Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-03-02
To the Editors Of the Iyb;r

To the Editors of the Whig
Perhaps tho following, Historical sketch Of the
art of making wiuo,) from the pen of a mghly
gifted author, may prove amusing tn come of your
agricultural readers. 1t you think it worthy of
place in your paper, you arc at liberty to publish it,
alt is impossible to trace the era when mankind
first discovered the art of making wine. This dis
covcry seems to be lost in the darkness of antiou
~, and tho origin of wine has its fables like all
other things which have become tho objects of
general utility. Almost every country in which
the wine is Indigenous, has boastcd OF some ndi-
Vldual or native deity to whom the honour of the
discovery has been ascribcd. We arc told by
Athcn1us, that Orcstcs, the of Dcucalon,
came to reign at Ethn", where he planted the vine
Historians agree in considering Noah as the first
who made WINE in Illyriu, Saturn in Crete, BAG.
chus in India, and Osiris in Egypt. a poet who
assigns every thing to divine source, is inclined
to believe that after the delugc, God granted wine
to man to console him in his misery. Even tho
etymology of tho word wine has given rise to diff
icrcnt opinions among authors; but from that long
series of fables with which tho poets, who are al
ways bad historians, have obscurcd the origin of
wine, we may collect some valuable truths and
among these we may venture to class the follow
ing. The Asiatics first learned the art of cutiva-
ting the vine from the Egyptians; the Grccians
from the Asatcs, and the Romans from the
Greeks The earliest authors not only attest that
they were acquainted with the art of making wine,
but that they had very correct ideas in regard
to the different qualities and the various ways of
preparing it. The heather deitics, arc told,
delighted in nectar, and ambrosia. The earliest
historians who have furnished us with any positive
facts respecting the making of wines, leave no
reason to doubt that the Greeks had made consid-
cradle progress in the art of preparing and prcScr-
wing them. They distinguished wines into two
kinds, according as they were produced from the
juice which flowed from the grapes spontaneously
before they were trod upon, or from the Juice eX-
pressed by trcading them. Homer distinguishes
wine by the name of divine beverage. In his
time various sorts of wines well known, and
, by the praises he bestows on them, he sccns rs
Horace observes, to have often experienced their
exhiarating effects; his herocs were animated by il
in their councils and in the field. Ncstur was not
more remarkable for his length Of years than FOR
his large draughts OF wine. Plato who etrctly
Restraints the use OF wine, and severely ccnsurcs
an excess, says, that nothing more valuable or ex
ccllent than wine vas ever granted by God 10 man
kind. Plato, IEschylus, and solomon, ascribc to
1t the property of Strengthening the understand
ing. But no writer has better described the real
properties of wine than the celebrated Galen who
assigns to each sort its peculiar uses, and describes
the difference they acquire by age, culture, and
climate. 1t was customary among the Greeks to
prevent ntoXication by rubbing their temples and
forehead with precious ointments and tonics. The
anccdote of that famous legislator who to restrain
the intemperancc of the people, authorised it by
an express law, is well known; and we read that
Lycurgus caused druken people to be publicly ex-
hibcd, in order to excite a horror Of toxication
IN Lacednmonian youth. iy law of Carthage
tho use of wine was prohibited in the time of war
Plato ntcrdictcd it to young persons below the age
OF twenty-five. Aristotle did the same to children
and nurses. And are I'M formed by Pamarus
that the laws of Rome allowed to priests, or those
employed in the sacrafices, but three small glasses
of wine at their repasts When we read with at
tcntion Mat Aristotle and Gaen have handed
down to us on the PREPARATION Of the most cclcbra
ted wines OF their timc we can hardly help belicv
ing that the ancicnts employed artificial heat TO
thicken or to dry certain kinds of wine, in order to
preserve them for long time. Aristotle tells us
expressly, that the of Arcadia became so dry
IN The leather bags in which they werc kept, that
il was necessary to scrapc them off and dilute them
with water before they could be fit for drinking.
PiIny speaks of WINE kept for hundred years
which had become thick honey, and which
could not be used, till diluted with warm water,
and strained through cloth. Galcn speaks OF
some wines of Asia, which, when put into large
bottles suspended near the fire. acquired by evapo-
ration the solidity of salt. 1t was certainly wine
OF this nature, that the ancients preserved in the
upper part of their houses, and in southern OK.
posure; these places distinguished by the APP
peation of apotheca-vnaria. But all these ia cts
can relate only 10 mild, thick, and little fcrmcntcd
wines, or rather TO juices not altered, and merely
concentrated. They extracts, rather than
liquors. Each kind of wine had known and de-
termIned period, before which, it could not be EN-.
Pioyed for drinking. Dioscorides fixes this period
NJ the seventh year, as mean term According
to Galen and AthcnHus, the best Falernian wine
was never drank until IL lad attained the age OF
ten years. and never after the age of twenty. The
AIban wines required the age of twenty years, the
SurTcntne twenty five, &c. Macrobius relates
that Cicero being at supper with Damisippius,
treated with Falernian wine OF forty years, which
Cicero praised by observing that it bore It's age
well, (bcnc, inqut mtatem fcrt) Pliny speaks Of
wine served up at the table of Caligula, which was
more than 100 years old, and Horace celebrates
wine of hundred leaves When We consider
what historians have left us respecting the origin
nj lip ~ soIk he
seems doubtful whether their successors have adj
dcd any thing to :hoir knowledge that subject.
They procured their best wines from Campania,
called at present, Terra di Lvor in the kingdom
of Naples. The FalcrDian & Massic wines were the
produce Of vineyards planted the hills around
MondragOn, at the foot of which runs the Glrg-
ano, formerly called the Iris. The wines Of Ami
ella, and Fond, were made in the ncighborhood of
Gacta; the grapes of LucSsa grew the sea-
Bot notwithstanding the great variety of wine pro
duccd by the soil of Italy, luxury soon induced the
Romans to GEEK for that Of Asia, and their tables
were loaded with the valuable wines OF Chic, Les
bos, Ephesus, Cos, and Clazomene. The vine was
introduced into Britain by the Romans, and APP
pears to have very become common. Few
ancient monastcrics did not manufacture wine. In
an carly period Of the history Of Britain, the Isle
OF Ely expressly dcnomnated tho Isle of
Vines, by the Normaus. The Bishop Of Ely, short.
" alter the conquest, received at least three four
TONS OF wine annually, as tythos, from the vines
IN his diocese, and in his leases, he made frequent
reservations Of a certain quantity of wine, by way
OF rent. Many of them littlonferior TO the
wines OF France, in swcctncss.-Ciaul was totally
without wine in tho days of Cesar; yet, not only
Tins province, but the interior Of the country was
largely stocked, early the time of Strabo. In
inc reign of Vcspasian, France became famous for
nor wines, and even exported large quantities to
lt0Iy. In the age Of Luculus, however, even the |
Romans themselves, were seldom able to rcraie |
themselves with wine. Italy made but lite, and
the foreign wines were so expensive, that they |