
 
 Then fill a cup, and drink it up, 
 
 Pure wine, like ruby glowing, 
 This boon I pray, dear trav'ler pay, 
 
 When from this tomb you're going. 
 
 Topers farewell ! where'er you dwell, 
 
 May wine be most abounding, 
 Be all your lays, of wine the praise, 
 
 In Paeans loud resounding. 
 
 Many interesting illustrations of the sim- 
 plicity and amiable manners of the Italian 
 peasantry are to be met with in their peri- 
 odical festivals. Among these, one at 
 Rome, little known to strangers, is well 
 worth observation, from being a remnant of 
 the ancient Saturnalia. It is celebrated on 
 Sundays and Thursdays, during the month of 
 October, on the Monte Gestaccio, at Rome. 
 This hill contains the public wine-vaults of 
 the city, and from being composed of large 
 fragments of pottery, between which the 
 air constantly penetrates, is peculiarly fitted 
 for its present use, as an invariable and 
 surprising coolness is preserved beneath 
 its surface. On the hill, during the days 
 already mentioned, tables are spread with 
 refreshments; and hither on those days 
 
ITALIAN WINES. 141 
 
 Hock the whole population of Rome and its 
 environs, to drink wine fresh drawn from 
 the vaults beneath their feet. It is impos- 
 sible to conceive a more enlivening" picture 
 than the summit of Monte Testaccio ex- 
 hibits on this occasion. Groupes of pea- 
 sants, arrayed in their gayest costume, are 
 seen dancing the Saltarello ; some are 
 seated in jovial parties round the tables ; 
 and others mingle with the upper ranks of 
 Romans, who have their carriages at the 
 foot of the hill, and stroll about to enjoy 
 this festive scene. Bodies of cavalry and 
 infantry parade to and fro, to preserve 
 order ; while the pyramid of Caius Cestus, 
 and the adjoining tombs of the Protestants, 
 by forming a strong contrast to these Sa- 
 turnalian rites, add interest to the picture* 
 The richness and fertility of the Cam- 
 pagna of Rome are very prodigal, notwith- 
 standing it is much neglected. In the en- 
 virons of Poli, however, almost all the 
 manure is reserved for the vines. Slips 
 stuck into the ground, take root, and on the 
 
 * Pinelii constantly attends this festival, to 
 study subjects for his characteristic pencil. 
 
142 ITALIAN WINES. 
 
 second year begin to bear fruit. As soon 
 as they extend their branches for support, 
 they are attached to maple trees. 
 
 Tuscany, which maybe styled the paradise 
 of Bacchus, would exhaust language to de- 
 scribe its luxuriant and picturesque beauty. 
 Leigh Hunt, in the notes to his translation 
 of " Bacco in Toscana," says, " The vines 
 " of the south seem as if they were meant 
 " to supply the waste of animal spirits oc- 
 " casioned by the vivacity of the natives. 
 " Tuscany is one huge vineyard and olive- 
 " ground. What would be fields and com- 
 " mon hedges in England, are here a mass 
 " of orchards, producing wine and oil, so 
 " that the sight becomes tiresome in its 
 " very beauty. About noon, all the la- 
 " bourers, peasantry, and small shop-keepers 
 " in Tuscany, maybe imagined taking their 
 " flask of wine. You see them all about 
 " Florence fetching it under their arms. The 
 " effect is perceptible after dinner, though 
 " no disorder ensues ; the wine being only 
 " just strong enough to move the brain 
 " pleasantly, without intoxication : a man 
 " can get drunk with it if he pleases ; but 
 
ITALIAN WINES. 143 
 
 ' drunkenness is thought as great a vice 
 ' here, as gallantry is with us. 
 
 " Neither Genoa, nor the country about it, 
 ' abounds in vines. But among the gigantic 
 ■ houses, you now and then detect a garden; 
 ' some of the windows have vines trained over 
 'them, not in the scanty fashion of our 
 'creepers, but like great luxuriant green 
 ' hair hanging over the houses' eyes : and 
 ' sometimes the very highest stories have a 
 ' terrace along the whole length of the house 
 'embowered with them. Calling one day 
 ' upon a gentleman who resided in an ele- 
 • vated part of the suburbs, and to get at 
 ' whose abode I had walked through a hot 
 'sun, and a city of stone, I was agreeably 
 ' surprised, when the door opened, with a 
 'long yellow vista of an arcade of vines, and 
 ' at once basking in the sun, and defending 
 ' from it. In the suburbs there are some or- 
 'chards in all the southern luxuriance of 
 'leaves and fruit. In one of these I walked 
 ' amongheaps of vines, olives, cherry, orange, 
 ' and almond trees. Next the orchard, was a 
 ' wine-garden, answering to our tea-gardens, 
 ' with wine-arbours and seats, as with us, 
 
144 ITALIAN WINES. 
 
 " where people come to drink wine and play 
 " at their games." 
 
 At Naples, the vines are still supported 
 by young elms, as in the time of Virgil. 
 The principal wines of the Neapolitan ter- 
 ritory, are three sweet species, the most 
 celebrated of which is the Lacryma Christie 
 a red wine of great richness, but seldom 
 to be obtained genuine, little of it being 
 made, and that for the stores of royalty.* 
 
 * Lacryma is not, however, always held in such 
 high estimation, as the following anecdote (some- 
 what broad) related by Angelo, the fencing-master, 
 will prove. The narrator says : 
 
 " I cannot avoid mentioning an anecdote that a 
 " duke related to me, some years ago, on his return 
 " from Italy." — " When I was at Naples, Sir 
 " William Hamilton had a cassina at Portici, 
 (( some little distance from Mount Vesuvius, as he 
 " was in the habit of approaching the crater as 
 " near as he could venture. He often took up his 
 " residence there expressly for that purpose, and 
 " was engaged on one occasion that had particu- 
 " larly attracted his attention. I was left alone 
 " to dine with Lady Hamilton and her mother, 
 " who had followed her from England. In the 
 " course of conversation, after dinner, when speak- 
 " ing of the excellence of the Lacryma Christi, 
 " a famous Italian wine, the mother ejaculated — 
 " ' Oh ! as how I had but some English gin here.' 
 
ITALIAN WINES. 145 
 
 These wines grow on the volcanic soil of 
 the vicinity of Vesuvius. 
 
 The cultivation of the vine in the south 
 of Italy, is conducted with great care, and 
 its advantageous results are very evident. 
 A recent traveller, in his journey from Bar- 
 lotta to Otranto, says, " Among the vines, 
 " the hoe is the instrument in use : at this 
 " season, (February) the earth is collected 
 " into pyramidal heaps, and the roots laid 
 " almost bare. The vine is cut within two 
 " feet of the ground, and the excellence of 
 " produce shows the utility of the practice. 
 " In the north of Italy, where the vines are 
 u trained in sweeping festoons from tree to 
 " tree, the wines are almost invariably thin 
 " and subacid." 
 
 ** The duke, who luckily had taken some with him, 
 " directly forwarded his servant to his hotel at Na- 
 ** pies, for it. At his return, the madre, delighted 
 " with the vero gusto, by her frequent tasting, did 
 xe not a little convince his Grace of the improve- 
 " ment the juniper berry had upon the vulgar 
 " tongue, (in which she particularly excelled) 
 " and the glass increasing, she said, ' she had not 
 " ' never enjoyed the good creature (gin) since 
 " ( she left England ; it was far betterer than all 
 " f vour outlandish wines.'" 
 
146 ITALIAN WINES. 
 
 The wine along the southern coast is ex- 
 cellent. The best is red, and not unlike our 
 Port, and costs about two-pence a flagon. 
 
 Sicily produces wine in great abundance, 
 although the economy or management of 
 the vintage is on the same neglectful sys- 
 tem as in part of Italy. To the excellence 
 of the Sicilian wines, the territories of 
 Syracuse and Messina have hitherto borne 
 tribute. We learn from Pliny, that the 
 Roman emperors had a custom of intro- 
 ducing in their fetes the four superior kinds 
 of wines : these were the Falernian, pro- 
 duced near Naples, the Greek wines of the 
 Islands of Chios and Lesbos, and that 
 called Mamertinum, from the immediate 
 vicinity of Messina. 
 
 The greater part of the site of the ancient 
 Syracusa is now covered with rich vine- 
 yards, the walls of which are built with 
 broken marble, full of engravings and in- 
 scriptions, but most of them spoiled and de- 
 faced. The different wines of this district, 
 are, generally speaking, extremely fine, and 
 some of them truly delicious, especially the 
 Calabrese, a wine made from a grape ori- 
 ginally from Calabria, of a bright red co- 
 
ITALIAN WINES. 147 
 
 lour,and possessing a very agreeable flavour : 
 the Moscatello is likewise a very superior 
 wine, of a delicate flavour and rich amber 
 colour, and is generally introduced in the 
 dessert. A recent traveller says, " During 
 " one of our interviews with the Signor 
 " Landolina Nava, he presented us with a 
 " bottle of wine that was very palatable, 
 " which, he stated, his father, the Cavaliere, 
 " had made from the directions laid down 
 " by Hesiod and Homer. It is generally sup- 
 " posed that the ancients made from these 
 " same directions the wine used in the ce- 
 " lebration of the sacred festivals of their 
 " gods."* 
 
 We conclude this portion of our subject, 
 by quoting a few observations from a source 
 already recognised, on the policy of an ex- 
 tended introduction of Italian wines to this 
 country. Where so much is done by fashion, 
 the suggestions of an individual are perhaps 
 not likely to obtain ; but this does not de- 
 tract from their point and usefulness. 
 
 " The whole of Italy is much more conve- 
 " veniently situated for the exportation of 
 
 * Russell's Tour through Sicily, 1815. 
 
148 ITALIAN WINES. 
 
 " wine, than are the ancient provinces of 
 " Champagne and Burgundy, whence the 
 " wine must be sent by some land carriage, 
 " and a long tract of inland water-carriage, 
 " to the sea-port : no part of Italy is far from 
 " the sea, except a part of Lombardy and 
 " Piedmont ; which, however, are watered 
 " by the Po, and its tributaries* 
 
 * Three Years in Italy. 
 
 " At Avignon," says the author, " I was in 
 " treaty for some wine of an excellent vineyard 
 " and good vintage ; I did not buy it, because the 
 "quantity was more than I could want during my 
 " stay there : the agent of the proprietor, who thus 
 " realized his rents from his land, told me that he 
 " should send the wine to Paris. e By what route ?' 
 " ' Up the Rhone and Soane, — and by the canal 
 " ( that unites the Soane and the Seine.' — '. At how 
 " ' much will it be sold at Paris?' — ' About a franc 
 " ' a bottle.' This portage, almost from one end 
 " of France to the other; this carriage by water, 
 " for a great part of it against an adverse and a 
 " strong current, did not much more than double 
 " the price of a cheap and heavy article ; for, I had 
 " the offer of the wine at eight sous the bottle ; but, 
 " had it been destined for London, it would have 
 " been sent down the Rhone, and to Marseilles. 
 " This port, and the ports of Italy, are further from 
 " England than Oporto and Bordeaux ; but dis- 
 " tance would add very little to the expense of the 
 " transport of wine once shipped." 
 
ITALIAN WINES. 149 
 
 " As a protecting' duty for oar nostrala — 
 " strong beer, (for as a coal fire is the sun of 
 " England, so ale is our vin du pays) let a 
 " hundred per cent, ad valorem, be paid by 
 " every gallon of foreign wine imported into 
 " England ; and, I believe, we might get 
 " good wine into our cellars, at little more 
 " than the price of ale." The writer then 
 alludes to the price of wine being increased 
 by long keeping, and says, that " a family 
 " man, who drinks his own wine, in France, 
 " generally begins to drink in the spring 
 u the wine of the preceding vintage; that is, 
 " household wine, of the same quality as 
 " that usually imported." Next, we may 
 add, that a bottle of Bordeaux, which may 
 be bought even in Paris for a franc, will 
 cost the purchaser in London, from 3s. to 
 Ss.6d. This, however, only applies to the 
 ordinaire, or inferior wine, as we have al- 
 ready shown, in the case of fine Claret. We 
 concur with the writer, in regretting that 
 we are deprived, by mere fiscal regulations, 
 of the pleasures of table-wine, at a cheap 
 rate ; and, that, ' ' instead of bringing home 
 " the wines that gladdened the heart, and 
 
150 ITALIAN WINES. 
 
 " inspired the genius of Anacreon, — and the 
 " wines produced on the island, that was the 
 " very cradle of the jolly god — the wines of 
 " Chios and of Naxos ; instead of the wines 
 " of Italy, which contented the masters of 
 " the world ; instead of searching along all 
 " the shores of the Mediterranean for what 
 " might gratify our taste ; we should con- 
 " fine ourselves to one country, which, in 
 " this respect, has no advantage over other 
 " countries, but a treaty of commerce ; and 
 " that instead of encouraging competition, 
 " and in consequence, cheapness, we should 
 " give almost the monopoly of our market, 
 " to a strip of land, in which, though any 
 " quantity of wine may be made, yet, of 
 " which it is sometimes said, the natural 
 " product would be insufficient to the supply 
 " of London only. Of the drinkers in Eng- 
 " land, not one in a hundred drinks wine ; 
 " of the wine-drinkers, not one in a hundred 
 " drinks any wine but Port." 
 
 Before the suggested change can take 
 place, considerable improvement must be 
 effected in the manufacture of the wines of 
 Italy : this, however, is no more than was 
 
ITALIAN WINES. 151 
 
 done by the first wine-settlers in Portugal. 
 We know that excellent wine is commonly 
 drunk in Italy, but it is not always the pro- 
 duce of that country. A recent tourist, 
 writing from Genoa, says — " An excellent 
 " light wine accompanied our repast; drunk, 
 " not in little cautious glasses, like our hot 
 " intoxicating liquor, but out of tumblers. It 
 " was just threepence, English, a quart! It 
 " had, notwithstanding its lightness, a real 
 " vinous body, and both looked and tasted 
 " like a sort of claret ; but, we were sorry to 
 " find it was French, and not Italian."* 
 
 The substance of these remarks, is as ap- 
 plicable to the wines of France as to those 
 of Italy. When we consider how much the 
 ingenuity of art has contributed towards the 
 superiority of French wines, and thus ad- 
 vanced the growers to the rank of the first 
 wine-makers in the world, we the more sen- 
 sibly regret that the luxuriant bounty of 
 Nature, in other parts of the continent, 
 should be so inadequately appreciated; an 
 evil which we have to point out, more or 
 less, in almost every other wine-country. 
 
 * Letters from Abroad, in " the Liberal." 
 
152 ITALIAN WINES. 
 
 The mode in which the wine-trade of 
 Florence is carried on, deserves mention. — 
 Wine is sold in almost all the palaces, not 
 wholesale, but in single bottles ! A small 
 arched opening-, not exceeding eighteen or 
 twenty inches, just large enough to admit a 
 flask, with a door and knocker, may be seen 
 in the front of the building, generally 
 near the principal entrance. Nothing can 
 appear more ridiculous than the hand put- 
 ting out the flask of wine, while a carriage 
 is driving up in great state with princes and 
 princesses. The wine is of various quali- 
 ties, from a penny to five-pence a bottle, — 
 containing nearly a quart. " At present, 
 " the best wine is sold at the Corsini pa- 
 " lace."* 
 
 The island of Elba appears to be espe- 
 cially adapted for the vine. The heat of the 
 sun, the variety of soil, mountains, which 
 afford, by their elevation, all the necessary 
 degrees of temperature,- — and actual expe- 
 rience, corroborate this opinion. Mr. Wil- 
 liams, who travelled there in 1817, says, — 
 " Already, the annual produce may be esti- 
 
 * Williams's Travels. 
 
ELBESE WINES. 153 
 
 " mated at 60,000 casks of the best quality, 
 " containing about ten gallons each, with 
 " about 500,000 barrels of the common wine, 
 " The best wines are the Bianillo and Alea- 
 " tico, red ; the Muscat, both red and white ; 
 " the Kiminese, white. A Champagne, of 
 " superior flavour, is made of the Procanico 
 " grape, — and of the Muscat, before it is 
 " dried in the sun, which is necessary, pre- 
 " vious to the manufacture of the Muscat 
 " wine. We have drunk Aleatico, equal to 
 " the best Constantia. We mentioned our 
 " doubts of its keeping sound for any length 
 " of time, and were told, that the common 
 " wine had been sent to Holland, had been 
 " returned, and again sent back ; and at the 
 " end of eighteen months, seemed a different 
 " and superior sort of wine, and this without 
 " brandy. The wine called Bischillato, has 
 " been exported to America. Proprietors 
 " are now beginning to manufacture with a 
 " degree of care and choice in the selection 
 " of the grapes, which promises a variety of 
 " very excellent wines, if the encourage- 
 " ment of a market can be found. 
 
 " They begin to cultivate their new vine- 
 " yards in December, and continue their 
 " labour through January and February. 
 
154 ELBESE WINES. 
 
 " About seven hundred peasants go annually 
 " in the end of September from Lucca, to 
 " assist in the vintage and culture chiefly of 
 " wines, the population of Elba being at 
 " present inadequate. These peasants re- 
 " turn to Lucca on the first of May. Their 
 " hire is a certain quantity of coarse bread, 
 " and a little wine daily, with their bed, 
 " implements, and about twenty-five pauls, 
 " or about twelve shillings a month. The 
 " Elbese are better fed: each labourer re- 
 " ceives about two pauls a day, two ancho- 
 " vies at breakfast; at dinner, two ancho- 
 " vies, or stock-fish, with beef-soup ; and 
 " again in the evening, two anchovies, as at 
 " breakfast, and one bottle of common wine. 
 " They bring their own bread, and furnish 
 " their own implements, and work from 
 " daylight till twenty minutes after sun- 
 set. 
 
 " Eight men, thus fed, will clear and 
 " plant in a week un cento di vigna, contain- 
 " ing 600 vine-plants. The vineyard is in 
 " its perfection in the fifth year, when, if 
 " the season be tolerable, and the soil good, 
 " a cento of vines will produce, at an ave- 
 " rage, from twelve to fourteen barrels, 
 " worth, according to its quality, from ten 
 
ELBESE WINES. 155 
 
 " to fifteen pauls : ' Piu vecchia le rite pin 
 " ' forte il vino ;' — ' the older the grapes, the 
 " i richer the vine,' is the maxim ; and at 
 " Procchio, the vines are of one hundred 
 " and fifty years growth. The best hills 
 " front to the sun — red stony ground being 
 " always the most suitable. In the valleys, 
 " the produce is one half greater ; but the 
 " wine will not keep. At Campo, for ex- 
 " ample, the common wine falls off in nine 
 " months. The Muscato grape is exposed 
 " twenty days to the sun, after it has been 
 " gathered bunch by bunch. 
 
 " The land is leased out to the peasants, 
 " for a portion of the produce ; a half, a 
 " fourth, or a fifth, according to the quality 
 " of the soil. A fifth seems to be the more 
 " frequent proportion, and hence the te- 
 " nants, who hold farms of this extent, are 
 " called Quintazoli. By law, the tenant 
 " cannot commence the vintage without the 
 " landlord's permission ; the value of the 
 " landlord's part, and the quality of the 
 " wine, depending materially on the time of 
 " gathering."* 
 
 * Travels in Italy, Greece, &e. 
 
GREEK WINES. 
 
 These growths include not only the 
 wines of Modern Greece, but of the Ionian 
 Islands. A few of these are entitled to es- 
 pecial mention, although their number will 
 preclude our entering into all their varie- 
 ties. 
 
 The climate and geological structure of 
 nearly the whole of Greece, may be consi- 
 dered congenial to the vine ; yet, from erro- 
 neous modes of culture, in some degree, but 
 more from injudicious manufacture, the pre- 
 sent wines are not entitled to very high rank. 
 It must, however, be conceded, that much 
 of this neglect has been occasioned by the 
 oppression of the Turks ; and to account for 
 this, the reader need only recal to his me- 
 mory a few of the scenes of warfare, which 
 so long distracted this unhappy country. 
 
GREEK WINES. 157 
 
 These hostilities being now at an end, and the 
 political affairs of Greece in a fair way for 
 adjustment, it is reasonable to hope that in 
 proportion as the internal resources of the 
 country become improved, the manufacture 
 of wines may hereafter become an important 
 branch of the commerce of the Greeks ; in- 
 asmuch as the fertility and variety of the 
 soil afford every encouragement for renewed 
 industry. 
 
 The mode of cultivating the vine differs 
 in various districts. In some places, the 
 plants are cut and pruned, whilst in others 
 the vine is left to luxuriate in hedges, or 
 entwine round poplars ; and a traveller, in 
 noticing this profusion, says, — " under this 
 " voluptuous drapery, the mendicants take 
 " their stations ; yet, strange to say, leave 
 " the fruit untouched." At Barout, the 
 vines " are grown on the mountains ; they 
 " are very small, and the peasants bury 
 " them in the ground till the warm season."* 
 The Zante currant, or the raisin de Co- 
 rinthe, is extensively cultivated along the 
 Gulphs of Lepanto and Salamis, where it 
 
 * Turner's Tour in the Levant. 
 
158 GREEK WINES. 
 
 has usurped the fields formerly employed in 
 the raising of tobacco. Zante produces an- 
 nually about 8,000,000 pounds of currants, 
 almost the whole of which are shipped for 
 England.* The fruit there called uva-passa, 
 or~passolina, was introduced into the island 
 from Corinth, about two hundred and fifty 
 years since. The plant succeeded so well, 
 that the greatest part of Zante, where for- 
 merly the corn required for home consump- 
 tion was grown, was gradually given up for 
 their cultivation ; and Dr. Muller, who 
 travelled here in 1821, says the island now, 
 in good years, produces between twelve and 
 thirteen million pounds of these grapes ; or 
 in common years, between ten and eleven 
 millions. The vine is low, and requires 
 seven or eight years before it begins to bear 
 properly ; but, it lasts for centuries : and 
 Dr. Muller was shown some plants said to 
 
 * Williams's Travels, 1820.— Mr. Emerson, in 
 his "Picture of Greece, in 1822," says — " Arem- 
 " nant of this may be said to be the only trade at 
 " present remaining in Greece." — The quantity of 
 currants annually imported into England, prin- 
 cipally from the Ionian Islands, is about six thou- 
 sand tons. 
 
GREEK WINES. 159 
 
 be two hundred years old. The grapes are 
 about the size of our garden currants, with 
 a little acidity, which improves their fla- 
 vour. The fruit, when gathered, is spread 
 on the ground to dry for fourteen days ; and 
 " at this season," (latter end of March,) says 
 Mr. Williams, " one heavy shower would 
 " destroy the hopes of the harvest ; and a 
 " passing cloud, will darken every counte- 
 " nance in Zante." If the rain continues, 
 all precaution is useless : the grapes begin 
 to rot, and must be thrown away, without 
 even saving a small quantity for the cattle. 
 The currant-trade is almost entirely in the 
 hands of the English ; for the careless and 
 lazy Neapolitans and Sicilians, who take so 
 little concern about their excellent wines, 
 would not be fit for the cultivation of the 
 passolina. 
 
