The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-03-12 00:00:00

AUSTRALIAN WINES.

The return of ;fettled warni iveathee, as well as the near
approach of the feetive season, when light refreshing
drinks are in great request, present an appropriate oppor-
tunity for saying a few words respecting colonial wines.
Their agreeable and even delicious taste commend them as
ordinary drinks, while they have a strong claim to public
patronage on the grounds of their peril), and wholesome•
ness, and also of their forming an important branch of
colonial indeetey. We published some months since the
reports of the Jurors at the Paris Exhibition of lest year,
which awarded high distinction to many of the Samples of
this colony's manufacture ; their neeeage number, indica-
tive of quality, ranging as high as those of the wines of
Austria, and coesidei-ably above those of the Cape or any
other British wine producing colonies. In addition to
this, other competent critics in England and on the
Continent have testified to their excellence Ae N'lles. The
result of these favourable notices has been some large
orders for shipment to Europe; the exports of colonial
wine this season have been very extensive, almost
approaching what has been sold for consumption in the
metropolis. The anomaly of countries at the antipodes
exchanging the same commodity,.—of our importing
annually upwards of a hundred thousand pounds' worth
of an article which is produced at our very doors,—can
only be explained by assuming that the colonial wines
heve not attracted general attention. The Hunter River
District is the seat of the principal wine manufacture of
this colony, but the demand for the wines in the neigh-
bourhoods of the vineyards is such as to leave no surplus
available for the metropolitan market. That there is yet
so small a demand for colental wines for consumption in
Sydney, and that they have yet no position as an article
of commerce, can, however, hardly excite surprise. Their
limited acceptance here in comparison with European
wines is partly owing to acquired taste, but probably
more to prejudice engendered by habit, and which it
must take some time to remove; it is also in a measure
owing to their being seldom brought into notice, not
being produced at the public dining rooms, and kept
at but few of the Sydney hotels. The circumstance
of some ill made wines, or some that had become
acid, having been occasionally sole, has also operated to
bring Australian wine into disfavour. Further, many are
of opinion that wine making is yet merely an experiment
in Australia, and doubt the possibility of wines being pro-
duced here, which can at all compare with those of
Europe. In order to disabuse the minds of such persons,
or at least to afford them the opportunity of doing so
themselves, we proceed to furnish an account of the
Australian wines at present in this market. In doing so,
it is right to state that the wines of this colony are
essentially Australian. In general character they
assimilate to the light French and German wines ; some
are considered by connoisseurs to resemble Hock,
Sauterne, Claret, Burgundy, &c., but no attempt is made
to imitate these or any other wines. Of course the vines
are in variety, but from whatever description of grape the
wines are made, each vineyard has a peculiar local
character, distinguishab'e by connoisseurs. The role
nial wines, though classified generally according to their
locality of manufacture, are named individually by
the description of grapes from which they are
made. We notice first the Camden wines, manufactured
by Messrs. J. and W. Macarthur. These are of three
sorts—white, which somewhat resembles the Rhenish
wines ; red, which approaches Burgundy in taste ; and
Muscat, rather like the Frontignac of the Cape, Malmsey,
or Madeira. The first two are dry wines, the latter is
sweet, and retains the flavour of the Muscatel grapes.
The Camden wines are on sale by Mr. R. Hutchinson, No.
3, Queen's Place; and by Messrs. Watson and Combes,
Royal Hotel Cellars. We next notice the Irrawang wines.
The proprietor of the vineyard is Mr. James King ; the
lessee and present manufacturer of the wines is Mr. J. E.
Blake. The wines produced are white, red, and sparkling
Muratta. The white is considered like Hock or Sauterne ;
of the red, there is at present no stock ; the sparkling
Muratta resembles a Champagne. Mr. Blake's office is at
No. 14, Macquarie Place. We proceed to mention the
Wivenhoe wines, manufactured by Mr C. Cowper, M.P.
These are white Muscat, resembling Hock; red, corres-
ponding infflavour with Rhenish wines ; Madeira, which is
of a Frontignac description ; and Reisling. Messrs.
Watson and Combes are agents for the Wivenhoe wines.
We notice next some wines manufactured at Oatlands,
near Parramatta, by Mr. T. H. Hood, M.L.C. The red
wine rather resembles a claret ; the white corresponds
with a light French wine; Reisling wine is also manufac-
tured. The Oatlands wines are on sale by Messrs.
Watson and Combos. We notice, finally, some wines
consigned for sale to the same agents, by Mr. el-Doug'all.
and manufactured at Baulkham hills. These wines are of
two kinds—Madeira and Sherry, named from the descrip-
tion of grapes from which they are made. Some wine
making operations are in progress in connection with the
North British Australasian Company. The only kind at
present in the market is a sweet wine calledgPinau,
resembling a Rhenish wine. Mr. R. Mackay, of Church
Hill, is the Company's Manager in Australia.
It would not accord with our design—which is
simply to introduce these wines into more general notice—
to draw any comparisons between the several samples,
either as to quality or price; these particulars can bo
easily ascertained from the sources we have mentioned.
We may, however, state that the colonial wines are less
extensive than the genuine., imported wines of a corre-
sponding character. We understand that all the samples
named are on sale in quantities of a dozen and upwards,
and kept both in bottle and wood. The intelligence we
have lately received of the crape failure in some of the
vine growing districts of France and Spain, and the
probable scarcity of some descript ions of wine, may be the
occasion of bringing our own wines into more general use.
The adoption of colonial wine as a refreshment, or at our
too frequent occasions of complimentary drinking,
would have a beneficial effect in checking the practice
of spirit drinking, which prevails to so mischievous an
extent, and would thereby promote the cause of
temperance.—Sydney Empire.

FATAL ACCIDENT AT SEA.—An accident occurred on Sun-
day morning, by which four men lost their lives by the
sinking of an oyster barge in the east arm of the Shoreham
harbour, between the canal and the beach. It appears that
the Pearl, oyster smack, came into harbour that morning,
and the barge in question was engaged to take the oysters
from the vessel to the oyster p3nd, and about ten o'clock,
being laden with eighty tubs, the barge started from the
vessel's side for that purpose, four men beir, on board. It
bad got to its destination, and the men had 6 commenced
casting the oysters, when a squall from the north west
sprung up, accompanied with rain. It is supposed that the
men took shelter under the cuddy in the fore part of the
barge, and the ebb tide just commencing caused the sea to
rise, and, unperceived by them, filled the barge's stern with
water, and she foundered almost instantly. The barge was
not seen to go down, but being missed, search was made,
and eventually a man's hand was discovered out of the
water, and which led to the full disclosure of the sad
catastrophe. What renders the affair more singular is that the
barge was within about six feet of the shore, and that, with
ordinary exertions, the men could have reached it in safety.
They were discovered clasped to each other, and their bodies
were conveyed to a neighbouring public house, awaiting a
oftromes inquest,—Naucheitor Rxaminer,