The Washington union., 1857-08-22
THE pRopuonoN OF WINES DURING THE PAST
CENTURY

THE PRODUCTION OF WINES DURING THE PAST
We condense from an interesting article which
we find in late number Of the Courier des Etas
Uns the following statistics relative TO the produe
ton of wines from 1862 to 1857 furnished 10 that
Journal by an amateur vinegrower Of the district.
Of Beaujolas.
In l762, intense heat, very little rain, the crop el
cellent, and quality of wines superior, In certain
localities of France, wines which, when first brought
into market sold for 80 lvres (about ls cents each
per measure, were worth $50 lvres the following
year. In I763l64-' -66 the quality was very or.
dinary; in 1867 and l76s very good but not equal
TO that of l762; in 1863 very bad lTI0 fair; l17l
good l772 2-'73-'74, bad in ITS excellent; l77s
and l777, tolerabe IT'S good, and l77s detestable
in 1850 and 81 fair 1882 good 1883 and "a, fair
I7s5 was year so abundant thatin Beagjolas wines
fell TO 20 livres for the first quality From this pc
riod we must pass ON to 1871 TO find good wine
or rather wine Of an excellent quality, After this
a new phase of mediocrity, until we come down to
1895 which was year remarkable for its quality
No change worthy Of note until we reach 1902. All
and 10Th Of May Prices were enormously high, but
disastrous to the monopolists Soon the warm wealth
er set IN; the heat became intense in l762
and i0ig The vines produced second
crop Of grapes which yielded wines called eonsrph
of very fair quality 1903 was year Of great
abundance, but Indifferent quality 1904 was an ex
traordinary year both to quality and quantity
"A
francs each and in those districts where the pro
duction was not greater than usual the wines were
not worth more than the cost of the casks. The re-
suit was that the winters who had purchased their
casks on credit, and could not sell their wines, Of
fered to return them to the coopers full Of wine
be released from their obligations, but refused
as the latter also had engagements to meet.
The year 1903 gave the highest hopes Of an excel
lent yield but in the early part Of October, week
before the vintage commenced, it showed and hailed
The crop was made but the wine decomposed in the
cask and in the winter that which was not spoiled
turned to yellowish white In 1906 and 1907 the
quality was superior, and kept for long time 1908
great abundance 1909, 1910, poor years; 1911, the
year Of the comet The wines Of this year have been
greatly extoled, but they did not come up to those
of 1862 At first they sold at prices sufficiently low
because we had no markets; but in 1913 they attain
cd to fabulous prices and the shortcrops Of succeed
ing years only tended to augment their price. The
FIRST remarkable year after 1911 was 1922 There
was no winter. The vine budded in March, bios
somed in May and in August new wine was drank
The wine was very good, bnt tender it possessed
no endurance. From 1922 to 1912 there was good
series Of years the most notable Of which 1882
1888 and lS42. lS43 was of no account; the fol.
lowing years alternated but from l849 to ls56,in.
elusive the crops failures from causes already
known.
The Courers correspondent thinks that every quar-.
ter Of century failures and compensation beingpro
ery set off against each other, the of good and
bad crops would be about equally balanced. There is
no question but we have paid since l849 the full in.
terest of the good years which elapsed between 1922
and ls42. We must only hope that we are now en-
teripp upon a better epoch.