 In other parts of Greece, the vine is fre- 
 quently made to entwine on trellises, around 
 a wall ; where, in the heat of the day, whole 
 families collect themselves, and sit under 
 the shade. Chateaubriand describes the 
 vines as constituting the riches of Corinth, 
 and giving a fresh and fertile appearance to 
 the country : — " they do not climb in fes- 
 
160 GREEK WINES. 
 
 " toons upon trees, as in Italy, nor are they 
 " kept low as in the vicinity of Paris. Each 
 " root forms a detached verdant bush, round 
 " which the grapes hang, in autumn, like 
 " crystals." 
 
 The wines of Candia and Cyprus were 
 formerly celebrated throughout Europe ; yet, 
 since these islands have been under the do- 
 mination of the Turks, their trade and cele- 
 brity have materially decreased. In Candia, 
 or Crete, the manufacture of wines was ex- 
 tensively carried on in the monasteries. In 
 the convent of Arcadi, built with the ruins 
 of the ancient Arcadia, Tournefort reckoned 
 about two hundred monks employed in the 
 labours of the field and vineyard. Sieber, 
 who was at Crete in 1817, found only twelve 
 monks at Arcadi. " They have," says he, 
 « very fine and roomy cellars, and the best 
 " wine in the whole island, which is called 
 " after the village of Malivisi. When the 
 " Venetians were masters of the island, 
 " great quantities of this wine were produced 
 " about Rettimo and Candia, and it was 
 " made by boiling in large coppers, as I 
 " myself observed in this convent ; but it is 
 " now very scarce, only a little being made 
 
GREEK WINES. 161 
 
 " at Arcadi, the vineyards of which lie very 
 " high, and produce the finest grapes. The 
 " best is sold at the convent at 18 piastres, 
 " or 4 florins, the barrel of 18 gallons." The 
 domain of the convent extends to the foot 
 of Mount Ida, and in the valley of Rettimo, 
 nearly to the sea. This wine is a rich malm- 
 sey. Dr. Henderson also speaks of an 
 agreeable claret from the vineyards of Kis- 
 sanos, in Candia, and a fine flavoured white 
 wine from those of Rettimo. 
 
 Cyprus produces several varieties of red 
 and white wine. The exportation is prin- 
 cipally to Venice, the Black Sea, and parts 
 of Turkey. The celebrity of the old red 
 wine of Cyprus is not yet forgotten* The 
 
 * Vin de Chypre is a splendid item in the cartes 
 of some of the leading restaurateurs at Paris, where 
 it is sold at the rate of two or three francs a glass. 
 This, however, is only an imitation of Cyprus 
 wine, and the mode of preparing it is thus given 
 by the Bibliotheque Physico-Economique. To ten 
 quarts of syrup of elder-berries, add 80 pints of 
 water. Press the berries gently, and add 2 oz. gin- 
 ger, and 2 oz. cloves ; boil these together for an 
 horn*. After skimming it well, pour it into a ves- 
 sel, and add \\ lb. bruised grapes, which are to be 
 left in it until the wine has acquired a fine colour. 
 
 M 
 
162 GEEEK WINES. 
 
 choicest wine of the present day, is the Coni- 
 manderia, — so called from the district in 
 which it is made (between Limesole, Baffo, 
 and Sta. Croce,) forming part of the Com- 
 mandery of the Knights Templars. Great 
 part of the commonest red wine is consumed 
 in the island, for drinking, and making 
 rackee, (weak, white brandy.) Both this, 
 and a white muscadine, are brought from 
 the villages in skins tarred inside, whence 
 they acquire a strong taste of tar. The lat- 
 ter is a rich dessert wine ; the common 
 white wine is very good, and not very sweet; 
 and after being kept two or three years, will 
 fetch the price of Commanderia. Turner 
 says, " The best white wine in the island is 
 " made on the mountains near Limesole. At 
 " Barout, the next port to Cyprus, the grapes 
 " produce twenty different sorts of wine, 
 " each village producing a variety. No wine 
 " is, however, made in Barout ; or indeed 
 " admitted into the walls avowedly, and all 
 
 This is nothing more than good elder-wine, which 
 any English housekeeper understands making. 
 The price and the name are, however, well pro- 
 portioned. 
 

 GREEK WINES. 163 
 
 " that is drunk is smuggled in, which the 
 " authorities wink at. They make also a 
 " kind of honey from the grapes, very lus- 
 " cious, and the rest are dried for home con- 
 " sumption."* 
 
 The wines of Zante are deservedly much 
 esteemed. The white, in particular, is dry, 
 high-flavoured, and of a strong body : after 
 the first season, it keeps for any number of 
 years. One of these, a rich muscadine, 
 when old, equals the best Sicilian wine in 
 strength and taste. The common red and 
 white wines are also sweet, but they are 
 very heady ; which quality the owners in- 
 crease by artificial admixtures, the Zantiotes 
 being very fond of strong wines. From the 
 passolina, a wine is also made, which is 
 oily, very strong, and a fine stomachic cor- 
 dial. It is made from the grape, after it 
 has been dried for four or five days, and par- 
 tially rjrotected from the sun. When the 
 grapes are crushed, one-third of water is 
 added; nevertheless, the wine is thick, and 
 of a dark colour ; but when in the cask, it 
 becomes finer. Dr. Muller states the quan- 
 
 * Turner's Tour in the Lei 
 
164 GREEK WINES, 
 
 tity of wine grown in Zante, at 8,000 casks 
 annually. 
 
 Ithaca produces delicious wines, " as lus- 
 " cious as the bee's nectareous dew." Mr. 
 Williams ranks Ithaca " at the head of the 
 " seven islands, perhaps of all Greece, for 
 " its wine. The red Ithaca wine is excel- 
 " lent, superior to that of Tenedos, the 
 " Greek wine which it most resembles ; but 
 " it is generally much injured, sometimes 
 " spoiled, by the injudicious manner in 
 "which it is kept. In the possession and 
 " management of the British commandants 
 " at Cephalonia and Ithaca, we found it a 
 " delightful wine, with a Hermitage flavour, 
 " and a good sound body. The great diffi- 
 " culty in bringing the wines of these is- 
 " lands into commerce, when they are to be 
 " sent a distant voyage, arises from the want 
 " of brandy ing them sufficiently to make 
 " them keep."* 
 
 At Rhodes, wine is so abundant that 
 great quantities are exported. Its flavour 
 is sharp, with a little sweetness. 
 
 The town of Cos, in the island of that 
 
 * Travels in Greece, &c. 
 
GREEK WINES. 165 
 
 name, is nearly surrounded with vineyards. 
 Sanios produces great quantities of grapes, 
 which are made into red and white wines : 
 the red is sharp-tasted, with a tolerable 
 body ; the white wine, which is celebrated, 
 is rather too sweet, but that goes off with 
 time. It is extraordinary, that the wine of 
 Samos, now so esteemed, should have been 
 in such bad repute among the ancients* 
 
 The sweet white wine of the island of Tino, 
 is famous through the Levant ; and it also 
 produces a red wine, which has an agree- 
 able taste, and a good body. 
 
 Lampascus, in the sea of Marmora, was 
 formerly celebrated for its wine ; yet, it is 
 no longer famous, although the vines are 
 abundant, and its environs display all the 
 beauty which Nature has lavished in this 
 delightful climate. The neighbourhood of 
 Muriofdi, a village not far from Lampas- 
 cus, is thickly planted with vines ; and, in- 
 deed, most of the wine that is imported in 
 
 * Lord Byron celebrates this wine, in his trans- 
 lation of the inspiring Greek song : — 
 
 Fill high, fill high, with Samian wine. 
 
166 GREEK WINES. 
 
 Constantinople is made here, though it all 
 goes by the name of Dardanelles wine. 
 
 In a well-written narrative of a " Journey 
 " from Athens to Missolonghi," in a recent 
 periodical work * we remember to have 
 read a description of the classic field of 
 Leuctra being planted with vines. The 
 season of the journey was in the autumn of 
 the year 1822. "The country between 
 " Platsea and Neochorio," says the writer, 
 " is planted with vines to a considerable 
 " distance. The road leads over the field 
 " of Leuctra, where Epaminondas achieved 
 " his splendid victory over the Lacedemo- 
 " nians. The grapes had been ripe already 
 " for the last six weeks, but neither Greeks 
 " nor Turks venture to gather them, for fear 
 " of a surprise from the enemy. (The rea- 
 " der will recollect the agitated state of 
 " Greece at this period.) Among the vines, 
 " the Turkish cavalry would have been of 
 " little use. Still the Greeks did not think 
 " proper to exert themselves for the sake of 
 " the grapes, for the whole plain between 
 " Chalcis and Thespise, was open to the 
 
 * London Magazine,, Third Series. 
 

 GREEK WINES. 167 
 
 rt Turks. We waited till dark, at Plataea, 
 " from fear of an attack, if we ventured to 
 " pass it in the day-time. We arrived be- 
 " fore midnight at Neochorio, a village op- 
 " posite to Thespise, on a steep hill. We 
 " did not meet a single Turk, and I myself 
 " laid in an ample stock of grapes, and felt 
 " no other regret, but that I was not able 
 " to carry them all away. They were deli- 
 cious, of an exquisite flavour, and hang- 
 " ing down from the vines so abundantly, 
 " as if imploring the stranger to come and 
 " pluck them." 
 
 The general adulteration of wine through- 
 out Greece, remains to be noticed. The 
 principal article for this purpose is rosin. 
 Even at Athens, the practice is very general. 
 Mr. Williams, in a note to his account of 
 the city, tells us, that for a bottle of wine of 
 the country, strongly impregnated with rosin, 
 he paid threepence. " We never tasted this 
 " ingredient so predominant as here. The 
 " reason usually given for this practice, is, 
 " that without rosin, the wine would not 
 " keep. Dr. Chelli, a Roman physician, 
 " attributes the custom to the knavery of 
 " the Greeks, who, he said, used the rosin 
 
168 GREEK WINES. 
 
 " to prevent the discovery of the quantity of 
 " water with which the wine is adulterated." 
 Mr. Turner likewise says, " The wine of the 
 " Morea is positively un drinkable ; for there, 
 " (and indeed generally ,more or less, through 
 " Greece,) they mix with it such a quantity 
 " of rosin, that the bitter taste of that bitu- 
 " minous matter is completely substituted 
 <r for the original flavour." 
 
RUSSIAN WINES. 
 
 
 Whoever has rendered himself at all 
 acquainted with the hahits of Russian so- 
 ciety, either by testimony, or the journals of 
 travellers, must be aware that a consider- 
 able quantity of wine is annually consumed 
 in that vast empire. Even the varieties 
 that have been mentioned in the preceding 
 pages, as exported to Russia, must have 
 given the reader some intimation of the 
 above fact.* The culture of the vine in this 
 
 * At page 12, we have quoted a passage from 
 Dr. Granville, the last traveller in Russia. The 
 same gentleman, after describing the comestibles of 
 a splendid entertainment at St. Petersburg, says — 
 " He of the bottles thinks it high time to remind 
 you of such cordial beverages as Champagne, 
 Burgundy, Lafitte, Paxareta, Vin du Command- 
 eur, Johannisberg, de la Comete, and so on, 
 
170 RUSSIAN WINES. 
 
 country, has consequently become an ob- 
 ject of national importance ; and the success 
 which has already attended the exertions 
 made for this object, promises even much 
 more favourable results. 
 
 The scene of these fortunate operations, 
 has been the southern district of Russia. 
 In Moldavia, and on the left bank of the 
 Pruth, a white grape, containing a great 
 deal of carbonic acid, is advantageously cul- 
 tivated. In the Crimea, especially at Sou- 
 dak, vines are grown with very large ber- 
 ries, often not less than plums. The vines 
 of Spain and Languedoc, are successfully 
 cultivated by a Frenchman, at Larci, near 
 Balaklava. A white wine is produced on 
 the banks of the Molotschna, which falls 
 into the Don ; which wines are very well 
 known in Moscow and Petersburgh, under 
 
 ** until you know not which choice to make. Mine 
 " was the easiest task on such occasions, for I took 
 " none, and I am the better for it : but the quantity 
 " of Champagne that I saw drunk in St. Peters- 
 " burgh, actually astounded me. I feel confident, 
 " that there must be another Champagne country 
 " somewhat nearer to Russia than the French 
 " Champagne, to supply what is actually con- 
 " sumed of that wine." 
 
RUSSIAN WINES. 171 
 
 the name of Don wines. There is a vine- 
 yard near Astracan, which produces very- 
 good wine, the greater part of which is 
 sent to the Imperial Court of Petersburg ; 
 what is sold, produces a higher price than 
 the wines of France. The north side of the 
 Caucasus produces a wine of middling qua- 
 lity, and in sufficient quantity for the inha- 
 bitants of these countries. 
 
 The valley of Soudak, especially towards 
 the east, is described as one of the most en- 
 chanting scenes in the world; and America, 
 Siberia, Italy, and the Caucasus, are said to 
 offer nothing more delightful. So success- 
 ful has the culture of the vine been in this 
 district, that it is even thought Russia may, 
 at no very distant period, produce wines 
 enough in the Crimea for her own consump- 
 tion. The first vineyards were planted there 
 in the year 1804, at the suggestion of the 
 celebrated naturalist, Pallas; the situation 
 is named Cadjakol, in the territory of Kosi. 
 Cuttings of vines are brought from France, 
 Zante, Tenedos, the Rhine, Astrachan, and 
 Kisliar; and two Frenchmen, the one a 
 vine-dresser, and the other a farmer, were 
 appointed to plant and manage them. Ten 
 
172 RUSSIAN WINES. 
 
 orphan pupils, from the military school of 
 Cherson, were put under the care of these 
 cultivators; government supplied the ne- 
 cessary capital for every part of the under- 
 taking; and 28,000 vines were planted, — 
 which, in the year 1826, produced 1,500 
 vedros of wine, of Hungary, Bordeaux, 
 the Rhine, Asmanshausen, Muscat, Petit 
 Bourgogne, Zante, and Kakour, of the best 
 quality. 
 
 A recent letter from Akerman, describes 
 the vintage of the year 1827, as extremely 
 favourable, — and presents us with the fol- 
 lowing details : — 
 
 " The autumn has been singularly fa- 
 " vourable for the vintage, and the wines of 
 " this year are of an infinitely superior qua- 
 " lity to any we have yet made. The pro- 
 " duce is less abundant, but the prices are 
 " higher ; so that the vineyards have paid 
 " better this year than the last. According 
 " to a return made by the local authorities, 
 " the whole produce of the vintage amounts 
 " to 35,833 vedros of the country, or 44,797 
 " common vedros, Russian measure. The 
 " vedro sells upon the spot, at from five to 
 " seven piastres. The number of proprie- 
 
RUSSIAN WINES. 173 
 
 " tors of vineyards is now 278, the greater 
 " number of tliern originally Greeks or Ar- 
 " menians. 
 
 " We must not, however, pass over in si- 
 " lence, the colonists that dwell in the vil- 
 " lage of Schaha, about five wersts from this 
 " town. This establishment was formed 
 " about four years ago, by ten or twelve 
 " Swiss families, who have transported to 
 " this country, their active industry, and 
 " their peaceful habits. The hills, which 
 " they have planted with vines, border upon 
 " the Liman, and enjoy a most delightful 
 " exposure. In a few years, this infant co- 
 " lony has risen to a very remarkable degree 
 " of prosperity : upon the whole, it is with 
 " satisfaction that we have lately observed 
 " the culture of the vine making rapid pro- 
 " gress in this country. Formerly, the plan- 
 " tations were given up to chance ; now, the 
 " ground is carefully fenced. Attempts have 
 " been made to transplant the vines of 
 " France and Hungary, and those of the 
 " Rhine. Lastly, presses have been built 
 " upon models brought from abroad. 
 
 " Amongst the establishments which pro- 
 " mise to be most successful, may be men- 
 
174 RUSSIAN WINES. 
 
 " tioned, those just formed by Messrs. Col- 
 " lin and Krinitzky. The latter has, in 
 " Bessarabia, made the first trial of a che- 
 " mical process, with a view to determine 
 " the degree of fermentation developed by 
 " the wine when it is first tunned. By 
 " means of this ingenious expedient, the 
 " instant may be ascertained when the wine 
 " can be bunged-up without danger to the 
 " casks, from the action of fermentation. 
 " The application of this method is so much 
 " the more useful, that the wines of Aker- 
 " man possess, in some measure, the cream- 
 " ing quality. The vineyard belonging to 
 " the crown, produced this year more than 
 " 32,000 bottles of wine." 
 
 The chief production of Georgia is wine, 
 which is of excellent quality, and so abun- 
 dant in the countries situated between the 
 Caspian and the Black Seas, that it would 
 soon become a most important article of ex- 
 portation, if the people could be induced to 
 improve their method of making and pre- 
 serving it. At present, the grapes are ga- 
 thered and pressed without any care ; and 
 the process of fermentation is so unskilfully 
 managed, that the wine rarely keeps to the 
 
RUSSIAN WINES. 175 
 
 following vintage. The skins of animals, 
 are the vessels in which it is kept. The 
 hair is turned inwards, and the interior of 
 the bag is thickly besmeared with asphaltum , 
 or mineral tar, which imparts an abominable 
 flavour to the wine. The Georgians have 
 not yet learned to keep their wine in casks, 
 without which, it is vain to look for any 
 improvement in its manufacture. Yet, the 
 mountains abound in the requisite mate- 
 rials, and only a few coopers are wanted to 
 make the commencement. 
 
 M. Klaproth says, " during my residence 
 ** at Tiflis, a Hungarian, named Martini, to 
 *' whom General Gondovitch had entrusted 
 " the management of some vineyards be- 
 " longing to the government, made with 
 " the grapes of the country several kinds of 
 " wine, which might bear comparison with 
 " the best wines of Burgundy. The death 
 " of this man, put a stop to these interesting 
 " experiments. If due attention were paid 
 " to the preparation of wine in these coun- 
 " tries, they might soon furnish Russia with 
 " all she consumes."* 
 
 * Tableau du Caucase, et des Provinces limi- 
 trophes entre la Russia et la Perse, par M. Klap- 
 roth. Paris, 1827. 
 
176 RUSSIAN WINES. 
 
 The consumption of wine in Georgia, and 
 above all, at Tiflis, is prodigiously great. 
 From the prince to the peasant, the ordinary- 
 ration of a Georgian, if we may believe M. 
 Gamba, is one tonque, (equal to five bottles 
 and a half of Bordeaux per day.) A tonque 
 of the best wine, such as is drunk by per- 
 sons of rank, costs about twenty sous; the 
 inferior wines for less than a sous a bottle. 
 
 In Turkey, the practice of drinking wine 
 gains ground, whilst that of opium falls 
 into disuse. Very few among the Turks 
 eat opium now, and those in private. So 
 long ago as 1796, when Lady Mary Wortley 
 Montague wrote her fascinating " Letters," 
 the Turkish ladies drank wine. Her lady- 
 ship, speaking of their mode of living, says, 
 " 'Tis true, their magnificence is of a very 
 " different taste from ours, and perhaps of a 
 " better. I am almost of opinion they have a 
 " right notion of life. They consume it in 
 " music, gardens, wine, and delicate eating, 
 " while we are tormenting our brains, &c." 
 
PERSIAN WINES. 
 
 We have already alluded to the sup- 
 pository story of Persia being the native 
 country of the vine, and Jem-sheed being the 
 first who discovered wine * The narrative 
 is from Moullah Ackber's MSS., and is 
 quoted by Sir James Malcolm, in his valua- 
 ble" History of Persia."! Without pretend- 
 ing to an investigation of the truth of this 
 statement, we may remark, that the perfec- 
 tion which the vine in Persia attains, would 
 almost lead us to receive the above as a 
 matter of sober history. Sir Robert Kerr 
 Porter describes the grapes of Shiraz, of a 
 " size and fullness hardly to be matched in 
 " other climates." Mr. Morier, in his Se- 
 
 See page 14. f Vol. i. page 10, note. 
 
178 PEESTAN WINES. 
 
 cond Journey through Persia, subsequent to 
 Sir R. K. Porter's visit, extols the grapes of 
 another place in Persia, as still finer than 
 those of Shiraz. Mr. Morier likewise re- 
 lates the following interesting particulars of 
 the vineyards : — 
 
 " The Persian vine-dressers do all in 
 " their power to make the vine run up the 
 " wall, and curl over on the other side, which 
 " they do by tying stones to the extremity 
 " of the tendril. May not this illustrate 
 " that beautiful passage used in Genesis ? 
 " (xlix. 22) Joseph is a fruitful bough; even 
 " a fruitful bough by a wall, whose branches 
 " run over the wall" 
 
 Wine is strictly forbidden by the Koran ; 
 the Persians, as Mahometans, are conse- 
 quently forbidden from tasting the juice of 
 the grape : but this rule is often broken,— 
 and, as to use their own phrase, " there is 
 " as much sin in a glass as in a flagon," 
 they usually, when they drink, indulge to 
 excess. Indeed, they are so impressed with 
 the idea that the sole pleasure of this for- 
 bidden liquor lies in its intoxicating effects, 
 that nothing but constant observation can 
 satisfy them that Christians are not all 
 
PERSIAN WINES. 179 
 
 drunkards. " It is," they often remark, 
 when speaking to one, " a privilege of your 
 " religion to be so, and therefore neither 
 " attended with shame nor disgrace."* If 
 told that, though we are permitted to use 
 wine, excess is considered as degrading, and 
 often, when it incapacitates for duty, as cri- 
 minal ; they listen with a smile of incredu- 
 lity: for they believe it impossible that 
 men, who are not withheld by religion, can 
 deny themselves, what they are led, by the 
 restraint imposed upon them, to deem one 
 of the most delightful of all enjoyments. 
 
 * Sir John Malcolm relates the following: — 
 An English naval officer had come on shore at 
 Abushehar, and mounted a spirited horse, to 
 take a ride. The awkwardness of the rider, who 
 was nearly falling at every bound the animal took, 
 amused a great number of spectators. Next day, 
 a Persian, who supplied the vessel with fruit and 
 vegetables, came off, and seeing the officer, said to 
 him, " I have saved your reputation; not a man 
 " who laughed at you, has the suspicion that you 
 " are a bad horseman." — " How have you managed 
 " that?" said the gentleman. — " I told them," he 
 replied, "that you, like every Englishman, ride 
 " admirably, as becomes a nation of soldiers, but 
 " that you were very drunk, and that was the rea- 
 " son of your not keeping your seat so firmly as 
 " you otherwise would have done." 
 
