The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1856-09-27
The Wine Grape in America.

I cum Fttdis bci tbC iitSHiJh vi ia
temperance, no one, we presume, can view
with dlSpleasure the. perceptible decrease il
the u:c Of ardent liquors and the substitu
ton Of beverages of less intoxicating ane
more invigorating nature. The iirc-water
which, more than all the other inventions O
civilization, demoralized and dccmated ths
red men, in all its viiiainous adu,tci a,ionS
has been the curse Of thousands among thei,
dlspossessors, after being banished from III,
I once popular sde-board to the bar-room
/ has of late been crowded into still naIrowe,
limits by popular riyal-lager-beer, milo
German ale.
Another rival for the suffragcs Of thC
thirsty has already gained a foothold in th,
W est, and is likely soon to form an iInpor
tant item in the products and industry OF the
country. We alude, of course, to the
American wines, which are now raised if
the West in quantities sufficient to merit at
tenton.
Concerning the wine culture in this coun
try, which is yet in its infancy, we find in a
recent German publication some interesting
facts from the pen Of DR.. Gumprccht The
author explains the causes of the failure ot
the manifold attempts to domcSticate the
European grapes IN the United States by
comparative thcrmOmetTical and hygrome-
trical statements, from which il appears
that the III success is attributable to the
greater proportion Of moisture TO which the
vine is subjected here, while the tcmpcra-
tUre Is more favorable in PHILADELPHIA, Gin
cunati or St. Louis, than in Paris; Dresden
or Prague. The Catawba grape, an indigo
nous variety, is now extensively cultivated
IN the West and Southwest, and the Cataw-
ba wine bids fair to become an important ar
ticie Of commerce. In 1854 the vineyards
comprised less than three thousand acres,
the greater proportion Of which was in the
vicinity Of Cincinnati, from whence the
graPu-culture has since spread, along both
banks 0! the Ohio, 70 Pittsburgh and Cairo,
and in 4 soutAer'y direction through Ken
tucky and Tennessee to Alabama, and west
warGly into Missouri.
On the Ohio al acre Yields on an average
800 gallons Of winc-an immense yield.
compared with tie avcrage o! France, which
is only 200 gallons. In 1853, however,
which was the most fruitful year since 1918.
the yield was most extraordinary, Averaging
along the Ohio Coo gallons to the acre. some
vineyards even producing from SEQ to 900
gallons. The winc-growcrs Of Ohio are
mainly Germans aud their descendants.
In 1872, notwithstanding the compara-
lively small area devoted TO wiue-groninc.
the produce of wine in the United States
was estimated at 800, 600 gallons and in
! SJ+ the mammoth cellar Of Ncssrs. Long
worth 4 Zimmerman, at Cincinnati, CON
taincd 1000 gallons. IL a few years the
product IS III doubtless Ice doub cd and trcb-
bled, since the present high prices Of wine
pay the producer fair profit, and the de-
raand is SO great that the Cincinnati wine
dealars are s.arcely able to keep a stock on
hand
The juicc Of the grape is manufactured ci-
thcr into stil! or sparkling wine. The lat
ter, in the preparation OF which, as in that
Of Champagne, liquor is added, is the most
sought after, an! its proGuction has already
increased to sach an extent that buchanan
estimated the value of sparkling wines
raised in Ohio, at :l75, 600 per annum.
Tie wine produced in the United States is
mostly Of the description known as the
white wine, but li,tlc Of it being red. The
value OF the wine depends, as in Europe, on
the character of the soil, the mode of treat
nent and the weather. The years 1876.
SIS and lSJl produced the best wines both /
lere aad in Europe; and the vintage OF
o53 was also good one. In general, the /
product OF the Catawba crape has the finest /.
iayor, and the greatest dUrabiiity-it i'm. /
'roTes in quality for thirty years. Accord .
ne to an analysis made in Is4G, tie Aincri-
AN wines contain from! seven to eleven per
;ent. of alcohol \ sample Of Catawba
lock from Longworth's cellar, seven years
If age, was proved by an analysis to con-
ain from eleven TO eleven and tivettenths
oer cent Of alcohol, and 4 sample Of red .
vine, of the cape species, was found to .
contain nine and onc-eighth per cent. Bu- /
,hanan states that the proportion OF alcohol .
n the American wines is about the same as /
n the wines of France and Germany
3rande, however, contends that the French .
iraves wine contains 1891; Barsac, IS Sc: /
'auterne, 1922; Rudesheimer of ! 500.
2.22; and Hook li.3. per cent of alcohol. !
The prices of American wines may be 1
considered high. Ten or twelve bottles of /
tored still wine cost from five TO eight dol
ars, and sparkling VINE brought twelve
.ol.ars in 1894. New wine ranges from for
Y cents TO one dollar ten cents.
Of the recent Territorial acquisitions Of
he Unite0 States, California and Florida
yill, probably, ere long be ranked among
he wine-producing ates. In California,
lie efforts of tic Cd Catholic missionaries
o cultivate the grape resulted satisfactorily,
nd the manufacture of wine from the do
nestle grape of Florida was also attended
With success. Sir John Hawkins reports,
hat in 1894 the early settlers in Florida re-
lized twenty hogsheads of palatable wine
rom the native grape. The good results
which were anticipated from this discovery
we're, thanks to the political disturbances in
which that colony became involved, never
ealized.
In Canada West, where certain species Of
rild grapes are very abundant, the manu-
lcture of wine recently introduced, has
een attended with the most signal success
3uchanGn's Journal pronounces it superior
D the imported port wine.