180 PERSIAN WINES. 
 
 Though drunkenness be a vice of the Per- 
 sians, it is not only a plebeian sin ; for they 
 have examples, royal and noble, in their his- 
 tory. Shah Suffee, the successor of Shah 
 Abbas the Great, was much addicted to his 
 cups ; which, instead of gladdening his heart, 
 made him more like a beastly savage. When 
 he was one day excessively intoxicated, he 
 stabbed his favourite queen ; and, we are 
 informed by Tavernier, that when he reco- 
 vered his senses, and found what he had 
 done, he gave way to the most violent grief, 
 and issued orders to destroy every wine-flask 
 in his kingdom. His illiberality to others, 
 who indulged in the same excess with him- 
 self, appears to have been boundless; for 
 he caused several noblemen of high rank to 
 be put to death, on the occurrence of a tri- 
 fling affray, caused by intoxication. Suffee 
 was succeeded by Abbas II. who was not 
 ten years old when he ascended the throne, 
 and a hopeful man he seems to have turned 
 out, notwithstanding he at first fell into 
 the hands of his ministers, who are repre- 
 sented as persons of religious and austere 
 habits. They attempted to reform the court : 
 wine was prohibited; drunkards were re- 
 
PERSIAN WINES. 181 
 
 moved from office ; and strict sobriety was 
 one of the steps in the ladder to high sta- 
 tion. One author states, that the inhabit- 
 ants of Grivan, in Armenia, alarmed at the 
 abstemious and pious character of a gover- 
 nor appointed to rule them, petitioned the 
 king not to send him : their frailty, they 
 said, led them to dread " a water-drinker." 
 The fact was, the Christians of this city 
 were remarkable for their love of drinking ; 
 and were alarmed at the prospect of being 
 governed by a religious bigot, who would 
 consider even the moderate use of wine, a 
 just ground for plundering them of their 
 property, if he did not deprive them of life. 
 The king was advised to attend to this peti- 
 tion. His reply stated, that the drunkards 
 of Grivan, were quite unworthy of the holy 
 man whom he had appointed to rule them ; 
 and he had therefore nominated one whose 
 character was more suited to such sinners. 
 
 But Abbas himself afterwards became as 
 great a toper as his precursor : the manners 
 of the court altered as the king advanced in 
 years; he committed few cruelties, except 
 when intoxicated ; but he appears then to 
 have entirely dropped the king. All Euro- 
 
 
182 PEESIAN WINES. 
 
 peans, whether travellers, merchants, monks, 
 or artificers, were admitted to share his or- 
 gies. Persian writers say the royal feasts 
 were frequently enlivened by wit, and that 
 the king- sometimes condescended to smile 
 at the sallies of his companions. He hap- 
 pened to observe, at one of his entertain- 
 ments, that he had sent an ambassador to 
 India, who had met with so many delays, 
 he believed he would never come back. " Let 
 us all agree to sit here till he returns," cried 
 the son of a judge, who made one of the as- 
 sembly, and, by the way, was no bad judge. 
 — Though the youth had forgotten himself, 
 Abbas was delighted with an exclamation, 
 showing such enjoyment of his society. But 
 different scenes were often exhibited ; and 
 the most dissipated nobles dreaded an invi- 
 tation to drink with their monarch, who 
 was as solicitous to make them exceed, as 
 he was prompt to punish any act of disre- 
 spect produced by that excess. Probably, 
 they received Abbas's invitations with the 
 same pleasure, as we should a royal com- 
 mand to sup with the lion of the Zoologi- 
 cal Society. At length, Abbas died, at the 
 age of thirty-four ; it is said, from an in- 
 
PERSIAN WINES. 183 
 
 nammation in the throat, caused by exces- 
 sive drinking. 
 
 Abbas, as might be expected, kept his 
 cellars plentifully stocked with choice 
 wines, principally from Georgia, Karama- 
 nia, and Shiraz ; and, as Dr. Henderson 
 tells us, " preserved with great nicety in 
 " bottles of Venice crystal ; and every six 
 u weeks, he received from the first of these 
 " countries a supply of twenty chests, each 
 " of them containing ten bottles, — and each 
 " bottle about three quarts." He had, more- 
 over, a master of the cellars, and doubtless, 
 a cellar-book. 
 
 Many of the Persians still appear to en- 
 tertain the same idea of wine, as they did in 
 the time of Suffee : their indulgences being 
 secret, and usually extending to excess and 
 intoxication, or to the abuse rather than the 
 proper use of wine. They have, likewise, 
 an odd idea of shifting part of the offence 
 against the Koran, by pretending that the 
 sin is not so great, if the wine is made by 
 infidels; and, according to Sir Robert Kerr 
 Porter, so severe is the law upon this point 
 of conscience, that wherever jars of Shiraz 
 Mahomedan wine are discovered, the chief 
 
184 PERSIAN WINES. 
 
 of the municipal officers are ordered to see 
 them broken into pieces * We ought, how- 
 ever, to mention, that wine is not at this 
 time allowed in the royal household ; for Sir 
 James Malcolm, in describing the habits of 
 the present sovereign of Persia, says, — 
 " Some of the former kings used to indulge 
 " openly in drinking wine, but none of the 
 " reigning family have yet outraged the reli- 
 " gious feelings of their subjects, by so flag- 
 " rant a violation of the laws of Persia. 
 " Bowls, filled with sherbet, made of every 
 " species of fruit, furnish the beverage of the 
 " royal meals."* 
 
 The most celebrated of the Persian wines, 
 is that of Shiraz ; although the manufacture 
 has considerably decreased. Ispahan, Te- 
 heran, and other places, have vineyards, 
 but are not so well known for their wines ; 
 besides, it should be recollected, that grapes, 
 in their season, form part of the ordinary 
 meals of the people. Sir Robert Kerr Porter 
 tells us, that the vine is comparatively neg- 
 lected at Shiraz,and that the manufacture is 
 altogether badly conducted. He describes it 
 
 * Sketches of Life in Persia, 1829. 
 

 PEESIAN WINES. 185 
 
 of every quality, from a brilliant topaz clear- 
 ness, to a sour and muddy syrup. " When 
 " good, the taste should be a little sweet, 
 " accompanied with the flavour of dry Ma- 
 " deira, — to which, when old, it is not at 
 " all inferior." This applies only to the 
 white wine of Shiraz ; the red, of which 
 Hafiz and other Persian poets have sung, 
 is rich and luscious ; though in prose esti- 
 mation, little superior to a second-rate wine. 
 The poets of Persia, like those of all other 
 nations, have made wine the theme of their 
 verse. The extatic strains of Hafiz, on the 
 ruby glories of the Shiraz, will be recollect- 
 ed ; but the following translation from Ru- 
 deki is less known : — 
 
 He who my brimming cup shall view, 
 
 In trembling radiance shine, 
 Shall own the ruby's brilliant hue, 
 
 Is match'd by rosy wine ; 
 
 Each is a gem from Nature's hand, 
 
 In living lustre bright; 
 But one congeals its radiance bland, 
 
 One swims in liquid light. 
 
 Ere you can touch, its sparkling dye 
 
 Has left a splendid stain ; 
 Ere you can drink, the essence high 
 
 Floats giddy through the brain.* 
 
 f Translated by Dr. Ley den. 
 
186 PERSIAN WINES. 
 
 Again, in a playful ode to " Yesterday, 
 from Achmed Ardebeili : — 
 
 Jocund sprites of social joy- 
 Round our smiling goblet play ; 
 
 Flit, ye powers of rude annoy, 
 Like the Ghost of Yesterday ! 
 
 Odorous sweets, and Kerzerom wine, 
 Hither, boy, with speed convey ; 
 
 Jasmin wreaths with roses' twine, 
 Ere they fade like Yesterday ! 
 
 Brim the bowl, and pass it round; 
 
 Lightly tune the sportive lay : 
 Let the festal hour be crown'd, 
 
 Ere 'tis lost like Yesterday ! 
 
 Once more : — 
 
 Go scatter flowers, and bring me wine, 
 That while I drink, their incense sweet, 
 
 May charm my soul with dreams divine, 
 Of her my fancy joys to meet. 
 
 Rut, ah ! her absenee brings a pain, 
 Which ne'er can be in wine forgot; 
 
 Then take, oh ! take the cup again, 
 Wine has no charms where she is not. 
 
MADEIRA WINES. 
 
 The vine was introduced into Madeira 
 from the Island of Cyprus; but at what 
 period, rests upon very dubious conjecture. 
 It is not easy to reconcile the character of 
 Chaptal for accuracy in his philosophical 
 enquiries, when he mentions, that in the 
 year 1420, wines were already planted in 
 this island. At all events, there must be a 
 confusion in the dates, as the island itself, 
 according to the Portuguese historians, had 
 been discovered only in the preceding year : 
 if so, there could scarcely be a sufficient 
 quantity of land cleared away to produce 
 the common necessaries of life, much less to 
 plant vineyards ; and, if a conflagration of 
 the woods which overspread the country, 
 and lasted several years, as is generally re- 
 lated, was necessary to prepare the island 
 for cultivation, a much later period must be 
 referred to for introducing the vine into 
 
188 MADEIRA WINES. 
 
 Madeira. Dr. Henderson appears inclined 
 to adopt the opinion of Chaptal, with a 
 trifling variation in the date. He observes : 
 " The island of Madeira is said to have been 
 " stocked with plants brought directly from 
 " Candia, by order of Prince Henry ; under 
 " whose auspices the first colony of the 
 " Portuguese was established there, in the 
 " year 1421."* 
 
 * History of Wines, 4to. p. 248. As the dis- 
 covery of Madeira is involved in some doubt, it is 
 not likely that the above point can be satisfactorily 
 ascertained. If the island was discovered by Ma- 
 dam, in the reign of Edward III., or between the 
 years 1327 and 1378, the vine might probably 
 have been planted here as early as 1420. This 
 opinion is likewise, in some measure corroborated 
 by the report of Alvise da Mosto, a Venetian tra- 
 veller, who stopped there on his voyage to Africa, 
 in 1455 : he says the vines there produced more 
 grapes than leaves, and the clusters were of extra- 
 ordinary size. He also mentions the manufacture 
 and exportation of wine as then commenced. 
 
 Washington Irving, in the translation of the 
 narrative of Macham's discovery, appended to his 
 Life of Columbus, says : " The country was indeed 
 " delightful ; the forests were stately and magnifi- 
 " cent ; there were trees laden with -excellent fruits, 
 " others with aromatic flowers ; the waters were 
 " cool and limpid ; the sky serene ; and there was 
 ■' a balmy sweetness in the air." 
 
MADEIRA WINES. 189 
 
 There is no end to the varieties of the 
 vine in Madeira, if you listen to the culti- 
 vators, no two of whom, however, agree in 
 giving the same name to the least important. 
 The juices of the species called the verdelho, 
 negro molle, bustardo, bual, and tinta, are 
 commonly mixed together, to produce the 
 best Madeira wine, or those in the southern 
 part of the island, which is principally in- 
 debted for its flavour to the two latter. The 
 tinta, when separated, produces a wine 
 closely resembling Burgundy, in colour and 
 flavour, when new, but much softer; be- 
 coming very like tawney port after it has 
 been about two years in the cask ; and not 
 distinguishable, either in colour or flavour, 
 from rich old Madeira, at the end of twenty 
 years. It is the only red wine made in the 
 island, and is suffered to ferment with the 
 husks of the fruit remaining in it, to &k the 
 colour. It would retain the character of 
 Burgundy longer, were it bottled earlier, 
 but then there is the probability of its ac- 
 quiring a bad flavour from the sediment. 
 The paler wines, such as the pure verdelho, 
 or north wine, acquire an amber hue with 
 age ; whereas, those whose husks impart 
 
190 MADEIRA WINES. 
 
 some portion of colour to the juice during 
 pressure, grow lighter with age. The sercial 
 is said to be the hock grape brought from 
 Europe : the leaf is of a very yellow green, 
 and cottony on both sides. It grows best 
 under precipices, and as the husk is very 
 thick, is left longer than the others, to ripen. 
 The quantity of sercial produced, does not 
 exceed forty or fifty pipes in the year. 
 
 There are three qualities of malmsey : the 
 cadel, or candy* is the best, but produces 
 little ; the beibosa and malvazia yield pretty 
 abundantly, but the latter is very inferior. 
 The vines grow on rocky grounds, with a 
 full exposure to the sun. The grapes re- 
 quire to be over-ripe or shrivelled, and are 
 therefore allowed to hang a month later 
 than those used in the manufacture of dry 
 wines.f 
 
 ** Mr. Bowdich, in his Excursions in Madeira, 
 4to. 1825, says, "This vine was introduced from 
 " Candia, before 1445, by Prince Henry." His 
 authority is the Collecao de Noticias. The date 
 almost coincides with that adopted by Dr. Hen- 
 derson. 
 
 f Mr. Bowdich describes the finest malmsey 
 plantation in the island as created entirely by an 
 avalanche of tufa, which, falling from a height of 
 
MADEIRA WINES. 191 
 
 Mr. Bowdich has given an interesting de- 
 scription of the general culture of the vine 
 in the island, which we quote with little 
 abridgment : 
 
 " The best soil for the vine is saibro, or 
 " an equal mixture oisaibro and pedi*o molle 
 " or of the red and yellow tufa ; the latter, 
 " from its lightness and looseness would be 
 " washed away by the rains, were it not 
 " mixed with some other soil. Equal por- 
 " tions of saihro, pedro molle, and massapes, 
 " which is a clayey earth, seem to be pre- 
 " ferred in very dry situations ; and when 
 " the massapes is mixed with a volcanic 
 " cinder, called the araya, the vine endures 
 " longer in this than in any other soil. It 
 " is said to last sixty years in it, if planted 
 " wide enough apart. The ground being 
 " turned up, the trenches are dug from four 
 " to seven feet deep, according to the na- 
 
 up wards of 1,200 feet, has lodged and spread at 
 the bottom of a cliff, adjoining which is a fall of 
 water, of one shallow and two deep stages. The 
 vineyards and adjoining house are only accessible 
 by water ; the labourers have a daring route, in 
 ascending and descending the cliff, by a succession 
 of simple stakes, driven into, and projecting from it. 
 
192 MADEIRA WINES. 
 
 " ture of the soil, and a quantity of loose or 
 6t stony earth is placed at the bottom, to 
 " prevent the roots reaching the stiff clayey 
 " soil beneath, which would oppose their 
 " growth. They water the ground three 
 " times if the summer has been very dry, 
 " leaving the sluices open until the ground 
 " is pretty well soaked ; the less the ground 
 " is watered, the stronger the wine, but the 
 " quantity is diminished in proportion. 
 " Some cultivators lay cow-dung at the 
 " roots of the vines where they plant them, 
 " and when the wine becomes poor, mix a 
 " fresh quantity with the soil at the surface : 
 " others consider that animal manure in- 
 " jures the flavour of the grape, and sow 
 (i the lupinus perennis among the vines in- 
 " stead ; this they do in the January of 
 " every second year, cutting it down, and 
 " burying it, by turning over the surface of 
 " the soil, after the small rains, which pre- 
 " vail for about ten days at the end of 
 "April. 
 
 " An English acre will produce four pipes 
 " of wine under the most favourable cir- 
 " cumstances ; but one pipe seems to be 
 " the average, taking the vineyards through- 
 
MADEIRA WINES. 193 
 
 ' out the island .* The propagation is by 
 ' cuttings, and they prefer the verdelho of 
 ' the north, when forming a plantation in 
 6 the southern part of the island, as it im- 
 6 proves considerably from the better soil, 
 6 climate, and aspect ; on this they engraft 
 * any other variety they may wish : the 
 
 - grapes yield no wine until the fourth, year. 
 1 The stalks of the arundo sagittata are used 
 4 in making frames for supporting the vines, 
 ' in the southern parts of the island, and 
 6 the salix rubra for tying them to this 
 i trellis-work. In the north part of the is- 
 £ land the vines are trained around the 
 c chestnut trees ; this firmer support being 
 ' necessary, as it is said, on account of the 
 1 high winds prevailing there ; but they 
 ' generally neglect to cut away the branches 
 
 - which prevent the sun from reaching the 
 
 * The lizards devour immense quantities of 
 grapes ; and are said to manifest a decided pre- 
 ference for the Unto, but this, probably, is merely 
 because the verdelho grapes are not ripe so early 
 in the season. A cultivator dares not allow his 
 grapes to remain on the vines after his neighbours 
 have taken in theirs ; for if he did, all the rats of 
 the neighbourhood would adjourn to his vineyard, 
 and take a ruinous tithe. 
 
194 MADEIRA WINES. 
 
 " vine, and it evidently languishes in the 
 " vegetable soil natural to the chestnut 
 " tree. 
 
 " The vines give fruit as high as 2,700 
 " feet in Madeira ; at the extremity of this, 
 " the vine can scarcely be called nourishing, 
 " as no wine can be made from it ; still it 
 " produces eatable fruit : the greatest height 
 " at which it is now cultivated for wine, 
 " is in the valley of the Coural das Freiras, 
 " which is 2,080 feet above the level of the 
 " sea * There is much dispute as to the 
 " best moment for pruning the vines ; some 
 " prefer February, others, the middle of 
 " March ; it depends principally, however, 
 " on their foresight as to the weather when 
 " the flowering takes place, which is from 
 " six weeks to two months after the prun- 
 " ing. The produce of one year must fre- 
 " quently be treated very differently from 
 " that of another. When the grapes are 
 " green, the fermentation must be checked ; 
 
 * " There is one extraordinary kind, which is 
 " merely used as a dessert- fruit, about the size of 
 " a muscle plum, and the clusters are so large as 
 " sometimes to weigh twenty pounds." — History of 
 Madeira, 1821. 
 
 
MADEIRA WINES. 195 
 
 " when they are wet, from unseasonable 
 " rains, it must be assisted ; generally speak- 
 " ing, the riper the fruit, the more diffi- 
 " cult the fermentation. A very agree- 
 " able liqueur is made in the island from the 
 " second pressure of the grape, (the first 
 " being merely with the feet) into which an 
 " equal quantity of brandy is immediately 
 " thrown, to stop the fermentation and pro- 
 " duce sweetness. Gypsum is pretty gene- 
 " rally used to clarify and mellow the wines 
 " while working, unless they happen to be 
 " of a green vintage. The importation of 
 " foreign brandy is now prohibited, and 
 " even that made in Portugal is subject to 
 " a duty amounting to a prohibition ; it is 
 " made from the north wine and the lees of 
 " others. In the war time all the houses 
 " were compelled to ripen their wines by 
 " stoves, as they held no stocks : those who 
 " managed this themselves, rose the heat 
 " gradually, from about 60° to 90° ; others, 
 " who trusted them to the public stoves, 
 " generally found that they were neglected 
 " until the last moment, and then all but 
 " boiled."* 
 
 * This account of the wine manufacture of the 
 island is especially valuable, as no recent traveller 
 
196 MADEIRA WINES. 
 
 The usual process of .making the wine is 
 very simple. The grapes, when cut, are 
 immediately consigned to the press, which 
 is a large wooden trough, not unlike the 
 cider-press in England, over which is a large 
 clumsy lever, connected with other ma- 
 chinery. When the trough is nearly filled, 
 the due number of bare-legged peasants, ap- 
 pointed for the purpose, enter the machines, 
 and by the active tread of their feet, press 
 out the juice, which runs into a vessel be- 
 neath. The husks or stalks are then col- 
 lected and pressed with the lever, which 
 pressure is occasionally extended to the 
 fourth time. The best wine is allowed to 
 ferment for about six weeks after it is 
 made. 
 
 There is some difference in the accounts 
 given of the quantity of wine made in Ma- 
 deira ; but the most authentic average ap- 
 pears to be from twenty-five to thirty thou- 
 sand pipes, the greater part of which is 
 exported, and the rest consumed in the 
 island. It does not, however, attain its due 
 state of perfection till it has acquired a cer- 
 
 nas paid so much attention to the botany and 
 geology of Madeira, as did Mr. Bowdich, in the 
 autumn of 1823. 
 
 

 MADEIRA WINES. 197 
 
 tain age in Madeira, or been transported to 
 a warmer climate, and deposited there for a 
 longer or shorter period. Hence has arisen 
 the practice of sending such wines as are 
 intended for British consumption, a voyage 
 to the West Indies, or round the East In- 
 dies, China, and the Brazils ; which, expe- 
 rience has determined to be essential to 
 their excellence. Great part of the cargoes 
 conveyed to the East Indies, for the above 
 purpose, is purchased on speculation, and 
 on long credit, or in barter for goods, and 
 often by inexperienced judges of wine ; 
 when the wine in question is sometimes 
 underrated, by the name of Truck or Barter 
 Madeira. 
 
 The wines from Madeira shipped into 
 Great Britain in 1785, were 1,225 pipes ; 
 in 1802, 2,984 pipes ; in 1810, 4,706 pipes; 
 and in 1820, 5,234 pipes. 
 
 Sir George Staunton states the whole 
 annual vintage at an average of 25,000 
 pipes of 120 gallons each, including 500 
 pipes of malmsey. 
 
 The improvement of Madeira wines by a 
 voyage, may be explained as follows. In the 
 phenomena of fermentation, the formation 
 of alcohol is the last and most essential; 
 
198 MADEIRA WINES. 
 
 and it is plain how this must depend on the 
 quantity of sugar, goodness of the fruit, 
 the due apportioning of the leaven, and 
 on the management of the process. Thus, 
 when all the necessary circumstances are 
 present, the process goes on till the produce 
 is pure wine, or a compound of alcohol, 
 water, acid, colour, vegetable extract, and 
 sugar. For although the two latter are said 
 to be destroyed, there is almost always a 
 minute portion of both remaining : the 
 former, rendered very sensible in some 
 wines, by the skinny matter which they 
 deposit on the sides of the bottles. In a 
 similar manner, it happens, that a portion 
 of sugar continues attached to the wine for 
 a loDg time, though it is not always sen- 
 sible, except to a fine taste. Thus, it is 
 perceptible in Claret, and even in Madeira, 
 which are among the driest of our wines. 
 In the first stages of the fermentation, the 
 sugar is never thoroughly decomposed. If 
 that were the case, indeed, the process 
 would stop, or it would jxroceed to vinegar. 
 Farther fermentation, that slower species 
 which takes place in the casks, tends far- 
 ther to diminish it ; but still a portion re- 
 mains even when it has been bottled. 
 
MADEIRA WINES. 199 
 
 It is the gradual conversion of this sugar, 
 the chief operation that goes on in bottled 
 wines, which is the cause of the change 
 wluch these undergo. This process often 
 requires many years for its completion : that 
 is the case in the Clarets of Chateau Mar- 
 gaux, and other Bordeaux wines ; and the 
 same process indeed takes place, to a greater 
 or less degree, in Madeira and the other 
 strong- wines. In these cases, it is a cause of 
 improvement ; the wine becoming more per- 
 fect under this last tedious fermentation : 
 in others, however, it is mischievous, and 
 henee the destruction of many wines. 
 
 Bp the above considerations, we can ac- 
 couit for the benefit which Madeira re- 
 ceives in a hot climate, or in a hot cellar. 
 The effect of the heat, and, in the case of a 
 sea-voyage, united to the agitation, whose 
 actioi was considered before, is that of acce- 
 lerating the imperceptible fermentation, and 
 thus ipening the wine sooner than would 
 have happened in a low temperature, and 
 at rest. But it is a mistake to imagine, that 
 this is peculiar to Madeira, or that it is the 
 only wine which can be benefited by this 
 ;reatment. The effect of heat, is indeed 
 such in this case, as is suspected by few. In 
 
200 MADEIRA WINES. 
 
 America, it is a well-known practice to boii 
 Madeira, or to heat it to the boiling tempe- 
 rature, and the effect is that of rendering it 
 good and old wine, when previously harsh 
 and new : the same practice is applicable to 
 Port. If newly-bottled wine be exposed to 
 the sun, it begins shortly to deposit, and 
 improve in flavour; and even the rawest 
 wine of this kind, by heating it in hot wa- 
 ter, may be caused, in the course of s day, 
 to assume the quality which it would have 
 had after many years keeping. It is so far 
 from being injurious, as might be imagined, 
 that it is a valuable secret ; and, as we believe, 
 that it is but little known to those wlose 
 interest it is to give the complexion of old 
 wine to new, and who generally effect this 
 purpose in a fraudulent manner, by puting 
 it into foul and crusted bottles.* 
 
 We believe the maturation of Madeira to 
 have been attempted in this country, Vy an 
 ingenious method of giving it constant mo- 
 tion, so as in part to produce the tgita- 
 tion of a sea-voyage. A familiar instance 
 
 * Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica: 
 article — Wine, 
 

 MADEIRA WINES. 201 
 
 of this good effect on fermented liquors, is 
 observable in the London Porter drunk in 
 the Isle of Wight, which is materially be- 
 nefited by the short sea-carriage. 
 
 Flavouring Madeira is another process 
 important to its perfection. The flavour 
 itself is nothing ; but that which we know 
 is given by means of bitter almonds, and 
 we believe, of sweet almonds also. This 
 requires some delicacy and attention, and 
 particular care that it be not overdone. As 
 the full fermentation would destroy the 
 more volatile flavours, the flavouring sub- 
 stances are only introduced towards its de- 
 cline : in Madeira, the nut-cake is put into 
 the cask * 
 
 We may here mention, that notwithstand- 
 ing the fine climate of Madeira, there seems 
 to be considerable error in estimating its 
 beneficial effects on invalids. Upon the 
 authority of Dr. Heneiken, who has resided 
 in the island for several years, we learn that 
 since the summer of 1821, thirty-five inva- 
 
 * Dr. Henderson, however, tells us that the 
 nutty taste is not communicated by means of bitter 
 almonds, but is inherent in the wine. 
 
202 MADEIRA WINES. 
 
 lids have either reached or sailed for Ma- 
 deira. (The doctor speaks from memory.) 
 Of this number, two or three died on ship- 
 board, and three within a month of their 
 landing ; five or six just survived the win- 
 ter; about an equal number lingered 
 through the spring, and three or four en- 
 tered upon and passed through a second 
 winter. Of the whole number, thirteen 
 only, (including the doctor,) were alive in 
 1824. Two or three were cases of asthma, 
 and two of chronic disease of the trachea and 
 larynx ; " if these be excepted, and those 
 " be considered as dead who cannot be 
 " alive three months hence, the survivors of 
 " thirty-five, or thereabouts, in the short 
 " space of two years and a half, and who, so 
 " far from being cured, can only make the 
 " best of a precarious existence, in a low 
 " latitude, will be reduced to six." 
 
 
 The wines of the Canary Islands, which 
 approach to the Madeira in quality, have 
 already been noticed in the present volume. 
 In the TenerifFe produce, is included the vin 
 
MADEIRA WINES. 203 
 
 de Malvasia^ (so called from Malvasia, a 
 town in the Morea,) or malmsey, a rich and 
 luscious sack, which was, in the seventeenth 
 century, a great favourite in England. — 
 Twenty-five thousand pipes are said to be 
 annually exported from Teneriffe, and a 
 good deal of the remainder is manufactured 
 into brandy. 
 
 * See " Spanish Wines," p. 78-79. 
 
CAPE WINES. 
 
 The climate of the British dominions in 
 the south of Africa, is one of the finest in 
 the world. The average height of the ba- 
 rometer is about thirty inches, and the ave- 
 rage summer heat, at noon, is about seventy- 
 eight degrees. It resembles the climate of 
 Italy, but is rather warmer and dryer ; and 
 it is so dry, that draining is little required 
 for the ground. 
 
 With these advantages, the vine has been 
 cultivated with considerable success at the 
 Cape of Good Hope, since its colonization 
 by the Dutch, under Van Reibeck, in 1650. 
 Since the colony became British, vines have 
 increased tenfold, and the chief article of 
 
CAPE WINES. 205 
 
 commerce is wine. But, unfortunately, 
 more attention has been paid to quantity 
 than to quality, except on the farms which 
 yield Constantia. This wine, which is so 
 much prized in Europe, is the produce of 
 two farms known by that name, and si- 
 tuated within eight or nine miles of the 
 Cape : they have an eastern exposure, and 
 are sheltered from the south-west, the only 
 injurious blast. The soil being a deposit 
 from the neighbouring mountains, is light, 
 but enriched by manure: the sub-soil, 
 which is even more important, is still lighter, 
 being mixed with sand and broken stone ; 
 on the contrary, in Drachenstein, where the 
 chief vineyards are at present, the sub-soil 
 being clay, the wine receives an unpleasant 
 flavour, the idea of which is inseparably 
 associated with the very name of Cape 
 wine. 
 
 The farms of Constantia yield, on an 
 average, about 12,000 gallons per year; but 
 De la Caille and Barrow, have estimated 
 the produce at considerably more. Besides 
 this excellent wine, many varieties are made. 
 Among these, the Madeira of the Cape, 
 which is sent to Holland, America, the 
 
206 CAPE WINES. 
 
 Dutch Settlements in India, and to Eng- 
 land, is considered the best. It is a boiled 
 wine, and is said to be much improved by 
 the voyage. From twenty to thirty rix-dol- 
 lars the hager of 160 gallons, according to 
 Barrow and others, is the common price ob- 
 tained by the farmer for his wine at Cape 
 Town, where it is afterwards sold at the 
 rate of from 40, 50, 60, to 80, and 100 dol- 
 lars; and that too, perhaps, after under- 
 going adulteration. 
 
 The trade in this article is of great con- 
 sequence at the Cape, and the merchants 
 are particular in the mode of storing and 
 securing the wine. They generally keep it 
 in vaults and cellars, in large vessels, made 
 of mahogany, or a wood resembling it, very 
 thick, highly polished, and shaped like a 
 hogshead. These vessels are kept as clean 
 as our dining tables, and are bound round 
 with great brass hoops, while the edges are 
 secured with clasps of the same metal, so 
 that neither time nor accident can damage 
 them. One of these tons, or reservoirs, will 
 contain from six to seven hundred gallons : 
 the bung-holes are secured with plates of 
 brass, hasped down, and locked. The cocks 
 
CAPE WINES. 207 
 
 are also large and strong, with locks and 
 keys to them, so that the servants or slaves 
 are prevented from embezzling any of the 
 wine, as the casks are never opened, except 
 in the presence of one of the proprietors. 
 Many of these tuns are elegantly carved, 
 and ornamented with figures.* When Mr. 
 Barrow visited the Cape, a pint of good 
 wine might have been purchased for three- 
 pence ; and had it not been for the license 
 on the privilege of retailing, it might have 
 been obtained for three-halfpence. 
 
 There is no duty on wine in the Colony, 
 except upon what is brought to the Cape 
 market, and then it is subject to a tax of 
 three rix-dollars the hager. Brandy, or 
 brandewyn, as it is called at the Cape, is 
 also exempt, except on passing the barrier, 
 when it is charged with a duty at the same 
 rate as the wine. This impost is upon the 
 plan of the octroi duties in Paris. 
 
 With the manufacture of this spirit, the 
 vine-growers seem not to be well acquainted, 
 
 * Percival's Account of the Cape of Good 
 Hope, 4to. 
 
208 CAPE WINES. 
 
 as it has hitherto been considered of an in- 
 different quality. It is extracted from the 
 husks and stalks of the grapes, mixed up and 
 fermented with the lees of wine, and other 
 ingredients sometimes used of a less grateful 
 nature. The whole of the operation is gene- 
 rally committed to the care of a slave, who, 
 having neither knowledge nor interest in the 
 process, pays no regard to the quality of the 
 spirit ; through this neglect it contracts a 
 strong empyreumatic flavour, which it never 
 loses. This spirit has been long in use at 
 the Cape, though the better sort of people 
 among the Dutch seldom drink it. It is 
 eagerly purchased by the Hottentot and 
 Caffre hordes, who barter their cattle and 
 other commodities for it. 
 
 The quantity of wine imported from the 
 Cape into Great Britain in 1812, was 40 
 tuns, 2 hogsheads, 56 gallons; in 1820, 
 1,925 tuns, 60 gallons. The whole produce 
 of the Cape, is supposed to be about 12,000 
 hagers; comprising only what crosses the 
 barriers : with the wastage, it may be com- 
 puted at about 14,000 pipes. The consump- 
 tion of the colony is calculated at 6,000, the 
 
 
 
CAPE WINES. 209 
 
 shipment to St. Helena about 2,000, and the 
 remainder is for this country, and its de- 
 pendencies.* 
 
 The wine manufacture of the Cape, is 
 susceptible of great improvement, and might 
 be made of essential benefit to the British 
 empire. Were the vine-plantations pro- 
 perly managed, and a due regard paid to 
 the selection of the grapes, and the process 
 of making the wine, much of the money 
 that is sent to foreign countries for this ar- 
 ticle might be saved, and turned to our own 
 advantage. The vines, according to La- 
 trobe, are permitted to grow without espa- 
 liers, placed in rows like currant bushes in 
 our gardens, and when arrived at a certain 
 height, the upper-shoots are taken off, to in- 
 crease the quantity of grapes; a method 
 very different from that practised in Europe. 
 The plants, with which the Cape vineyards 
 
 * Parliamentary Papers. — In 1817, when the 
 duties on Cape wines were reduced, the amount 
 imported was more than doubled from the preced- 
 ing year ; but much of the wine was of wretched qua- 
 lity, and the market was overstocked, so that Cape 
 wines lost altogether in public estimation. 
 
210 CAPE WINES. 
 
 are stocked, are said to have been brought 
 from Persia, and the banks of the Rhine ; 
 but, under the new names assigned to them, 
 it is impossible to recognise the species. 
 
 Sir John Sinclair, in a recent paper on 
 the improvement of the Cape,f observes, 
 that " it is unnecessary to enter into the 
 " subject of the manufacture of the wine. If 
 " the sub-soil be bad, so will the wine be. 
 "The vine does not require a rich sub-soil. 
 " In Italy, flags are laid to prevent the roots 
 " from penetrating into the clay ; and in 
 " England, rubbish is thrown in, to make 
 " a sub-soil, that shall not be so rich as to 
 " produce leaves instead of fruit. It would 
 " be advantageous were premiums offered 
 " for wine that had not been produced from 
 " a sub-soil of clay, but had been reared in 
 " trellis, as requiring less labour than the 
 " standard, and made on a pure and good 
 " system, instead of being mixed with Cape 
 " brandy, sulphuric acid, &c. Notwith- 
 u standing all these disadvantages, Cape 
 " wine is generally sold in England under 
 
 f Date, Jan. 1829. 
 
CAPE WINES. 211 
 
 " the names, and at the prices, of Madeira, 
 " Sherry, Teneriffe, Stein, Pontac, and above 
 " all, Hock !" 
 
 Constantia has been overrated from its 
 rarity and consequent cost. The two farms 
 produce different wines : one a red, and the 
 other a white sort of sweet wine; but the 
 whole quantity annually made does not ex- 
 ceed ninety pipes, 
 
BRITISH WINES. 
 
 In England, little attention has been 
 paid to the philosophy of wine-making. — 
 Hence, the wines of this country have been 
 but little esteemed ; and, notwithstanding 
 the application of scientific principles to in- 
 numerable branches of social improvement, 
 their extension to the manufacture of Bri- 
 tish wines has been attended with few im- 
 portant practical results. In short, France 
 is the only nation which has bestowed much 
 attention on what may be strictly termed 
 the philosophy of wine-making, — as it is that 
 which excels all others in the variety and 
 the goodness of its produce. 
 
 All that relates to the present manufacture 
 of wine in England may therefore be dis- 
 posed of in a small portion of our Manual ; 
 
BRITISH WINES. 213 
 
 but the history of the culture of the vine, 
 and of the wines used, in England, abounds 
 with so many interesting illustrations of the 
 habits and peculiarities of our ancestors, 
 that we should rather neglect than consult 
 the gratification of the reader in withhold- 
 ing them from these pages. 
 
 The vine is said to have been first planted 
 in Britain by the Romans ; and its culti- 
 vation to have become common shortly after 
 this introduction. This statement has, how- 
 ever ,been often controverted ; and, it appears, 
 that if true, the vine could not have been in- 
 troduced till near the close of the Roman 
 influence, for Tacitus mentions, that it was 
 not known when Agricola commanded in 
 the island. At the invasion of the Anglo- 
 Saxons, however, when the country had 
 been under the Roman dominion four hun- 
 dred years, and had received, during that 
 period, all the encouragement which that 
 people gave to the agriculture of the pro- 
 vinces; the vine, without doubt, was ex- 
 tensively cultivated. Vineyards are men- 
 tioned in the earliest Saxon charters, as 
 well as gardens and orchards, — " and this 
 was before the combating invaders had time 
 
214 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 or ability to make them, if they had not 
 found them in the island."* In the Cotto- 
 nian Manuscripts, in the British Museum, 
 there are some rude delineations in a Saxon 
 calendar, which, in the month of February, 
 represent men cutting or pruning trees, 
 some of which resemble vines. Wine also, 
 seems to have been known to the Saxons, 
 as mention is first made of it at the feast 
 given by Hengist, about the year 450, to 
 Vortigern, the British King, after the com- 
 pletion of Hidecastle ; when Rowena, the 
 beautiful daughter of the Saxon chief, is 
 represented with a golden bowl, filled with 
 wine, drinking to the health of the mo- 
 narch ; which is also regarded as the first 
 instance on record of drinking health in 
 Britain. But although wine was familiar 
 among the Saxons, it was not used with 
 profusion. A great bowl, from which the 
 obbse, or big-bellied jugs, of the monks, were 
 filled twice a-day for their dinner and sup- 
 per, was all that Ethelwold allowed to his 
 monastery. 
 
 Domesday-book exhibits to us many 
 
 * Turner's Anglo-Saxons. 
 
BRITISH WINES. 215 
 
 proofs that wine was made in England 
 during the period preceding the conquest. 
 At the latter date, several new plantations 
 of vines appear to have been made; and 
 among other places, in the village of West- 
 minster ; at Chenetone, in Middlesex ; at 
 Ware, in Hertfordshire; and at Hanten, in 
 Worcestershire. 
 
 To almost every monastery, vineyards ap- 
 peared to have been attached. Canterbury 
 Church, and St. Augustine's monastery, 
 possessed several vineyards. The Isle of 
 Ely, from the abundance of its vintage, was 
 denominated the isle of vines ; and the bi- 
 shop thereof, shortly after the conquest, 
 commonly exacted three or four tuns of 
 wine, as the tithe of the vineyard, while a 
 certain quantity was reserved in his leases 
 for rent. A plot of ground, in London, 
 which now forms East Smithfield, and some 
 adjoining streets, was withheld from the re- 
 ligious house within Aldgate, by four suc- 
 cessive Constables of the Tower, in the 
 reign of Rufus, Henry, and Stephen; and 
 made by them into a vineyard, to their 
 great profit. In the old accounts of recto- 
 rial and vicarial revenues, and in the old 
 
216 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 registers of ecclesiastical suits concerning 
 them, the tithe of wine is an article that 
 frequently occurs in Kent, Surrey, and other 
 counties. These vineyards were usually on 
 the south-side of a hill, on a light, dry soil, 
 having the surface covered with sand ; the 
 vines being trained near the ground. 
 
 Towards the middle of the 12th century, 
 upon the authority of William of Malmes- 
 bury, the culture of the vine, had arrived 
 at such perfection within the vale of Glou- 
 cester, that a sweet and palatable wine, 
 " little inferior to that of France," was made 
 there in abundance. His description of 
 Gloucester is,—" you may behold the paths 
 and public roads fenced with apple-trees, 
 which are not planted by the hand of man, 
 but grow spontaneously ; and such is the 
 exuberance of the soil, that it teems with 
 the fairest fruits, — which are of excellent 
 flavour, and so durable nature, that many 
 of them will keep a whole year. This dis- 
 trict exhibits too a greater number of vine- 
 yards than any other county in England ; 
 yielding abundant crops, and of superior 
 quality. Nor are the wines made here, by 
 any means, harsh and ungrateful to the pa- 
 
BRITISH WINES. 217 
 
 late; for, in point of sweetness, they may 
 almost bear comparison with the growths 
 of France." The same writer corroborates 
 the fertility of the Isle of Ely, and observes 
 of a certain domain : — " It is so fully culti- 
 vated, that no portion of the soil is left un- 
 occupied. On the one hand, it may be seen 
 thickly studded with apple-trees; on the 
 other, covered with vines ; which either 
 trail along the ground, or are trained on 
 high, and supported on poles." 
 
 In the thirteenth and fourteenth centu- 
 ries, almost every large castle and monastery 
 in England, had its vineyard. The land 
 on the south side of Windsor Castle, now a 
 pleasant green lawn, running from the town, 
 under the castle-wall, was a vineyard, and 
 is particularly described in the " Archseolo- 
 gia." Stowe tells us, that among the ar- 
 chives of the Court of Pleas of the Forest 
 and Honours at Windsor, " is to be seen the 
 yearly account of the charges of planting 
 the vines, that in the time of Richard II. 
 grew in great plenty within the little park ; 
 as also the making of the wine itself, whereof 
 some part was spent in the king's house, 
 and some part sold to his profits ; the tithes 
 
218 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 whereof were paid to the abbot of Waltham, 
 then parson both of the New and Old Win- 
 dlesore." 
 
 At this period, wine was made in Eng- 
 land, in considerable quantities; and yet 
 the importation of foreign wines was very 
 large. Of this, we shall presently speak 
 more fully. The vineyards were probably 
 continued till the time of the Reformation, 
 when the ecclesiastical gardens were either 
 neglected or destroyed. The extended in- 
 troduction of foreign wines, might also 
 have led to the neglect of the vine ; and, 
 about the last-mentioned period, ale, which 
 had been known for many centuries in Eng- 
 land, seems to have superseded the use of 
 wine as a general beverage * 
 
 To bring the narrative nearer our own 
 times, the revival of the culture of the vine 
 for the manufacture of wine, was frequently 
 
 * Ritson has preserved a rude ballad of this pe- 
 riod in praise of ale, which was then becoming the 
 national beverage : — 
 
 ( ' Bryng us home no sydyr, nor no palde wyne ; 
 For an that thou shalt have Cryst's curse and mine : 
 But bryng us home good ale, and bryng us home good ale, 
 And for our der lady's love, bryng us home good ale.'' 
 
BRITISH WINES. 219 
 
 attempted in this country, within the last 
 century. We could quote many examples ; 
 but one of the most successful on record, is 
 of a vineyard at Arundel Castle, on the 
 south coast of Sussex, which was planted 
 about the beginning of the last century; 
 and of the produce of which, there are 
 stated to have been 60 pipes in the cellars 
 of the Duke of Norfolk, in the year 1763. 
 This wine, is said to have excelled much of 
 the Burgundy imported into this country; 
 but not, in the words of the record, " of 
 quite so fine a flavour as the wines of 
 Beaune." The kind of grape, and the 
 mode of culture, have not been particularly 
 recorded. Aubrey describes a similar vine- 
 yard, at Chart Park, near Dorking, in Sur- 
 rey, another seat of the Howards. " Here 
 was a vineyard, supposed to have been 
 planted by the Hon. Charles Howard, who, 
 it is said, erected his residence, as it were, 
 in the vineyard." Again, the vineyard 
 flourished for some time, and tolerably good 
 wine was made from the produce ; but, after 
 the death of the noble planter, in 1763, it 
 was much neglected, and nothing remained 
 but the name. On taking down the house, 
 
220 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 a few years since, a circular stone, resem- 
 bling that used in a mill, was found, by 
 which the grapes were pressed."* We were 
 on the spot at the time, and saw the stone 
 in question. Vines are still abundant at 
 Dorking, the soil being very congenial to 
 their growth. " Hence, almost every house 
 in this part has its vine ; and some of the 
 plants are very productive. The cottages 
 of the labouring poor are not without this 
 ornament, — and the produce is usually sold 
 by them to their wealthier neighbours, for 
 the manufacture of wine. The price, per 
 bushel, is from 4s. to 16s. "f 
 
 The Isle of Wight has also been the 
 scene of the experimental culture of the 
 vine, where, about fifty years since, Sir Ri- 
 chard Worsley planted the more hardy spe- 
 cies of vines, in a rocky soil, with a south- 
 eastern exposure, and engaged a vine-dres- 
 ser from France, to superintend their cul- 
 ture. In one or two years, a tolerable 
 crop of grapes was obtained; but the scheme 
 
 * Picturesque Promenade round Dorking : by 
 John Timbs. Sec. Edit ft. 258-9. 
 
 f Ibid, p. 143. 
 
BRITISH WINES. 221 
 
 ultimately turned out unsuccessful and un- 
 profitable. 
 
 A more satisfactory experiment was made 
 at Painshill. The result has been fully de- 
 scribed by Sir Edward Barry, in his disser- 
 tation on the History of Wine, published 
 about sixty years since.* The vineyard is 
 now overgrown by Scotch pine. It was 
 originally planted with white grapes, pro- 
 cured from the neighbourhood of Paris ; and 
 a wine similar to Champagne, was made 
 by confining the must or juice of the fruit 
 in strong casks, to prevent the force of the 
 fermentation bursting the vessels, until the 
 cold of the autumn frosts checked the pro- 
 cess. The soil was a poor sand, with a 
 stony sub-soil, having the advantage of a 
 southern exposure, on a steep slope. It 
 appears to have been deficient in depth and 
 fertility ; and, it is quite evident, if vines 
 were to be cultivated in a vineyard in this 
 climate, that every circumstance ought to 
 be as favourable as possible. Painshill 
 vineyard enjoyed only two advantages — ex- 
 
 * Observations on the Wines of the Ancients. 
 
2*22 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 posure and dryness ; it wanted fertility, and 
 a loose and more porous subsoil.* 
 
 To these experiments may be added, that 
 on the southern coast of Devonshire, pos- 
 sessing the mildest temperature of the Eng- 
 lish counties, there are still, or very lately 
 were, two or three vineyards, from which 
 wine is commonly made. 
 
 Much of the ill success already mentioned, 
 has doubtless resulted from erroneous cul- 
 ture, but the general failure may be re- 
 ferred to the unfitness of the English climate 
 for the perfection of the vine. Whatever 
 may have been the condition and qualities 
 of the early English grapes, employed in 
 making wine, we know that they must have 
 been ripened by the natural temperature of 
 the climate, as artificial heat was not re- 
 sorted to, for the ripening of grapes, till the 
 early part of the last century ; and then the 
 heat was applied merely to the opposite side 
 of the wall on which the vines were trained: 
 nor is it till about the middle of the same 
 century that we have any account of vines 
 being covered with glass. 
 
 * Loudon's Gardener's Mag. Feb. 1829. 
 
BRITISH WINES. 223 
 
 A writer, in a recent scientific journal,* 
 however, refers the failure of these experi- 
 ments to other causes, observing that " the 
 climate of this country has undergone a 
 considerable change within the last hun- 
 dred years, is allowed by all who have con- 
 sidered the subject. With such inclement 
 and changeable springs, and long protracted 
 winters, as have been experienced of late, 
 vines, as standards in the open air, would 
 be destroyed, or at least, no dependence 
 could be placed upon them for a crop.f In 
 their cultivation in this country, practi- 
 tioners are more liable to err in planting 
 them in too rich, than in too poor, a soil ; 
 the first adds too much to their natural 
 luxuriance of growth, and always reduces 
 the flavour of the fruit." 
 
 Upon this point generally, as well as 
 
 * Brande's Journal, April 1827. 
 
 f Grapes, ripened on walls or trellises, are, in 
 general, unfit for the manufacture of wine. In 
 this country, however, it is with such grapes that 
 the experiments in wine-making are now usually 
 undertaken ; which may probably be one cause 
 why the liquors obtained have neither durability 
 nor flavour. — Henderson-. 
 
224 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 upon the many other causes which concur 
 powerfully to produce a good or bad quality 
 of wine, Chaptal has the following forcible 
 observations : — 
 
 " Those who study the progress of Nature 
 in her sublime work of vegetation, have 
 surely observed how great is the influence 
 which causes the least apparent exercise on 
 her ; the difference which exists in the soils 
 of adjacent grounds. That which is esta- 
 blished in the atmosphere of a rising ground, 
 by its inclination being more or less rapid, 
 or being towards one or other of the cardinal 
 points, and the manner in which it is shel- 
 tered, are as many causes which act on the 
 species and varieties which compose the 
 vegetable kingdom, but there are none 
 more susceptible of all these impressions 
 than the vine." The same author adds, 
 " The surface, more or less inclined, of the 
 soil which surrounds the vine, though in 
 the same locality, presents infinite modifica- 
 tions. The summit, the middle, and the 
 foot of a hill, give very different produc- 
 tions. The summit, which is open and un- 
 sheltered, receives at every moment the 
 impression of all the changes of the atmos- 
 
BRITISH WINES. 225 
 
 phere ; the winds injure the vines con- 
 tinually, the fog makes a more constant and 
 direct impression on them, and the tempe- 
 rature is variable and cold. This causes in 
 general a less abundant quantity of grapes, 
 which come to maturity slowly and imper- 
 fectly, so that the wine made from them is 
 inferior in quality to that which the flank 
 of the hill furnishes, the position of which 
 prevents the pernicious effect of the greater 
 part of their causes. The base of the hill 
 offers also serious inconveniences. Un- 
 doubtedly, the constant moisture of the 
 earth nourishes a strong and vigorous vine, 
 but the grape is never so sweet nor so 
 agreeably perfumed, as towards the middle 
 region : the air is constantly damp, and the 
 earth incessantly imbued with water, swells 
 the grape, and forces the vegetation, to the 
 detriment of the quality." 
 
 This portion of our volume might be en- 
 larged by the addition of many recent facts 
 connected with the improved culture of the 
 vine; but, as these would only be advan- 
 tageous or available to the practical horti- 
 culturalist, they must give place to a few 
 more interesting records concerning the 
 Q 
 
226 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 varieties of wines which are mentioned in 
 our domestic history. 
 
 Foreign wines appear to have been first 
 introduced into England about the middle 
 of the twelfth century : the date of the ear- 
 liest statute of the foreign wine trade being 
 1154, when the trade in Bordeaux wines 
 commenced with this country. The duties 
 on foreign wine imported are mentioned in 
 the third year of the reign of John ; and in 
 the time of Edward I. who ascended the 
 throne in 1272, a duty of two shillings was 
 imposed on every tun imported into Eng- 
 land, in lieu of the ancient impost, called 
 prisage* Out of every cargo imported, the 
 king claimed one tun before the mast, 
 under the name oiprisa, or resta prisa; and 
 officers were appointed at the different ports, 
 to collect and account for the same. This 
 tax afterwards obtained the name of butler- 
 age, because it was paid to the king's butler. 
 
 The English, from the above period, were 
 
 * In this year,, London imported 3,799 tuns of 
 wine; Southampton and Portsmouth, 3,147; and 
 Sandwich, 1,900. In the time of Edward IIL a 
 trade in Rhenish wine was carried on between 
 Hull and the ports of the Baltic. 
 
BRITISH WINES. 227 
 
 much addicted to wine-drinking. According 
 to Holinshed, the strongest wines were in 
 the greatest request, while claret and other 
 weak wines, were scarcely thought of. 
 Wine was so abundant, that in 1392, when 
 Richard II. after a long absence, was re- 
 ceived in London by the citizens, with great 
 demonstrations of joy, the very conduits 
 in the streets, through which the caval- 
 cade passed, were allowed to run with every 
 variety of wine* 
 
 In the time of Henry VIII. wine was 
 used at breakfast, with beer ; and even the 
 grave Sir Thomas More drank frequent 
 
 * Perhaps the only relic known in our time, of 
 the custom of liquor flowing from conduits in the 
 streets, is the distribution of liquor to the populace, 
 on certain public rejoicings. Among the several 
 commemorations of the last Peace, rolling out bar- 
 rels of beer to the multitude was very general. At 
 the grand fete of St. Charles, to celebrate the 
 birth-day of the present king of France, (Nov. 4.) 
 provisions are thrown among the people, and wine 
 is distributed to all who desire it. The fair or fete 
 is held in the Champs Elysees. A programme of 
 the day's entertainments is published, and the hours 
 of distribution are duly stated, 
 
228 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 bumpers in the morning, before proceeding 
 to state business. 
 
 A quart of wine and a quart of beer was 
 the usual quantity served to two persons at 
 one of these dejeunes a la goblet* Good 
 appetite is, however, only induced by early 
 hours; for the present king of France, 
 though upwards of seventy-two years of 
 age, breakfasts at eight o'clock, when his 
 dejeune includes a bottle of wine. 
 
 A specific enumeration of the varieties 
 
 * A curious trait of the habits of this period, is 
 preserved by Cavendish, in his account of Wolsey's 
 splendid reception of the French ambassadors at 
 Hampton Court, in 1527. The cardinal is de- 
 scribed as arriving while the foreigners were feast- 
 ing : " Before the second course, my lord came in, 
 booted and spurred, all sodainely amongst them 
 pro face ; at whose coming there was great joy, 
 with rising every man from his place, whom my 
 lord caused to sit still and keep their roomes, and 
 being in his apparel as he rode, called for a ehayre, 
 and sat down in the middest of the highest para- 
 dise, laughing, and being as merry as ever I saw 
 him in all my lyff." The whole party drank long 
 and strong : some of the Frenchmen were led offt 
 to bed, and in the chambers of all was placed 
 abundance of " wine and beere." 
 
BRITISH WINES. 2*29 
 
 of wines which have been used in England, 
 or the fashions and customs of drinking" 
 them, would occupy too much space in our 
 Manual ; neither would it be especially in- 
 teresting to wine-drinkers of these days, 
 since a comparison of our tables with those 
 of the middle ages, for example, would in- 
 duce no very favourable conclusions on the 
 vigour of the present generation. The re- 
 trospect, therefore, had better remain un- 
 touched, if we except a slight notice of a 
 statute of Edward VI. which is called, " An 
 Act to avoide Excesse of Wynes, which not 
 only relates to the price, but contemplates 
 a set of aristocratical privileges which in 
 our days border on the ludicrous. The 
 enactments are as follow : — 
 
 I. None but such as can spend one hun- 
 dred marks of yearly rent, or is worth one 
 thousand marks, or else shall be the son of 
 a duke, marquess, earl, viscount, or baron 
 of the realm, shall have, or keep in his 
 house, any vessel of foreign wine, for his 
 family's use, exceeding ten gallons, under 
 a penalty of ten pounds for every such 
 offence. 
 
 II. No taverns for the retailing of wine 
 shall be set up, except in towns and cities ; 
 
230 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 and only two taverns shall be allowed for 
 every town or city, except London, which 
 may have forty taverns ; Westminster, which 
 may have three ; York, eight ; Bristol, six ; 
 Cambridge, four ; Oxford, three ; Lincoln,, 
 three ; Hull, four ; Shrewsbury, three ; 
 Exeter, four ; Salisbury, three ; Gloucester, 
 four ; West Chester, four ; Hereford, three ; 
 Worcester, three; Southampton, three; 
 Canterbury, four; Ipswich, three; Winches- 
 ter, three ; Colchester, three ; Newcastle,foui\ 
 
 III. None of the said taverns, however, 
 shall retail wines to be spent or drunk 
 within the respective houses, on pain of for- 
 feiting ten pounds for every such offence. 
 
 IV. Merchants may use in their own 
 houses, but not sell, such wines as they 
 shall import : also, high-sheriffs, magistrates 
 of cities and towns, and the inhabitants of 
 fortified towns, may keep vessels of wine for 
 their own consumption only. 
 
 These provisions but ill accorded with the 
 luxurious habits of the English, as the 
 splendid hospitalities and commemorative 
 festivals of the period will prove. 
 
 To sum up details in a few words, which 
 might be extended to many pages, it may 
 be stated, that up to the period of the Revo- 
 
BRITISH WINES. 231 
 
 lution, the principal supply of wines was 
 brought from France; at which time, ac- 
 cording to the report of the commissioners 
 of trade and plantations, not less than 
 •20,000 tuns were the imports for one year. 
 The duties on these wines, from 1770 to 
 178*2, were from £60 to £96. ; on other wines, 
 the duties were upwards from £30 to £45 
 per tun. During the last four years of this 
 period, the average quantity imported ap- 
 pears to have been 14,094 tuns, while the 
 re-exportation was 2,094, leaving a balance 
 of 12,000 tuns for the consumption of the 
 country. 
 
 From a variety of documents,it appears that 
 the consumption of foreign wines, legally 
 imported, for a population of 11,978,875 
 persons, only amounts, on an average, 
 to 6,010,971 gallons; and of this quantity, 
 40,000 are said to be annually consumed in 
 London alone, which, at 126 gallons the 
 pipe, may be estimated at 5,040,000 gallons 
 for the inhabitants of that city, the number 
 of whom were, in 1821, re turned at 1,274,800 
 souls. In 1822, the revenue derived from 
 imported wine amounted to £952,570, and 
 in 1823, to £962,397. 
 
232 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 The consumption of foreign wine in Scot- 
 land is comparatively much less. On an 
 average of seven years,the annual quantity for 
 a population of 2,000,000, is not more than 
 321,408 gallons, being, to each individual, 
 somewhat better than a pint. Home-made 
 wine is a manufacture not carried to any 
 great extent in Scotland, nor is it an art of 
 much antiquity. Pennant says, that in the 
 year 1635, they began to make some in 
 England, from the raisins or dried grapes of 
 Spain and Portugal, and that one Francis 
 Chamberlayne had succeeded so well, that 
 he obtained a patent for the manufacture of 
 such wine for fourteen years. The author 
 of the " Tatler," complained, that in his 
 day they could squeeze Bordeaux out of 
 the sloe, and draw Champagne from an 
 apple. This manufacture has certainly been 
 very successfully pursued by the English, 
 since it is estimated that one-half of the 
 Port, and five-sixths of the white wines 
 consumed in London, are the produce of the 
 home presses.* 
 
 Probably more has been written upon the 
 
 * Morewood on Inebriating Liquors. 
 
BRITISH WINES. 233 
 
 manufacture of British wines, than upon 
 any other branch of domestic economy. — 
 Almost every writer has his favourite theory 
 or system of wine-making. — and every good 
 housewife has her customary receipts for the 
 same purpose. A few observations on the 
 result of these enquiries may not, however, 
 be uninteresting. They may be advanta- 
 geously preceded by some observations on 
 the general principles of Wine-making. 
 
 Vinous liquors, resembling wine, may be made 
 from every fruit, as well as from every vegetable, 
 which contains acids united to its extractive matter. 
 The term wine is thus applied to the produce of 
 currants, gooseberries, and many others; while 
 that of cyder is especially reserved for the liquor 
 to be obtained from apples. That term would be 
 a fitter one for many of the vinous liquors in ques- 
 tion, and we shall here restrict the term wine to 
 the produce of the vine. 
 
 All fruits consist of the following principles : — 
 water, sugar, a peculiar combination of sugar and 
 extract, called the sweet principle, by the French, 
 supertartrite of potash, malate of potash, and malic 
 acid, superoxalate of potash, extractive matter ana- 
 lagous to mucilage, and vegetable gelatin, tannin, 
 a principle of flavour, and a colouring principle. 
 These, however, are not all found in any one 
 fruit, and they also vary in their proportion in dif- 
 ferent ones. The essential ones to the making of 
 
234 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 wine are the tartarous acid, sugar, or the sweet 
 principle, extract, and water ; and those which are 
 useful, without being indispensable, are flavour, 
 tannin, or astringency and colour. And it is by 
 possessing these in right proportions, that the 
 grape excels all other fruits for the purpose of 
 making wine. 
 
 Tartarous acid, or its combinations, is especially 
 indispensable; and hence it is that the grape which 
 contains it in large quantity, produces wine; when 
 the apple, and other fruits which contain the malic 
 acid, produce cyder. It is essential to the fer- 
 mentation, as well as to the quality of the produce ; 
 and it is decomposed in the process, so as to in- 
 crease the quantity of alcohol, which the sugar 
 would otherwise yield. Where malic acid is also 
 present, the quality of the wine is bad. Sugar 
 must be considered the fundamental element, and 
 as that from which the alcohol is chiefly derived. 
 Thus, the most saccharine grapes produce the 
 strongest wine. But it seldom exists in a pure 
 state in the grape, or in any other vegetable. It 
 appears to be most pure in the sugar cane ; but 
 even there it is combined with the extractive mat- 
 ter, and also with some acid, forming the sweet 
 principle of the French. Pure sugar does not 
 ferment in water, it crystallizes; and whenever 
 fermentation occurs, some other vegetable matter 
 is present. When sugar, again, has crystallized 
 from a solution of the sweet principle, what re- 
 mains, runs still more steadily into fermentation. 
 In the produce of the cane, this is molasses. It is 
 very important to keep this distinction in view, 
 because upon it materially depends the fabrication 
 
BRITISH WINES. 235 
 
 of sweet wines. It explains many circumstances 
 in the process of fermentation, and some that are 
 often overlooked. It explains, among other things, 
 why wine ferments in a cask, when it will not fer- 
 ment in bottles; because the sugar derives the 
 necessary extractive matter from the wood. The 
 chemical nature of the extractive matter is not 
 known ; but is supposed to contain azote, as this 
 is the produce of fermentation. Yeast, or leaven, 
 contains the extractive principle in great abundance, 
 and hence its power of inducing fermentation in a 
 solution of pure sugar. All vegetables contain it ; 
 and it is most abundant in those juices which gela- 
 tinate in boiling. It is found in the grape, and it 
 is thus the natural leaven of wine, whether existing 
 in a separate state, or united to sugar, in the form 
 of a sweet principle. Water is a much more essen- 
 tial ingredient, than would at first be suspected. If 
 over abundant, it is difficult to prevent the produce 
 from running to the acetous stage. Hence weak 
 wines become sour. If deficient, it is difficult to 
 establish the fermentation ; and hence sweet wines. 
 
 Thus, also, sweet wines are injured by drying 
 the grapes, or evaporating their juice, both com- 
 mon practices in the wine countries. Colour must 
 be looked on in the light of an ornament, and is 
 found in the husk of the grape. So is the tannin 
 principle, which occasions the astringency in Port 
 wine. Of the principle of flavour, chemistry knows 
 nothing ; it seems often the produce of fermenta- 
 tion, as in Claret and Burgundy wines : in those 
 of Frontignan and Muscat, it is the natural fla- 
 vour of the fruit. 
 
 When the process is complete, the wine is dry, 
 or contains no sugar, so that sweet wines, which 
 
'236 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 are compounds of wine and sugar, are the produce 
 of incomplete fermentation. When all the ele- 
 ments, above described, are in due proportion, the 
 product is perfect, a dry wine ; and the elements 
 that require particularly to be balanced for this 
 result, are the extract, or leaven, and the sugar. 
 If the former is in excess, the wine tends to vinegar, 
 unless means are used to stop the fermentation, by 
 abstracting the leaven ; if in defect, the process is 
 imperfect, a sweet wine. Hence, the perfection 
 and management of the leaven, are amongst the 
 most important circumstances in the manufacture.* 
 
 Such are the general principles of wine- 
 making, but the comparative failure of the 
 British process may be still further traced. 
 The natural ill qualities of our fruits must 
 be corrected by art, and to do this with ef- 
 fect, to imitate the qualities of the more 
 perfect fruits of warm climates, constitutes 
 the whole secret. Every receipt-book is 
 full of processes for making a multiplicity 
 of domestic wines. These never take into 
 account that an unvarying process cannot 
 be adapted to the ever-changing nature of 
 our fruits, the qualities of which are dif- 
 ferent, according as the season has been 
 wet or dry, cold or warm ; according as the 
 
 * Abridged from the Supp. Ency. Brit. 
 
BRITISH WINES. 237 
 
 soil was exhausted or well manured ; the 
 trees skilfully or ignorantly pruned, and 
 several other circumstances not necessary 
 here to enumerate. These popular pro- 
 cesses, therefore, seldom succeed ; hence 
 our domestic wines have a bad character, 
 and the art of making- them is but little 
 cultivated. Such is the opinion of a very 
 recent writer*; but the advocates for British 
 wine-making usually divide themselves into 
 two parties, such as maintain that our wines 
 are spoiled by an excess of sugar, and such 
 as contend that perfect wine may be made 
 from unripe fruit. Mr. Cobbett, whose 
 experience in rural economy is entitled to 
 respect, observes, " that which we call cur- 
 rant wine, is neither more nor less than 
 red-looking, weak rum, the strength coming 
 from the sugar. People deceive themselves. 
 The thing is called wine, but it is rum; that 
 is to say, an extract of sugar."f Another 
 experienced writer says : " the idea of 
 making good wine with British fruits, 
 
 * Donovan's Domestic Economy. 
 f Cottage Economy. 
 
238 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 which abound with undecomposable acids, 
 with only two pounds of sugar to each gal- 
 lon, is almost impracticable. It may be 
 asked, what are the substances that make 
 wine keep, and prevent it from turning 
 sour ? Undecomposed sugar and alcohol. 
 Now, as to spirit, the wine as it is called, 
 scarcely contains any ; and the small quan- 
 tity of sugar it contains would be speedily 
 decomposed, were it not for the frequent 
 skimmings and rackings it undergoes. 
 Without this, the wine, as it is called, would 
 not keep a twelvemonth ; whereas, wine 
 made upon true chemical principles, will 
 keep any length of time if properly ma- 
 naged. I have wine by me now, made from 
 ripe gooseberries, nineteen years old, which 
 is perfectly sound ; the wine now drunk by 
 my family is twelve years old, and if it 
 has any fault, it is that it is too strong ; it 
 never had spirit of any kind added to it ; 
 all the alcohol it contains is genuine, the 
 product of the fruit and sugar. To add 
 brandy or spirit of any sort to wine, will 
 spoil the flavour of the best that ever 
 was made, unless it be kept a certain 
 
BRITISH WINES. 239 
 
 number of years, or added in a very small 
 quantity.* 
 
 Dr. Macculloch, on the other hand, is 
 of opinion that the best wine may be made 
 from unripe fruit. He thinks ripe fruits 
 are much improved by boiling previous to 
 fermentation. This, he states, is particu- 
 larly the case with the black currant, which, 
 when thus managed, will make a wine 
 closely resembling some of the best of the 
 sweet Cape wines. But Dr. M. has made 
 wines from unripe grapes and sugar, so 
 closely resembling Champagne, Grave, 
 Rhenish, and Moselle, that the best judges 
 could not distinguish them from those fo- 
 reign wines. The grapes may be used in 
 any state, however unripe ; when even but 
 half grown, and perfectly hard, they suc- 
 ceed completely.f 
 
 The success of the fermentative process, 
 however, depends in all cases upon the 
 proper adjustment of the sugar and fruit. 
 The only ferment to be employed, is that 
 
 * Correspondent of the Gardener's Magazine, 
 f See Macculloch on Wine, 4th Edit. 1829. 
 
240 BRITISH WINES. 
 
 furnished by nature ; and when this is 
 defective, as is sometimes the case in our 
 domestic fruits, the ferment of the grape 
 must be supplied artificially. This may be 
 done by introducing a certain portion of 
 crude tartar ; the dose of which may vary 
 from one to six per cent, or from two to 
 four pounds of tartar, to one hundred pints 
 of liquor, the sweetest requiring most, 
 without materially affecting the wine, as 
 a great portion of what escapes decompo- 
 sition, will be subsequently deposited. All 
 fruits will require more or less tartar. 
 
 As we have abridged Dr. Macculloch's 
 valuable hints in a succeeding page, we need 
 not here enlarge upon the process and its 
 advantages. Neither would it be useful to 
 attempt to reconcile or explain the dis- 
 crepancies of the various opinions on the 
 art of making British wines. An atten- 
 tion to the scientific principles of wine- 
 making, would, doubtless, render these do- 
 mestic processes more complete than they 
 now are, and the results more valuable ; but, 
 much as philosophy may be benefited, and 
 ingenuity exercised, by experiment, we are 
 
BRITISH WINES. 241 
 
 not among those who think that the disad- 
 vantages of climate and growth, are to be 
 entirely out mastered by art * 
 
 * We may here notice a few of the synthetical 
 preparations, which French and other chemists 
 have made, and which possessed many of the 
 agreeable properties of those produced from the 
 grape. This was done by first analysing the wine 
 to be imitated, and then by apportioning tbe quan- 
 tities of the several ingredients which existed in 
 the wine naturally. In this way, Fabroni made 
 wine from 864 lbs. sugar, 24 lbs. gum arabic, 241b. 
 tartar, 31b. tartareous acid, 36 lbs. gluten of wheat, 
 and 1728 quarts of water. Parmentier made a 
 good Muscadine wine from 2161bs. sugar, 9 lbs. 
 crystals of tartar, 72 lbs. elder flowers, and 307 lbs. 
 water. The colonists in the West Indies prepare 
 a wine from 250 lbs. sugar, 2 barrels of water, and 
 4 lbs. of yeast: tbis wine is coloured with litmus, 
 and scented with some essential oil. 
 
 
 R 
 
ADULTERATION OF WINE. 
 
 Nothing but the early adulteration of 
 wines could justify the crafty anathema of 
 wine-haters, — that in every grape there 
 dwelt " a divell." The pernicious practice 
 is of considerable antiquity ; and, as in most 
 ways of sin, succeeding generations have 
 progressed in the custom, till they have 
 made a compound of adulterations, and 
 thus lost the original produce which they 
 intended to imitate or qualify. Indeed, the 
 moderns have reached a refinement of vice, 
 which the scientific fraud of future ages 
 will probably never transcend. 
 
 The adulteration of wines in England is 
 of very early date. The mixing of foreign 
 wines afforded many opportunities for the 
 introduction of a variety of deleterious com- 
 positions ; and these mal-practices of the vint- 
 ners are perpetuated in laws, so early as the 
 
ADULTERATION OF WINE. 248 
 
 time of Edward III. Hence, in all proba- 
 bility, arose the establishment of the Vint- 
 ner's Company. 
 
 In the year 1426, great complaints were 
 made against all classes of venders, for adul- 
 terating their wines; and Sir John Rain- 
 well, the mayor, having caused some sus- 
 pected quantities to be examined, found 
 them so impure, that he ordered one hun- 
 dred and fifty butts to be poured into the 
 kennels. To put a stop to these abuses, 
 Henry VI. in a charter of confirmation 
 which he granted to the company in the 
 following year, directed that the company 
 should appoint annually, " four persons of 
 the most sufficient, most true, and most cun- 
 ning of the same craft, that held no ta- 
 vern," to be sworn before the mayor, to see 
 that genuine wines only were sold, and at 
 such prices as they should affix.* The pre- 
 amble of a statute of Queen Mary, next ex- 
 
 * At this time, the price of Gascoigne, Guienne, 
 and French wines, was limited to eight-pence per 
 gallon ; Rochelle, to four-pence ; and no sort of 
 wine was to exceed one shilling per gallon. In 
 1379, however, Gascoigne was but four-pence a 
 gallon. 
 
 r2 
 
244 ADULTERATION OF WINE. 
 
 presses very praiseworthy horror at all 
 adulteration of the genuine juice of the 
 grape, and enjoins tavern-keepers to refrain 
 from any admixture of old and new wines, 
 and from putting any water into the same, 
 upon pain of forfeiting their whole stock, 
 and losing their franchise or license. There 
 is also a statute of Charles II., deserving 
 particular mention ; for the gratitude of the 
 merry monarch to this soul-inspiring beve- 
 rage, led him to make rigid enactments for 
 its unadulterate quality; which were ne- 
 cessary to keep in countenance the assertion 
 of Charles's favourite physician, Toby Shaw, 
 that wine was the best preventive of sick- 
 ness* By this statute, it is ordered, " that 
 no merchant, vintner, wine-cooper, or other 
 person, selling or retailing any wine, shall 
 mingle or utter any Spanish wine mingled 
 with any French wine, or Rhenish wine, 
 cyder, perry, stummed wine, honey, sugar, 
 syrups of sugar, molasses, or any other 
 syrups whatsoever ; nor put in any isinglass, 
 brimstone, lime, raisins, juice of raisins, 
 water, nor any other liquor, nor ingredients, 
 
 * See page 2. 
 
ADULTERATION OF WINE. 245 
 
 nor any celery or other herbs, nor any sort 
 of flesh whatsoever; and that all offenders 
 against the statute, shall forfeit one hun- 
 dred pounds, and the vintners, forty pounds, 
 for every such offence. Again, Addison, in 
 one of his periodical papers, gives a more 
 embellished idea of the mal-practices of 
 these adulterators, and observes, — " there is 
 a certain fraternity of chemical operators, 
 who work underground in holes, caverns, 
 and dark retirements, to conceal their mys- 
 teries from the eyes and observations of 
 mankind. These subterraneous philoso- 
 phers, are daily employed in the transmuta- 
 tion of liquors, and by the power of magi- 
 cal drugs and incantations, raising, under 
 the streets of London, the choicest products 
 of the hills and valleys of France. They 
 can squeeze Bordeaux out of the sloe, and 
 draw Champagne from an apple. Virgil, 
 in that remarkable prophecy, — 
 
 " Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva." 
 
 " The ripening grape shall hang on every thorn," 
 
 seems to have hinted at this art, which can 
 turn a plantation of northern hedges into a 
 vineyard. These adepts are known among 
 one another by the name of wine-brewers ; 
 and, I am afraid, do great injury not only 
 
246 ADULTERATION OP WINE. 
 
 to her majesty's customs, but to the bodies 
 of many of her good subjects."* 
 
 In every respect, wine is a most favour- 
 able subject for deceptions of the before- 
 described nature. It is a costly article, and 
 is in universal use ; among the poor as a 
 cordial, and among the rich as a luxury. 
 The peculiar qualities for which it is prized ? 
 are of a delicate nature ; and though by ex- 
 perienced judges, they may be discerned 
 with certainty, the great majority of those 
 who affect a discriminating taste in wine, 
 frequently become the dupes of skilful im- 
 positions ; and the poor, who use wine as a 
 medicine, and usually buy it in retail, must 
 take what is given them, having nothing to 
 trust to but the conscience of the dealer, 
 which has long been rendered callous by 
 the love of gain. Wine, accordingly, ap- 
 pears to be a subject for the most extensive 
 and pernicious frauds. 
 
 One of the most common adulterations is 
 by means of lead, which, when dissolved in 
 acids, has the property of sweetening them, 
 and is accordingly used for mellowing such 
 
 * Tatler, No. 131. See also page 232 of the 
 present volume. 
 
ADULTERATION OF WINE. 217 
 
 wines as are liable to turn sour. The an- 
 cients knew that this metal rendered harsh 
 wine milder ,but it was not universally known 
 that it was poisonous. According to Pliny, 
 the Greeks and Romans proved the quality 
 of their wines, by dipping a plate of lead in 
 them. The late Mr. Parkes, the chemist, 
 mentions a treatise on the management of 
 wines, printed so lately as the year 1783, 
 which directs the use of lead in order to 
 preserve wines from acidity. " In France, 
 lead was formerly used largely for this pur- 
 pose in the wines consumed in Paris. It 
 was then discovered, and the act made 
 penal. That lead is a poisonous substance 
 is well-known ; but, in this particular case, 
 the danger has been overrated. The tar- 
 trite of lead, like that of lime, is insoluble ; 
 so that, after the lead had done its duty, it 
 was discharged by racking and fining. Had 
 this not been the case, all Paris, at the time 
 we speak of, must have been poisoned."* 
 
 * Supp. Encycl. Brit. — Dr. Johnstone, in his 
 Essay on Poisons, observes, that " Lead, in its me- 
 tallic state, like all the other metals, is probably 
 inert ; but is so easily acted upon by the weakest 
 acids and alkalies, that it cannot be taken in this, 
 form without imminent danger." 
 
248 ADULTERATION OF WINE. 
 
 This exception applies only to cases where 
 lead is used for clarifying wines after they 
 have become muddy, or for stopping the 
 progress of wines to acidity. Yet, it is a 
 substance that ought not to be used ; be- 
 cause in an acid wine, acescent from fer- 
 mentation, it might produce either white 
 lead, or sub-carbonate of lead, or else sugar 
 of lead acetite ; both of them poisons, if in 
 different degrees. 
 
 It is certain, that lead, taken in the sto- 
 mach, is highly deleterious, and occasions 
 the most afflicting diseases ; and, that wine, 
 with the smallest quantity of it intermixed, 
 becomes a slow but sure poison : a mo- 
 dern chemist therefore justly observes, that 
 " the merchant or dealer who practises this 
 dangerous sophistication, adds the crime of 
 murder to that of fraud, and deliberately 
 scatters the seeds of disease and death 
 among those customers who contribute to 
 his emolument." 
 
 For the credit of humanity, we ought to 
 state our belief that adulteration of wines 
 with lead, is much more rare than formerly; 
 but as there are many simple means for its 
 detection, we shall pursue the subject. Dr. 
 
 
ADULTERATION OF WINE. 249 
 
 Watson gives the following tests: — Boil 
 together, in a pint of water, an ounce of 
 quick-lime, and half an ounce of sulphur; 
 and when the liquor, which will he of a 
 yellow colour, is cold, pour it into a bottle, 
 and cork it up for use. A few drops of this 
 liquor being let fall into a glass of wine or 
 cider containing lead, will change the whole 
 into a colour more or less brown, according 
 to the quantity of lead which it contains. 
 If the wine be wholly free from lead, it will 
 be rendered turbid by the liquor ; but the 
 colour will be rather a dirty white than a 
 black brown* By this test, however, iron 
 is also precipitated when dissolved, in wine, 
 and is apt to be taken for lead ; a mistake 
 which has ruined several honest merchants. 
 The following test is, therefore preferable, 
 as not being liable to the same inconve- 
 nience. Heat together equal parts of oyster 
 shells and sulphur, keep them in a white 
 heat for fifteen minutes, and when cold, 
 mix them with an equal quantity of cream 
 of tartar; put these into a strong bottle, 
 with water to boil for an hour ; and then 
 
 * Chemical Essays. 
 
250 ADULTERATION OF WINE. 
 
 decant the liquor into ounce vials, adding 
 twenty drops of spirits of salts to each. 
 This liquor will precipitate the least quan- 
 tity of lead, copper, &c. from wines, in a 
 very perceptible black deposit. Sugar of 
 lead may be detected in wine, by adding to 
 it a few drops of Harrowgate water, when 
 the wine will become blackish, if lead has 
 been used to correct acidity. 
 
 Wines are sometimes adulterated by acci- 
 dent or neglect ; and as a very common cause 
 is as important as it is interesting, we sub- 
 join an instance* 
 
 * It is well known that bottles in which wine 
 has been kept are usually cleaned by means of 
 shot, which, by its rolling motion, detaches the 
 crust from the sides of the bottles. This practice, 
 which is generally pursued by wine-merchants, 
 may give rise to serious consequences, as is evident 
 from the following case : — A gentleman, who had 
 never in his life experienced a day's illness, and 
 who was constantly in the habit of drinking half a 
 bottle of Madeira wine after dinner, was taken ill, 
 in the course of the evening, with a severe pain in 
 the stomach and bowels, which gradually yielded, 
 within twelve hours, to the remedies prescribed by 
 his medical adviser. The day following he drank 
 the remainder of the same bottle of wine which was 
 left the preceding day, and within two hours after- 
 
ADULTERATION OF WINE. 251 
 
 As we have spoken of lead for counter- 
 acting acidity, it may be useful to add a 
 few observations on other and safer means 
 for effecting the same object. 
 
 Wine-merchants, when their wines be- 
 come sour, can only conceal or absorb this 
 acidity by certain substances, as by alkalies 
 and absorbent earths. But these substances 
 give to wine a dark greenish colour, and a 
 taste, which, though not acid, is somewhat 
 disagreeable. Besides, calcareous earths 
 accelerate considerably the total destruction 
 
 wards he was again seized with a violent colic, 
 head-ache, shiverings, and great pain over the 
 whole body. His apothecary becoming suspicious 
 that the wine he had taken might be the cause of 
 the disease, ordered the bottle from which the wine 
 had been decanted to be brought to him, with a 
 view that he might examine the dregs, if any were 
 left. The bottle happening to slip out of the hand 
 of the servant, disclosed a row of shot wedged for- 
 cibly into the angular bent-up circumference of it. 
 On examining the beads of shot, they crumbled 
 into dust, the outer crust (defended by a coat of 
 black lead, with which the shot is glazed) being 
 alone left unacted on, whilst the remainder of the 
 metal was dissolved. The wme, therefore, had 
 become contaminated with lead and arsenic, the 
 shot being a compound of these metals, which, no 
 doubt, had produced the mischief. 
 
252 ADULTERATION OF WINE. 
 
 and putrefaction of the wine. Oxydes of 
 lead, having the property of forming with 
 the aeid of vinegar, a salt of an agreeable 
 saccharine taste, which does not alter the 
 colour of the wine, and besides, has the 
 advantage of stopping fermentation and pu- 
 trefaction, might be employed to remedy 
 the acidity of wine, were it not for the 
 dangers we have shown to result from the 
 use of lead. A safer method is, therefore, 
 important. For the acidity of wine, from 
 the commencement of the acetous ferment- 
 ation, there is no proper remedy. It may 
 be checked, if taken in time ; as it would 
 be prevented by careful sulphuring. Here 
 lead is highly pernicious ; and, it need 
 scarcely be said, that to add sugar of lead, 
 as has been done, from ignorance and fraud 
 united, is to add a poison without even ob- 
 taining a remedy. Chalk and lime may be 
 used with impunity : yet, neither can these, 
 and far less alkalies, be used to such an ex- 
 tent as to cure the disease ; as they unite to 
 the other acids, and also decompose and 
 destroy the wine. To prevent it as far as 
 possible, when commenced, a low tempera- 
 ture, and careful exclusion from the air, are 
 
ADULTERATION OF WINE. 253 
 
 necessary. But, it must be remembered, 
 that air will find access, not merely through 
 cork, but through all rosins, also : and thus, 
 there can be no complete security ; the best 
 being that of placing the bottles on their 
 sides, so that the fluid itself becomes its 
 own cork. The Italian practice of using oil 
 is thus far safer ;* but it is balanced by its 
 various inconveniences. 
 
 Of all wines, Port is the most liable to 
 adulteration, and but rarely obtained ge- 
 nuine, although the chief consumption is in 
 England. We have already spoken of the 
 hrandy'mg processf which takes place in the 
 native country, the effect of which, thanks 
 to the Methuen treaty, and our own per- 
 verted taste, we are still likely to enjoy. 
 
 A few years since the frauds in Port wine 
 were indisputably exposed, by Mr. Brande, 
 in a valuable paper on fermented liquors, 
 read before the Royal Society,! in which he 
 says that Port wine appears to contain about 
 one-half its bulk of pure brandy. According 
 
 * See Italian Wines, page 138. 
 f See Portuguese Wines, page 85. 
 t Philosophical Transactions for 18 It. 
 
254 ADULTERATION OF WINE. 
 
 to this analysis, a man, every time he drinks 
 two bottles of strong-bodied Port, swallows 
 exactly one bottle of the strongest brandy.* 
 Another chemist observes, with honest 
 indignation, and, we believe, with equal 
 truth, " All persons moderately conversant 
 with the subject, are aware that a portion of 
 alum is added to young and meagre red 
 wines, for the purpose of brightening their 
 colour ; that Brazil wood, or the husks of 
 elder-berries and bilberries, which are im- 
 ported from Germany, under the fallacious 
 name of berry dye, are used to impart a deep 
 rich purple tint to red Port of a pale colour ; 
 that gypsum is used to render cloudy white 
 
 * In what a serious consideration does this involve 
 such topers of Port, as a Mr. Vanhorn, mentioned 
 by Sir John Sinclair, in his Code of Health. In 
 the space of twenty-three years, our naturalised 
 friend to Oporto, drank 35,688 bottles, or 59 pipes 
 of Port wine. His usual daily quota was four 
 bottles. Sir John observes of him, " it is incre- 
 dible what pleasure any individual can feel from 
 such abundant potations, in the course of which 
 he resembled more a cellar than a man ; for there 
 are many cellars that never contained what this 
 man's must have done, namely, 59 pipes of Port 
 wine." 
 
 
ADULTERATION OF WINE. 255 
 
 wine transparent ; that an additional astrin- 
 gency is imparted to immature red wines, 
 by means of oak-wood and saw-dust, and 
 the husks of filberts ; and that a mixture of 
 spoiled foreign and home-made wines is 
 converted into the wretched compound fre- 
 quently sold in the metropolis, by the name 
 of genuine old Port." Of this commodity, 
 also, the following is a chemical analysis ; 
 spirits of wine, 3 oz. ; cyder, 14 oz. ; sugar, 
 H oz. ; alum, 2 scruples; tartaric acid, 1 
 scruple ; strong decoction of logwood, 4 oz. 
 The process to detect alum in Port wine, is 
 very simple. Take some fresh prepared 
 lime-water, and mix the suspected wine 
 with it in equal proportion ; allow the mix- 
 ture to stand about a day ; then, if the wine 
 be genuine, a number of crystals will be 
 found deposited at the bottom of the vessel : 
 if alum is in the wine, there will be no 
 crystals, but a muddy and slimy precipi- 
 tate : the lime-water need not be very 
 strong. Another method is to drop some 
 solution of salt of tartar into the wine, 
 when, if the alum be present, there will be 
 a violet-coloured precipitate, or, at least, 
 cloudiness, which will vanish again, if a few 
 
256 ADULTERATION OF WINE. 
 
 drops of spirits of salts are added to the 
 mixture."* 
 
 Amidst a multitude of milder adultera- 
 tions, it must, here also, be ceded, that the 
 use of poisons has been abated. This is 
 probably in consequence of the abundance 
 and cheapness of inferior Cape wines, which 
 
 * M. A. Chevalier, a distinguished French che- 
 mist, gives the following recent results of his en- 
 quiries upon tests for the natural colouring matter 
 of wine : — 
 
 " 1 . That potash may be applied as a re-agent, 
 to ascertain the natural colour of wines, which it 
 changes from red to a bottle-green, or brownish 
 green. 2. That the change of colour produced 
 by this substance upon wine, is different in wine 
 of different ages. 3. That no precipitation of the 
 colouring matter takes place, the latter remaining 
 dissolved by the potash. 4. That the acetate of 
 lead should not be employed as a test of the colour 
 of wines, because it is capable of producing various 
 colours with wines of a natural colour only. 5. That 
 the same is the case with lime water, with muriate 
 of tin mixed with ammonia, and with subacetate of 
 lead. 6. That ammonia may be employed for 
 this purpose, the change of colour which it pro- 
 duces, not perceptibly varying. 7. That the same 
 is the case with a solution of alum, to which a 
 certain quantity of potash has been added, and 
 which may, therefore, be used for the purpose." 
 From the Annates de I' Industrie. 
 
ADULTERATION OF WINE. 257 
 
 furnishes wine-tricksters with a more con- 
 venient menstruum for their fraudulent pre- 
 parations* The sophistication, or, as it is 
 technically called, the doctoring of wine, is 
 still carried on in London, to an enormous 
 extent, as well as the art of manufacturing 
 spurious wine, which has long been a re- 
 gular trade, in which a large capital has 
 been invested ; and, in the cyder counties 
 the drinker of Port wine may learn that 
 many thousand pipes of spoiled cyder are 
 annually sent to the metropolis, for the 
 purpose of being converted into an imita- 
 tion of the wines of Oporto. 
 
 Other expedients are resorted to in order 
 to improve insipid wines, and are classified 
 under the several secrets of flavouring, co- 
 louring, correcting, &c. Flavouring is, 
 
 * " The manufactured trash which is selling in 
 London, under the names of Cape, Champagne, 
 Burgundy, Barsac, Sauterne, &c. are so many spe- 
 cious poisons, which the cheapness of the common 
 and inferior wines of the Cape allows the vendors 
 of them to use as the basis of the several composi- 
 tions, at the expence of the stomach and bowels of 
 their customers, and of the little share of character 
 which the real Port wines had acquired." — Quar- 
 terly Review. 
 
 S 
 
258 ADULTERATION OP WINE. 
 
 however, a very old practice. The taste of 
 Greece is now, as it was in ancient times, 
 to perfume its wines with turpentine, the 
 vina picata of the ancients ; and this is ef- 
 fected by putting- turpentine or rosin into 
 the casks. In Britain, our chivalrous and 
 baronial ancestors perfumed their wines 
 with every strange ingredient that can be 
 imagined ; but that was the age of spicery 
 and perfumes ; and he who eat cinnamon 
 with his pork, might drink ambergris in 
 his wine. In our times, bitter almonds are 
 occasionally employed ; factitious Port wine 
 is also flavoured with a tincture drawn from 
 the seed of raisins ; and sweet-briar, orris- 
 root, clary, cherry-laurel water, and elder- 
 flowers, are used to give a bouquet. The di- 
 vision of labour in these illicit occupations 
 is completely established : each has his own 
 share assigned him in the confederate work 
 of iniquity. To one class is allotted the 
 task of crusting, which consists in lining 
 the interior surface of empty wine bottles 
 with a red crust, by suffering a saturated 
 hot solution of supertartrate of potash, co- 
 loured with a decoction of Brazil wood, to 
 crystallize in them. A similar operation is 
 
ADULTERATION OF WINE. 259 
 
 frequently performed on the wooden cask 
 which is to hold the wine, and which, in 
 the same manner as the bottle, is artificially 
 stained with red crust; and, on some oc- 
 casions, the lower extremities of the corks 
 in wine-bottles, are also stained red, in 
 order to give them the appearance of having 
 been long in contact with the wine. The 
 scriptural maxim of the danger of putting 
 new wine into old bottles, is lost sight of 
 in this process. The wine-dealers among 
 the Greeks appear to have set the example 
 to their posterity ; for they were accustomed 
 to put the new vintage into a cask which 
 had been seasoned with an old and high 
 flavoured wine; and others placed cheese 
 and nuts in the cellar, to blunt the appe- 
 tites of purchasers. 
 
 Dry rot is a more conscientious advantage 
 upon time, as it soon covers the bottles with 
 a mouldy appearance, and consumes the ex- 
 ternal parts of the corks, so that with a tri- 
 fling operation on the bottles after they are 
 filled, and then deposited in cellars pretty 
 strongly affected with the dry rot, they can 
 send out wine as having been in bottles 
 seven or eight years, before it has, in fact, 
 been there as manv months. 
 
ART OF DRINKING WINE. 
 
 The reader will probably have received 
 sufficient gout for this purpose, from the 
 florid and not unpicturesque details of some 
 of the preceding pages. The luxuriance of 
 the vineyards, and the ingenious processes 
 by which their produce is adapted, we had 
 almost said sublimed, for the Table, must 
 have prepared him for a few pages on the 
 order and propriety which are conducive to 
 the most refined enjoyment. "There is," 
 as Shakspeare incontrovertibly expresses it, 
 " a reason in roasting eggs;" and as another 
 bard asserts, "order is heaven's first law"; 
 both of which axioms are not a whit less 
 applicable to the Table, than to any other 
 integral part of the universe. Eating has 
 its rationale, and in well-conditioned society 
 its rules of propriety are as closely observed, 
 
ART OF DRINKING WINE. 261 
 
 as any other part of the system, by which 
 we live and have our being ; and but little 
 pains is requisite to prove that drinking 
 should be reduced to the same order. To 
 commence refection with drinking Tokay 
 or Lacryma Christi, would be as great a 
 breach of propriety, as to eat game before 
 soup. 
 
 We must, however, bear in mind that, ac- 
 cording to an old adage, " it is not in the 
 power of any one to decide on taste or on 
 colours ;" else we might soon become lost in 
 the labyrinths of romantic investigation. 
 Still, there are certain points of propriety in 
 the art of drinking wine, which 
 
 Fashion so directs, and moderns raise 
 
 On fashion's mouldering base their transient praise. 
 
 An epicurean wine-drinker observes that 
 the red wines should always precede the 
 white, except in the case of a French dinner, 
 usually preceded by oysters. In this case, 
 the ostreal delicacies should be saluted with 
 a treble volley of Chablis, or, for greater so- 
 lemnity, with libations of Pouilly, or Mont 
 Rachet, or even with Sauterne, Barsac, or 
 White Hermitage. But, for this important 
 reason, red wine should open the repast. 
 
262 ART OF DRINKING WINE. 
 
 The custom, during- the last century, was 
 always to take, after soup, a glass of some 
 sweet wine ; but now, the experienced wine- 
 drinker either takes a glass of good old Ma- 
 deira, or of Teneriffe. 
 
 Our French exemplars assert the most 
 proper wine during the first course, to be, 
 without any contradiction, Burgundy of the 
 least celebrated growth, and which, for this 
 reason, is known as Low Burgundy. Such 
 are Avallon, Coulange, Tonnere, and gene- 
 rally all those known under the designation 
 of Macon and Auxerre. You then ascend 
 to Beaume and Pomard ; and if you choose 
 to confine yourself to the Burgundinian to- 
 pography, you have the generous Riche- 
 bourg, the high-flavoured St. George, the 
 purple Chambertin, and the exquisite Ro- 
 mance. But if you can ill bear the tram- 
 mels of classification, and wish to give a 
 fillip to your taste by change of flavour and 
 soil, Champagne offers its sparkling Ai, 
 perfumed Cumieres, and limpid Sillery. 
 After these, you may enjoy the stronger 
 wines of Dauphiny, which whet the appe- 
 tite, and heighten the savour of roast meats. 
 Among these, we recommend Chateau 
 
ART OF DRINKING WINE. 263 
 
 Grille, Cote-Rotie, and Hermitage. 'Tis 
 then that mirth lights up the faces of the 
 convivial circle, and the gibes and gambols 
 of wit are wont to set the table in a roar ; 
 'tis then that we acknowledge the claim of 
 only one other wine to produce on the quan- 
 tity already imbibed, an effect similar to 
 that of a drop of water in boiling milk, or 
 a spoonful of oil on the angry waves of the 
 ocean. This is the wine of Bordeaux or 
 Claret. See how wisdom's art gradually 
 appeases the mounting spirits, in the effect 
 of Medoc poured by a steady hand into 
 bright crystal, which reflects scores of wax- 
 lights. An armistice ensues, and the " in- 
 tellectual gladiators" lay down their wordy 
 weapons. Amphytrions clear the table, 
 wafers and sweet cakes, and perfumed 
 creams, usurp the place of legumes, which 
 boasted all the skill of scientific cookery. 
 Languedoc, Roussillon, and Provence, what 
 brilliant associations do ye create ! Spain 
 too, participates in this gale of glory ! But 
 what is that ruby tint which glows amid 
 sparkling crystal ? what is that liquid topaz 
 which strikes the eye with wonder, and in- 
 spires a new gusto ? Rivesaltes, Grenache, 
 
264 ART OF DRINKING WINE. 
 
 Lunel, Malmsey, Frontignan, Malaga and 
 Xeres — what a galaxy of glories rises with 
 your delicious aroma to perplex wine- 
 drinkers. Your half-consumed corks give 
 evidence of your age, like a wreck of hoar 
 antiquity ; the perfumed gale ascends, and 
 your richness mantles and sparkles high; 
 whilst your glowing spirit tempers the effect 
 of ice, which is sometimes injudiciously 
 served immediately after dinner, although 
 health and good taste concur in delaying 
 its appearance. 
 
 But the aromatic gale of the Mocha-berry 
 already salutes our delighted senses. Folly 
 produces another bottle, the silver froth 
 rushes like a boiling spring, and carries the 
 cork to the ceiling, or the Arbois is pro- 
 duced, and unites the sweetness of Con- 
 drieux with the sparkling of the impetuous 
 Ai ! 'Tis then only that the wine-drinker 
 can enjoy in diamond glasses, the exqui- 
 siteness of veritable Tokay. 
 
 Such, observes a French writer, is an 
 abridgment of the didactic order, in which 
 the tributes to Bacchus must be greeted. 
 He concludes, by rejoicing that notwith- 
 standing all their luxury and knowledge of 
 

 ART OF DRINKING WINE. 265 
 
 the arts, the ancients did not at any period 
 exceed us in wine-making. Aristotle tells 
 us, that in Arcadia, the wines evaporated 
 in leather-vessels, till they were cut in pieces, 
 and dissolved in water for drinking : certes, 
 these could not equal our Medoc, Volnay, 
 or Ai', without a drop of water. According 
 to Galienus, in Asia, wines were hung about 
 the chimneys till they had the hardness of 
 salt, and were dissolved in water to be 
 drunk. Pliny, when he celebrates the wines 
 of Italy, and the praises of the Falernian, 
 does not even tempt us ; for it seems that 
 the best wines in his time were but syrups, 
 which were diluted with water for drinking. 
 To conciliate a few of the varied opinions 
 on the precedence of French wines, the 
 same writer observes, some persons prefer 
 Burgundy ; others contend for Bordeaux ; 
 a few pretend that Champagne, still, and of 
 the first quality, unites the Burgundinian 
 flavour with the Bordeaux warmth, while 
 the native of the borders of the Rhone, 
 asserts that the finest of all wines is Her- 
 mitage ! All are right, and each in its turn 
 is best ; especially, if the maturation of the 
 fruit has been successful : this is rare, for 
 
266 ART OF DRINKING WINE. 
 
 there is a greater difference between the 
 wine of one year and that of another, grown 
 in the same vineyard, than between the 
 wine of a celebrated district, and that pro- 
 cured from an obscure spot. Therefore, we 
 should take the advice of Sterne, and like 
 the man at the fair, every man sj>eak as he 
 has found his market in it. According as 
 we have drunk Sillery, La Komanee, or 
 Medoc, of memorable years, we ought to 
 prefer the districts which produced them 
 respectively, always with this prudent re- 
 striction — not to be so exclusive in our 
 taste, as not to welcome others in the ab- 
 sence of better. We may admire Corneille, 
 adore Voltaire, and Racine ; but still read 
 with pleasure Parny, Boufflers, and Bertin ; 
 and even the sublime vis comica of Voltaire, 
 does not produce a distaste for the prettiness 
 and pleasantry of Picard. 
 
 In noticing the varieties of wine adapted 
 for different habits and temperament, our 
 French exemplar suggests that those of a san- 
 guine habit should drink a light, moistening 
 wine, like Champagne or Hock ; the phleg- 
 matic man requires an ardent wine, as that 
 of Languedoc and Dauphiny, to dissolve 
 
ART OF DRINKING WINE. 26*7 
 
 the phlegm that obstructs his system ; the 
 man of melancholy, a mild wine, to restore 
 his wounded spirit, and invigorate his 
 wasted frame, for which purpose, he should 
 choose the produce of Roussillon and Bur- 
 gundy, or the vinous wealth of Italy and 
 Spain * For bilious habits, he recommends 
 a generous and astringent wine, as fine 
 Claret, which, not only braces the system, 
 but counteracts the bile. He then repels 
 the unjust term of coldness, which has by 
 some persons been attributed to the Bor- 
 deaux wines ; and maintains that they are 
 easier of digestion than any other wine : 
 they leave the head cool, although drunk 
 unsparingly, and will bear removal ; whilst 
 Burgundy is very stimulating, and is injured 
 by being disturbed. In short, he sums up 
 
 * The quaint old Burton tells us, that wine is 
 frequently the sole cause of melancholy, especially 
 if it be immoderately used ; and Guianerius relates 
 a story of two Dutchmen, whom he entertained in 
 his own house, who drank so much wine, that in 
 the short space of a month, they both became so 
 melancholy, that the one could do nothing but 
 sing, and the other sigh. But, observes Burton, a 
 cup of generous wine to those whose minds are still 
 or motionless, is, in my opinion, excellent physic. 
 
268 ART OF DRINKING WINE. 
 
 with remarking that Burgundy is aphrodi- 
 siac; Champagne, heady; Roussillon, re- 
 storative ; and Claret, stomachic. Dr. Hen- 
 derson ranks Bordeaux among the most 
 perfect light wines, and the safest for daily 
 use; and Dr. Macnish, in a very clever 
 work,* distinguishes Claret as " the most 
 wholesome wine that is known." He also 
 commends Burgundy, Rhenish, and Her- 
 mitage, as, generally speaking, more salu- 
 brious than the stronger varieties, as Port, 
 Sherry, or Madeira. Champagne, except 
 in cases of weak digestion ,f is one of the 
 safest wines that can he drunk. " Its intoxi- 
 cating effects are rapid, but exceedingly 
 transient, and depend partly upon the car- 
 bonic acid which is evolved from it, and 
 partly upon the alcohol, which is suspended 
 in this gas, being rapidly and extensively 
 applied to a large surface of the stomach." 
 A recollection of these qualities gave rise to 
 
 * Anatomy of Drunkenness. 
 
 f Champagne and Pine-apple, two of the great- 
 est luxuries of the table, and very frequently en- 
 joyed together, are formidable obstacles to diges- 
 tion. 
 
ART OF DRINKING WINE. 269 
 
 Mr. Cumin's sparkling witticism, that 
 Champagne made a runaway rap at a man's 
 head. 
 
 The astringent principle of the wines of 
 Oporto, is too well known for us to ex- 
 plain ; and the great quantity of brandy 
 with which they are adulterated both before 
 and after their exportation, almost justifies 
 the name of " a hot intoxicating liquor," 
 which foppery, in one of its gossamer fits, 
 has thought fit to bestow upon Port wine. 
 Dr. Johnson valued the potency of Oporto 
 wines, in the scrap of Table-Talk, that Port 
 was drink for men, and Claret for boys. 
 The hospitalities of Mrs. Thrale's cellar 
 ought to have taught the Doctor a better 
 distinction. Dr. Henderson thinks the wines 
 of Oporto may be serviceable in disorders of 
 the alimentary canal, where gentle tonics are 
 required. But the gallic acid renders them un- 
 fit for weak stomachs ; and their astringent 
 virtues will be found in the wines of Ali- 
 cant and Rota, which contain more tannin 
 and less acid. The excitement they induce 
 is of a more sluggish nature than that at- 
 tending the use of the purer French wines, 
 and does not enliven the fancy in the same 
 
270 ART OF DRINKING WINE. 
 
 degree. As a frequent beverage, they are 
 unquestionably much more pernicious * — 
 Perhaps the wines commonly drunk in Eng- 
 land and France, afford the best character- 
 istic of the two nations. Dr. Henderson's 
 observation is, therefore, very happy, since 
 nothing is easier than to conceive the differ- 
 ent effects of Port and Bordeaux wines : one 
 soon rendering the drinker uncomfortably 
 excited, and the other bringing into play 
 some of the finest fancies of wit and hu- 
 mour, and many of the brighter beams of 
 intellectual superiority, which justly belong 
 to " the feast of reason and the flow of soul." 
 A man with a bottle of Port, and another 
 with the same modicum of Bordeaux wine, 
 often occupy very different stations in the 
 chain of being, or companionable qualities. 
 Sherries still recommend themselves by 
 the almost total absence of acidity. For 
 invalids, of all strong wines, those of Ma- 
 deira are most eligible ; " being equally 
 spirituous as Sherry, but possessing more 
 delicate flavour and aroma, and though 
 
 * History of Wines — Medical Properties, 4to 
 p. 356. 
 
ART OF DRINKING WINE. 271 
 
 often slightly acidulous, agreeing better 
 with dyspeptic habits."* 
 
 Rhenish wines, and those of the Moselle, 
 are delightfully refreshing; and among 
 their properties are a diuretic effect, and a 
 tendency to diminish obesity. In fevers too, 
 they are very serviceable, as they contain 
 but little acid. 
 
 The philosophy of wine-drinking is an ex- 
 haustless subject. Its inspirations have been 
 censured or exalted by the poets and philoso- 
 phers of all times. Yet, we suspect many 
 of these worthies of base ingratitude in 
 deprecating the effects of wine. Addison, 
 we know, was far from insensible to the 
 pleasures of the Table ; yet, he gravely 
 writes thus : — " Wine heightens indifference 
 into love, love into jealousy, and jealousy 
 into madness. It often turns the good-na- 
 tured man into an idiot, and the choleric 
 man into an assassin. It gives bitterness 
 
 * History of Wines, — Medical Properties, 4to. 
 p. 356. 
 
272 ART OF DRINKING WINE. 
 
 to resentment ; it makes vanity insupport- 
 able ; and displays every little spot of the 
 soul in its utmost deformity." 
 
 The witty Butler laments the abuse of 
 wine in the following lines : — 
 
 'Tis pity wine, which nature meant 
 To man in kindness to present, 
 And gave him kindly to caress 
 And cherish his frail happiness, 
 Of equal virtue to renew 
 His wearied mind and hody too, 
 Shou'd (like the cider-tree in Eden, 
 Which only grew to be forbidden) 
 No sooner come to be enjoy'd 
 Than th' owner's fatally destroy' d. 
 
 "The maxim of the ancients, ' in vino Ve- 
 ritas — a man who is well warmed with wine 
 will speak truth,' (says Johnson,) may be an 
 argument for drinking, if you suppose men 
 in general to be liars ; but I would not keep 
 company with a fellow, who lies as long as 
 he is sober, and whom you must make 
 drunk before you can get a word of truth 
 out of him." The Doctor has likewise an 
 observation somewhat akin to those of Ad- 
 dison : " In the bottle, discontent seeks for 
 comfort ; cowardice for courage, and bash- 
 fulness for confidence." A more recent 
 writer observes, that wine is such a whet- 
 stone for wit, that if it be often set thereon, 
 
ART OF DRINKING WINE. 273 
 
 it will quickly grind all the steel out, and 
 scarcely leave a back where it found an edge. 
 This remark has often been admired for its 
 terseness and laconic force. 
 
 We must not, however, conclude with a 
 homily, but take a few ayes on the question. 
 No less grave a man than Plutarch, relates 
 the argumentative effect of wine, in his 
 Symposiacks, or Table Conversation. He 
 says, " that one Lamprias, a man eminent 
 for his learning, and a philosopher, dis- 
 puted best, and unravelled the difficulties of 
 philosophy with most success, when he was 
 at supper, and well warmed with wine." 
 These table entertainments were part of the 
 education of the times, their discourses 
 being commonly the canvassing and solu- 
 tion of some question, either philosophical 
 or philological, always instructive, and 
 usually pleasant ; for the cups went round 
 with the debate, and men were merry and 
 wise together, according to the proverb. 
 We wish this branch of education had de- 
 scended to our times. 
 
 It might be rather hazardous to quote 
 many exemplars of the inspiring effects of 
 
 T 
 
274 ART OF DRINKING WINE. 
 
 wine. Passing by the feats of ancient 
 wine-drinking, we may touch upon a few 
 nearer our own day, and observe that some 
 of the greatest as well as the meanest ac- 
 tions of men's lives, have been performed 
 under the potent agency of the juice of the 
 grape, or of some intoxicating liquid. Even 
 the poor savage thought brandy was made 
 of tongues and hearts ; " for when I have 
 drunk it, I fear nothing, and talk like an 
 angel." This is very naive, and thousands of 
 civilized sons have adopted an opinion ex- 
 pressed with such amiable simplicity. Three 
 of the brightest lights of the political hori- 
 zon of their time, — Fox, Pitt, and Sheridan, 
 appear to have profited by the particular 
 branch of education alluded to by Plutarch. 
 The story of Sheridan finishing the last act 
 of Pizarro, a plate of sandwiches, and two 
 bottles of Claret in half an hour, is well 
 known. Lord Byron thought Sheridan 
 " superb, very convivial, and delightful — 
 for his very dregs are better than the ? first 
 sprightly runnings' of others." Byron's 
 note of a party at which Sheridan was 
 present, is equally characteristic : " first si- 
 
ART OF DRINKING WINE. 275 
 
 lent, then talky, then argumentative, then 
 disputatious, then unintelligible, then alto- 
 getheiy, then inarticulate, and then drunk." 
 The finest productions of the first lyric 
 poets of our times, owe much of their su- 
 premacy to the inspirations of wine. Who 
 can forget Charles Morris's " Songs, Po- 
 litical and Convivial," and his Prize Ana- 
 creontic " ad Poculum V — 
 
 Come thou soul-reviving cup, 
 
 And try thy healing art, 
 Light the fancy's visions up, 
 
 And warm my wasted heart ; 
 Touch with glowing tints of bliss 
 
 Mem'ry's fading dream ; 
 Give me, while thy lip I kiss, 
 
 The heav'n that's in thy stream ! 
 
 In thy fount the lyric muse, 
 
 Ever dipp'd her wing, 
 Anacreon fed among thy dews, 
 
 And Horace drain' d thy spring ! 
 I, too, humblest of the train, 
 
 There my spirit find, 
 Freshen there my languid brain, 
 
 And store my vacant mind. 
 &c. &c* 
 
 Burns was a practical man, and a living 
 example of the precept he inculcated in a 
 
 * For this song, Capt. Morris received the 
 prize of the gold cup, from the Harmonic Society. 
 
276 ART OF DRINKING WINE. 
 
 paraphrase upon the royal Hebrew min- 
 strel : — 
 
 . Gie him strong drink, until lie wink, 
 
 That's press'd with grief and care ; 
 And liquor gude, to fire his bluid, 
 
 That's sinking wi' despair: 
 There let him booze, and deep carouse, 
 
 In bumpers flowing o'er ; 
 Till he forget his love and debt, 
 
 And heed his griefs no more. 
 
 An illustrious living poet, whose talent 
 in associating the felicities of woman and 
 wine, in the sublimest nights of song, is as 
 excellent a table companion, as amiable a 
 man ; and to complete the fascination, he 
 adds the charm of highly-cultivated musical 
 taste. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Receipts for the Management of Wines 
 will be found in any practical volume on 
 the subject; but the following- have not ap- 
 peared in any work of that description. 
 
 The Cellar. 
 
 Count Chaptal's valuable hints on the choice of 
 a Cellar, will be found at p. 50, et seq. 
 
 " A cellar can hardly be too dry ; moisture not 
 only moulding and rotting the casks, but giving a 
 mouldy taste to the liquor they contain. Expe- 
 rience has proved in France, that wines preserved 
 in vast tuns, built into the stone walls of good cel- 
 lars, increase in spirit every year. The floor of the 
 cellar should be well covered with saw-dust, which 
 must not be suffered to get too dry and dusty, but 
 must be occasionally changed ; lest, when bottling 
 or racking wine, some of the old dust should fly 
 into it. In some vaults it is necessary, during 
 winter, to have a stove or chafing-dish, to keep up 
 the proper warmth. In the summer, it is best to 
 keep them as cool as possible. The thermometer 
 should be fixed in that part of the vault where the 
 wines for bottling are kept, endeavouring to have it 
 as low as f temperate.' In summer, wash the eel- 
 
278 APPENDIX. 
 
 lar out weekly, to keep it cool, and free from mus- 
 tiness : in winter, sweep it clean every ten days at 
 least." 
 
 The quantity of the different kinds of wine which 
 the cellar of an amateur ought to contain, is not 
 limited; but a wise precaution ought in this to 
 unite economy with wealth. 
 
 There are only some particular kind of wines 
 which ought to be lain in, in large quantities. Se- 
 veral others may be amassed in sufficient number 
 of bottles, to last for some years. Burgundy and 
 Champagne, will keep but very few years, and 
 should always be drunk as soon as they are ripe, for 
 they spoil very rapidly. Burgundy turns sour, 
 and Champagne becomes thick. In general, it is 
 most difficult to preserve white wines : never more 
 should be laid in than are sure to be for immediate 
 use. Claret, wines from the south, and Spanish 
 wines, will keep, and ought to be kept, long, be- 
 cause their age is their chief merit. Of these, it is 
 right to have some pipes in store ; and those which 
 contain new wine, should be concealed by those 
 which are fit to drink, that they may not be broached 
 till they have been, in a manner, forgotten ; and, 
 after this wine has been laid by in bottles, it will 
 come to table (the Port of Oporto especially,) with 
 a triple coat of crust, with the corks blackened and 
 half consumed by time. 
 
 In placing wines in the cellar, Spanish, the 
 sweet wines especially, such as Malaga and Rota, 
 should be standing upright. Heat brings them to 
 perfection ; and they should be placed on shelves, 
 as the coldness of the cellar hinders their ripening. 
 
 Upon the age of wine, it is difficult to obtain 
 many reconcileable opinions, since so much must 
 
APPENDIX. 279 
 
 depend on the success of the fermentative process. 
 The writer of the valuable paper in the Suppleme?it 
 to the Encyclopedia, (article — Wine,) says, — 
 " Wines bottled in good order, may be fit to drink 
 in six months, (especially if bottled in October,) 
 but they are not in perfection before twelve. From 
 that to two years, they continue so ; but it would 
 be improper to keep them any longer." This is 
 questionable. Conscientious wine-merchants think 
 four years a good general average for fine old 
 wine. Of course, there are many instances of 
 wines being found of extreme age and goodness. 
 Mr. Brande states, that a few years since, some 
 Mountain, which was buried in the fire of London, 
 was dug up, and found to be more spirituous than 
 recent Malaga wine; and, its quality, in other 
 respects, was unimpaired. 
 
 Briskness of Wines. — Champagne. 
 
 This property relates almost exclusively to the 
 wines of Champagne, and it is one that may err in 
 excess or defect. It is generally known that it is 
 the produce of an unfinished fermentation, and, 
 therefore, a due degree of it must depend mainly 
 on the proper management of this process. It is 
 secured by bottling at the proper season, March, 
 and before the fermentation is exhausted : and, if 
 in danger of excess, it is restrained or diminished 
 by racking, or decanting, and sulphuring. But it 
 happens not unfrequently that it fails altogether ; 
 either from accident in the management, or a bad 
 season; from faults in the fruit, or fermentation 
 carried too far, or a weak wine exhausting itself un- 
 expectedly. In this case, the remedy is to intro- 
 
280 APPENDIX. 
 
 duce sugar, not only into the casks, but into the 
 bottles. In the first case, the fermentation is re- 
 newed, and the wine may thus become legitimate 
 and good. In the other the effect is far different, 
 and not good ; and hence it is, that all the very 
 sweet Champagne wines are bad or indifferent. 
 These are, in fact, a mixture of wine and sugar, 
 rather than proper wine. And, in this case, the 
 effect of the sugar is, not to produce a new fermen- 
 tation, but to disengage the carbonic acid of the 
 wine ; as a salt, or any other soluble substance, 
 would do, by a superior affinity. To gain this end, 
 the solid sugar is corked up in the bottle ; so that 
 the disengaged gas is retained under the pressure 
 of the cork, ready to fly oat whenever that is re- 
 moved. Thus Champagne, which has been de- 
 stroyed by age, is rendered, at once, both sweet 
 and effervescent ; and this, however convenient a 
 secret it may be to the possessor, is but a fraud, 
 and a very common one too. 
 
 Claret. 
 
 In order to give the Bordeaux wines some re- 
 semblance to those wines of Spain and Portugal 
 which are used in England, to render them of the 
 taste preferred here, from the effect of long habit, 
 the majority of the Bourdeaux wine-merchants who 
 trade with England, are obliged to ivork them, or 
 mix them with other wines, as hermitage; which 
 gives fire to the claret, but renders it dry when old, 
 turns it of a red brick colour, and causes a deposit 
 of sediment, when it has been some time in bottle. 
 When by this admixture, a working or fretting re- 
 
APPENDIX. 281 
 
 suits, they take some mineral crystal, reduce it to 
 powder, and put an ounce into each barrel, beat up 
 with a proper quantity of isinglass, and rack off the 
 wine about fifteen days after, when it has got clear, 
 and has entirely ceased to work. To give odour 
 (bouquet) to the wine, they put two drams of orris- 
 root powder into a fine rag, and let it hang about 
 fifteen days in the cask, when it is taken out ; or 
 the powder is put into the barrel beat up with 
 fining, and fifteen days after it may be racked off. 
 Two ounces of raspberry brandy are sometimes 
 added to each cask, fifteen days after which, the 
 apparent maturity of the wine is incrusted by the 
 peculiar odour which the mixture gives it. 
 
 Damsons or sloes, stewed with some of the wine, 
 and sugar, cochineal, and turnsole, are used to co- 
 lour claret. 
 
 To improve claret that drinks foul, rack the 
 wine from the dregs on some fresh lees of its own 
 kind, and then add a dozen new pippins pared and 
 with the cores out, and stir the wine well. This 
 not only takes away the foulness, but also gives 
 the wine an agreeable flavour. 
 
 Here we may hint at a mode of ripening claret, 
 even in bottle, which is very much practised in 
 France, and may be practised here without injury 
 to the health ; though we are certainly far from re- 
 commending the practice to the venders of wine, 
 however it may be adopted in private cellars. The 
 process is to operate upon wine perhaps only a year 
 in bottle. Draw the corks, and pour about a glass- 
 ful out of each, re-corking them tightly ; then place 
 the wine, thus drawn, in an oven, suffering it at the 
 end of an hour or two to cool gradually. Draw the 
 
282 APPENDIX. 
 
 corks again, and fill up the bottles, which must be 
 carefully replaced in the cellar ; and in a day or 
 two the wine will have every appearance of being 
 ten years old. 
 
 Iceing Wines. 
 
 The custom of iceing wines, is of very consider- 
 able antiquity. Iced liquors were among the luxu- 
 ries of the Greeks, who had several methods of 
 preserving ice throughout the summer. When 
 Alexander the Great besieged Petra, a city of Ju- 
 dea, he filled thirty ditches with ice, which, being 
 covered with oaken boughs, remained a long time 
 entire. The custom of preserving ice was so com- 
 mon among the Romans, that they had shops for 
 its sale ; and Pliny describes an elegant method of 
 cooling liquors, which came into vogue during the 
 reign of Nero, to whom the invention was ascribed, 
 viz. — by placing water which had been previously 
 foiled, in a thin glass vessel, surrounded with 
 snow, so that it might be frozen without its purity 
 being impaired ; a stretch of luxury which equals 
 any of the refinements of modern science. 
 
 Ice may be kept by the following very simple 
 method : — Fill a barrel of any size with ice, and 
 place it in one so much larger, that a space of from 
 two to three inches be left all round. Fill this 
 space with charcoal, thickly heaped and pressed ; 
 cover the mouth of the barrel with six inches of the 
 same substance ; and placing a layer of straw over 
 the whole, bury the treasure in the cellar. Next 
 winter you have only to renew the charcoal at the 
 mouth of the barrel ; the rest of the apparatus will 
 last for many years. 
 
APPENDIX. 283 
 
 Of the various apparatus for producing artificial 
 cold for freezing wine, we believe one invented by 
 Richard Walker, Esq. of Oxford, to be entitled to 
 all the patronage it has received. Under this gen- 
 tleman's directions three distinct kinds of apparatus 
 have been manufactured : one for freezing water in 
 the hottest weather ; another, for iceing wine ; and 
 the third for freezing cream. Other apparatus 
 have been manufactured by Mr. Paterson, late of 
 Bridge Street, Blackfriars. They are commonly 
 known as " Paterson s Ice Pails" Mr. Walker's 
 apparatus for wine, is very simple. He merely 
 proposes to add the following portion of freezing- 
 powder to each pint of water, in which the decanter 
 of wine is to be placed up to the neck within a cup 
 or can surrounded with water in a tin covered pail. 
 The freezing powder is made as follows : — To each 
 pint of water, take three ounces of powdered nitre, 
 and three ounces of powdered sal ammoniac, and 
 Glauber's salts in powder, four ounces and a half ; 
 the whole to be dissolved in water. Care should 
 be taken that the surface of the wine is rather below 
 the surface of the freezing mixture. * 
 
 The iceing of wines is too simple to need any in- 
 struction from us. By iceing Champagne wines 
 before they are used, the tendency to effervesce is 
 in some degree repressed, or only allowed to ope- 
 rate to such an extent as may be compatible with 
 the more perfect flavour that we desire to find in 
 them ; but when they are kept cool, this precaution 
 
 * A mixture of 4 oz. nitrate of ammonia, 4 oz. sub-car- 
 bonate of soda, and 4 oz. of water, in a tin pail, has been 
 found to produce 10 oz. of ice in three hours. — Brande's 
 Journal. 
 
284 APPENDIX. 
 
 is unnecessary. Silleiy Champagne is usually 
 drunk iced.* 
 
 Thus, Champagne gains strength by the cold ; 
 but it is disputed whether any but common wines 
 should be iced, and said, that even they would be 
 better if merely cooled with water, which the same 
 authority thinks, " always gives sufficient coolness 
 to wine, even at the hottest temperature of the dog- 
 days. But it is not only that we should avoid ice- 
 ing wines that are choice ; every different kind re- 
 quires a different degree of cold and warmth. Thus 
 Claret, coming immediately out of the cellar, has 
 not that soft and delicious flavour which gives it its 
 peculiar value. The bottle should be placed, be- 
 fore drinking, where it may obtain warmth. In 
 winter, wine-drinkers always place it before the 
 fire ; but Burgundy should be drunk fresh from 
 the cellar." 
 
 BR. MACCULLOCH'S RECEIPTS FOR 
 MAKING WINES. 
 
 We abridge the following from Dr. Mac- 
 culloch's excellent Practical Rules for ma- 
 naging Wines made from Fruits of British 
 growth. 
 
 Wine from unripe Gooseberries. 
 
 Choose the fruit before it has shown the least 
 tendency to ripen, but about the time when it has 
 
 * Dr. Henderson's History of Wines. 
 
APPENDIX. 285 
 
 nearly attained its full growth. The green Bath 
 is perhaps among the best gooseberries. The 
 smallest should be separated by a sieve properly 
 adapted to this purpose ; and any unsound or 
 bruised fruit rejected, while the remains of the 
 blossom and fruit stalk should be removed. Put 
 forty pounds of this fruit into a tub, carefully 
 cleaned, (the quantities in all the receipts are com- 
 puted for a cask often gallons) and of the capacity 
 of fifteen or twenty gallons, in which the fruit is to 
 be bruised in successive portions, by a pressure 
 sufficient to burst the berries without breaking the 
 seeds, or much pressing the skins. Then pour 
 four gallons of water into the vessel, carefully stir 
 the contents, and squeeze them in the hand until 
 the whole of the juice and pulp are separated from 
 the solid matters. The materials are then to re- 
 main at rest from six to twenty-four hours, when 
 they are to be strained through a coarse bag. One 
 gallon of fresh water may afterwards be passed 
 through the marc, or pulp, &c. Then dissolve 
 thirty pounds of white sugar in the juice thus pro- 
 cured, and make up the total bulk with water to 
 the amount of ten gallons and a half. The liquor 
 thus obtained is the artificial must, or juice of the 
 grape. Next pour it into a tub, over which place 
 a blanket or similar substance covered by a board ; 
 the vessel being placed in a temperature from fifty- 
 five to sixty degrees of the thermometer. Here it 
 may remain for twenty-four hours, or two days, 
 according to its symptoms of fermentation, and 
 from this tub it is to be drawn into the cask in 
 which it is to ferment. When in the cask, it must 
 be filled nearly to the bung-hole, and kept so filled 
 as the fermentation proceeds. When the ferment- 
 
286 APPENDIX. 
 
 ation has somewhat subsided, the bung may be 
 driven in, and a spile-hole bored, the peg being 
 loosened occasionally till the fermentation has en- 
 tirely ceased. The wine thus made must remain 
 over the winter in a cool cellar; and, if required, it 
 may be bottled some clear and cold day, towards 
 the end of February or beginning of March, with- 
 out further precaution. To insure its fineness, 
 however, it is better to decant it towards the end 
 of December, into a fresh cask, so as to clear it 
 from its first lees. If the wine be too sweet, instead 
 of decanting it, stir up the lees so as to renew the 
 fermenting process ; taking care, also, to increase 
 the temperature at the same time. At whatever 
 time the wine has been decanted, it is to be fined in 
 the usual way, with isinglass. Sometimes it is 
 found expedient to decant it a second time into a 
 fresh cask, and again to fine it. All these removals 
 should be made in clear, dry, and, if possible, cold 
 weather. In any case, it must be bottled during 
 the month of March. 
 
 Dr. Macculloch then describes a few variations 
 of the foregoing process. The husk of the goose- 
 berry, or the whole of the marc, as well as the 
 juice, may be fermented together in the vat with 
 the sugar, in the first stage of the process. The 
 fermentation will thus be more rapid, and the wine 
 prove stronger and less sweet, but it will acquire 
 more flavour. Crude tartar may be added to the 
 must, in the proportion of six ounces. 
 
 If it is wished to have a very sweet, as well as 
 brisk wine, the quantity of sugar may be increased 
 to forty pounds. 
 
 If the wine is intended to be less sweet, and less , 
 strong, than in the first case, the sugar must be 
 
APPENDIX. *287 
 
 reduced to twenty-rive-pounds. Thus made, it 
 will rarely fail to be brisk ; but will, at the same 
 time, be less durable. Wines of this kind will 
 resemble the inferior classes of Champagne, and 
 must commonly be consumed within the twelve- 
 month. 
 
 The proportion of fruit adopted in this receipt, 
 is that in common use ; but to insure briskness 
 without excessive sweetness, or the chance of being 
 obliged to renew the fermentation, it is recom- 
 mended to increase the proportion of fruit to fifty 
 pounds, when the sugar is thirty. If, during the 
 fermentation of the wine thus formed, there should 
 be any danger of the sweetness disappearing alto- 
 gether, it may be decanted, and the fermentation 
 then checked by fining. Thus it will speedily be 
 fit for use. 
 
 The same proportions and precautions apply to 
 wine from unripe Currants ; but this fruit is still 
 better calculated for brisk wines than the goose- 
 berry. 
 
 It must be understood, that in no case is the 
 solid matter to be introduced into the cask ; and if 
 the head, which is formed in the fermenting vat, 
 should acquire a sour or a musty smell, it is to be 
 carefully separated. In those cases, also, where 
 the solid matter is not to be fermented with the 
 fluid, the juice, or must, may be introduced at once 
 into the cask, without previously remaining in the 
 vat. 
 
 Wine from unripe Grapes. 
 
 The fruit may be of different degrees of ripeness, 
 and the varieties mixed. The same proportions of 
 fruit and sugar will be proper as when gooseberries 
 
288 APPENDIX. 
 
 and currants are employed, but the tartar must be 
 omitted. The husks, also, may be permitted to 
 ferment with the liquor in the vat. The subse- 
 quent management is precisely the same as that 
 described above. Dr. Macculloch also says, an 
 excellent wine may be made from the leaves and 
 tendrils of the vine ; but the process is by no means 
 so certain as either of the preceding, and is, conse- 
 quently, less calculated for domestic practice. 
 
 Wine from ripe Gooseberries and Currants, 
 
 May be made either sweet or dry. The rules 
 immediately preceding, which relate to the ferment- 
 ation, require equally to be attended to in this case. 
 If sweet wine is intended, the quantity of fruit 
 should not exceed forty pounds ; if dry wine is de- 
 sired, it may extend to sixty. The proportion of 
 sugar will be thirty pounds, as before. If a much 
 stronger, of either quality, is desired, it must ex- 
 tend to forty. The same precautions are required 
 in the selection and care of the fruit, and the ma- 
 nagement of the husks. 
 
 Wine from ripe Grapes. 
 
 No water is to be used ; but, as the juice of the 
 fruit is, in general, deficient in sugar, it is necessary 
 that from one to two pounds of sugar should be 
 added to each gallon of must. The addition of 
 tartar is also useful in this case, The remainder 
 of the management is as before. 
 
 A superior class of wines is made by the juices 
 of British fruits, without any water being added. 
 
APPENDIX. 289 
 
 French Method of making superior Gooseberry and 
 Currant Wines. 
 
 For Currant Wine : — Dissolve eight pounds 
 of honey in fifteen gallons of boiling water; to 
 which, when clarified, add the juice of eight pounds 
 of red or white currants. Then ferment twenty- 
 four hours, and to every two gallons of water add 
 two pounds of sugar. Then clarify with whites of 
 eggs and cream of tartar. 
 
 For Gooseberry Wine : — Gather the fruit 
 dry, when about half ripe, and beat it in a mortar ; 
 strain the juice through a canvass bag, and mix it 
 with sugar, in the proportion of three pounds to 
 ever}- two gallons of juice. Leave it quiet for fif- 
 teen days, when it should be carefully poured off 
 and left to ferment three months, when the quan- 
 tity is under fifteen gallons ; and for five months, 
 when double that quantity. It should then be 
 bottled, when it will soon become fit for drinking. 
 
 Improved Method of making Raisin Wine. 
 
 We have obtained the following improved 
 method from the Transactions of the Society 
 of Arts for the year 1829. The receipt is 
 from the pen of Mr. Arthur Aikin, Secretary 
 to the Society ; and its importance will re- 
 commend it. 
 
 I have for some years been in the habit of 
 making for use in my own family, a light dry rai- 
 sin wine; I have also noted down, with more or 
 less minuteness, the progress and result of several 
 of these experiments ; and I beg leave now to offer 
 them to the Society, in the hope that thereby some 
 X 
 
290 APPENDIX. 
 
 additional light may be thrown on a very important 
 branch of domestic economy. 
 
 It appeared to me, from some previous com- 
 parative trials with black currants, and with others 
 of our native fruits, that none of them are so well 
 adapted to make light dry wines, as the better kinds 
 of raisins : a farther advantage attends the use of 
 this latter fruit, that the wine may be made at the 
 season when the temperature is most favourable to 
 the due progress of the fermentation. 
 
 The raisin which I have been most in the habit 
 of using, and which I prefer, is the Muscatel. It 
 is imported in boxes, containing about twenty 
 pounds ; and, when new, is in common use as a 
 table fruit. In this state it would doubtless make a 
 wine of excellent quality ; but its price prohibits its 
 employment for this purpose. In those which re- 
 main unsold for about a year, the rich pulp of the 
 recent raisin becomes mixed with sugary concre- 
 tions, which render it less acceptable at the dessert ; 
 and the price of such fruit, being from tenpence to 
 a shilling a pound, brings it within the reach of the 
 domestic wine-maker. 
 
 That matter, whatever it be, which, through 
 the process of fermentation, converts a solution of 
 sugar into vinous liquor, exists in raisins in suffi- 
 cient abundance to change into wine a greater 
 quantity of sugar than the fruit itself contains ; and 
 I have found it advantageous, both as regards the 
 price and quality of the product, to add to any 
 given quantity of raisins from one-tenth to one- 
 third of their weight of sugar. In order, however, 
 to avoid tainting the wine with the peculiar flavour 
 of cane sugar, I use good loaf, at the average price 
 of ten pence or eleven pence a pound. 
 
APPENDIX. 291 
 
 In my early experiments I poured hot water 
 on the raisins, and allowed them to remain therein 
 twelve hours, more or less ; by this time the raisins 
 were plumped up, and I pressed them between 
 fluted wooden rollers in order to break their skins, 
 and press out the juice. This process, however, by 
 no means succeeded to my wish ; the rollers were 
 clogged and strained by the fruit which adhered to 
 them ; and many of the raisins, by reason of the 
 toughness of their skins, passed through the rollers 
 entire. I therefore adopted the plan of having the 
 raisins chopped (without previous maceration) on 
 the same kind of tray, and with the same kind of 
 chopper as is used in making minced meat ; and I 
 have had no reason to vary from this method, 
 except, that of late, I have directed the raisins to be 
 chopped finer than they were at first. Previous to 
 the raisins being chopped, the stalks are separated 
 for a use that will be mentioned hereafter. 
 
 I have tried several proportions of ingredients; 
 but those from which I have obtained the best re- 
 sults are, three pounds of raisins and one pound of 
 sugar to an ale-gallon of water. 
 
 I prepare the must sometimes by mashing, and 
 sometimes by maceration. 
 
 The mashing is performed in the following 
 manner: — The chopped raisins being put into an 
 open tub, or an earthenware pan, I pour on them 
 hot water in the proportion of about a quart to four 
 pounds of fruit. My objects in this first mash, is 
 to extract the greater part of the saccharine muci- 
 lage as little altered as possible ; I therefore heat 
 the water no higher than about one hundred and 
 twenty degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer ; the 
 water and fruit are mixed ; and after standing for 
 
•292 APPENDIX. 
 
 about a quarter of an hour, the whole is stirred 
 together as accurately as possible by hand, taking 
 care to break down all the lumps ; and, in a few 
 minutes afterwards, is placed on a sieve over a tub, 
 where it drains for a short time ; the husks are then 
 lightly pressed by hand, and are returned to the 
 mash-tub. 
 
 The second mash is made exactly in the same 
 manner as the first ; and the husks, after pressing, 
 are returned again to the mash-tub. 
 
 They will now be found to have lost the whole 
 of their clamminess, though they are still sweet ; I 
 therefore conclude that the saccharine mucilage is 
 now for the most part extracted, and my principal 
 object in the subsequent mashes is to dissolve out 
 the tartar. For this purpose, the water of the 
 third mash is put on at the heat of one hundred 
 and fifty, or one hundred and sixty degrees, and is 
 conducted in the same manner as the former. The 
 liquor thus obtained is considerably acidulous, 
 having the flavour of the raisins, and but little 
 sweetness. Three-fourths of the mash being now 
 made, it is tasted, in order to ascertain whether it 
 is sufficiently astringent; and, according to the 
 intended astringency of the wine, I either alto- 
 gether reject the stalks, or use the whole, or a part 
 of them. If a somewhat astringent wine is intended, 
 the last mash is thus prepared : — I pour boiling 
 water on the stalks, in a separate tub ; and after 
 they have been macerated for about a quarter of an 
 hour, I put the liquor on the husks, and mix them 
 well with it ; in a quarter of an hour more the 
 liquor is put on the sieve, and the husks are well 
 squeezed by hand. 
 
 While the last mash is preparing, I transfer 
 
APPENDIX. 293 
 
 the liquor of the first three mashes into the fer- 
 menting tun, and dissolve the sugar in it; I then 
 add as much of the last mash as is requisite to 
 bring the must to the due proportions ; viz. one 
 ale-gallon of must to three pounds of fruit and one 
 pound of sugar. The time occupied by the above 
 processes is four or five hours ; and the tempera- 
 ture of the must when put into the fermenting tun, 
 is usually about seventy degrees. 
 
 If the weather is warm, and apparently more 
 likely to become hotter than colder, I pour the 
 must into the fermenting tun with as little agita- 
 tion as possible ; but if it is cool, and not likely to 
 get warmer, I dash each pailful against the sides of 
 the tun, pouring it in from as great a height as I 
 can conveniently reach ; by this means it is more 
 mixed with atmospheric air; and liquor thus 
 treated will often begin to ferment in less than 
 twelve hours. If the must is at the temperature of 
 seventy degrees, fermentation begins in from twelve 
 to thirty-six hours, according as it is treated ; and 
 the scum which rises is sometimes taken off every 
 day, and sometimes allowed to remain till the liquor 
 is about to be removed from the fermenting tun. 
 If the fermentation is languid, I keep on the cover 
 of the tun, and stir the scum daily into the liquor ; 
 if too rapid, I take off the cover and remove the 
 scum as it rises. 
 
 The liquor is now vinous, but sweet; and, 
 after carefully skimming it, I transfer it to glass 
 carboys, containing about six or seven gallons, or 
 to stone-ware barrels of the same size.* I insert 
 
 * As barrels of stoneware are always more or less porous, 
 they should be warmed thoroughly before a fire, and be 
 
294 APPENDIX. 
 
 in the bungs glass tubes of safety ; and, on the 
 second day, pour into them about an inch of quick- 
 silver to exclude the air. The cement that I 
 use for covering the bungs, is a mixture of wax 
 and resin. 
 
 Carbonic acid continues to bubble through the 
 quicksilver in the safety-tube for some weeks, after 
 which it ceases ; but the column of quicksilver in 
 the exterior leg of the syphon is always higher 
 than that in the interior leg, I have never seen a 
 single instance of the outer air passing into the 
 carboy. 
 
 I think the wine ought to remain an entire 
 summer in the barrel or carboy, in order that the 
 fermentation may proceed so far as almost entirely 
 to decompose the sugar ; and as my usual times of 
 wine-making are April and October, that made in 
 the former month is bottled in the March follow- 
 ing ; and that made in October is bottled about the 
 end of September, or a week or two later, according 
 to circumstances. 
 
 I never fine the wine, being of opinion that 
 the light dry wine, which it is my aim to produce, 
 would be materially injured by being deprived of 
 its tannin, through the action of isinglass, or of any 
 similar substance. 
 
 At the time of bottling I have seldom observed 
 the wine to have any very sensible flavour ; mean- 
 ing by flavour, that compound sensation of smell 
 and taste which characterizes the finer kinds of 
 
 rubbed over with a mixture of bees' wax and turpentine 
 (about one part of turpentine to three of bees' wax). When 
 this coating is grown cold, it should be well rubbed in with 
 a hard brush. 
 
APPENDIX. 295 
 
 wines ; but after remaining for a year in bottle, a 
 flavour resembling elder flowers is strongly deve- 
 loped ; mingled, generally, in a slight degree, with 
 that of prussic acid. 
 
 As soon as the wine begins to run turbid from 
 the carboy, I pass the whole of what remains 
 through a filter; but though I am careful that the 
 wine, when bottled, should be clear, though not 
 bright, there is always more or less of flocculent 
 matter deposited which requires the bottles to be 
 set upright in the bin, and to be decanted with 
 care. 
 
 The wine, when first decanted, is often of a 
 very pale yellow colour, especially if high flavoured ; 
 but in an hour or two it deepens more or less, and 
 at length acquires a tint like that of Bucellas, the 
 prussic acid flavour at the same time disappearing. 
 
 Instead of mashing, as above described, I have 
 sometimes pursued a still more simple way — that 
 of maceration ; by mixing in the fermenting tun 
 the usual proportions of chopped raisins and sugar 
 with cold water, and leaving the raisins in the 
 liquor during the whole of the first fermentation. 
 By this method I obtain a higher coloured wine ; 
 but the fermentation being generally slower, and 
 consequently longer, it is destitute of that Fron- 
 tignac, or elder-flower flavour, which it generrally 
 acquires when treated according to the first pro- 
 cess ; and is apt to get a less agreeable flavour from 
 the husks of the raisins. Sometimes, however, the 
 method succeeds very well; and the elder-flower 
 flavour not being pleasant to many persons, such 
 wine is more generally acceptable than the former. 
 
 In May, 1827, I made some wine in the way 
 last described. The materials were put together on 
 
296 APPENDIX. 
 
 the 3rd day of the month, the temperature of the 
 liquor and of the cellar being fifty-six degrees. 
 On the 5th, at night, fermentation had just begun, 
 the temperature of the liquor and cellar being fifty- 
 seven degrees, On the 7th, the liquor was at fifty- 
 eight degrees. From that time to the 19th, the 
 fermentation went on, though languidly, the tem- 
 perature of the liquor varying from fifty-seven to 
 fifty-eight and a half degrees; and that of the 
 cellar from fifty-five to fifty-seven degrees. From 
 the 19th to the 24th, the weather became warm, 
 the temperature of the cellar rose to fifty-nine 
 degrees, and that of the liquor to sixty-one degrees. 
 It had now been twenty-one days under fermenta- 
 tion ; and therefore, though it was still rather too 
 sweet, I put it into carboys, and bottled it about 
 half a year afterwards. This wine is now (Decem- 
 ber, 1828) strong, dark-coloured for white wine, 
 but still rather sweet, and tastes too much of the 
 husks. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 Printed by C. Richards, 100, St. Martin's Lane. 
 
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