Marshall County Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1855-1859, 1857-01-15
Wine Business in Cincinnati.


States, on making inquiry as the leading
business features of the place, arc first Civ
en- to understand. that the wine business
is placed IN the front rank, and is increas-
ing in magnitude with rapidity that prom
ises soon 20 make it second only in value
to the. great grain staples in Ohio In com
pany with several gentlemen of the press of
New York and New England, who were in
attendance at the recent National Demo-
cratic Convention at Cincinnati, the writer
visited the establishment of Mr.. Longworth
which, whether regard be had to the capi
tai invested, the quality and variety of the
wine manufactured, or the completeness
and perfection of the appointments of the
establishment, may be regarded as the first
in this country. Through the courtesy Of
Mr.. LIS son-in-law, Mr.. Wm. J. Flagg, a
gentleman, whose fine business qualiica-
tons are enhanced by literary requirements
and culture, We were put in possession of
many interesting facts connected with the
wine business, which can scarcely fail TO
interest our readers.
1t is about thirtyfve years since Mr.
Longw-rth began his experimentsin in grape
culture and wine making, which he has
followed up ever since. Every day of
shring, summer and autumn, he labors five
or six hours with his own hands,i in setting
planting. pruning, training, gathering and
pressing, with view to develope valuable
varieties. His money outlay in the same
time has been SO large, that many years of
profitable business, now that it has become
a success) will be needed to make him
whole in that respect.
The only grapes as yet successfully cul-
tiyated by him for wine. are the Catawba
and isabella The Herbemont is, howev-
er, rapidly coming forward as their rival,
and one or two others give encouraging
hopes to the experimental vine dresser.-
The Catawba is the staple wine, as yet,
however. In the Ohio Valley, its annual
product averages half a million gallons OF
wine. worth, when new, about ninety cents
per gallon. 1t is so remunerative, that It's
, culture is rapidly extending. To make a
|, vineyard costs from two to five hundred
dollars per acre. One average crop is
worth two hundred dollars per acre Wo.
men and children are valuable aids in a
vineyard, with a strong wife and industri-
Gus progeny, several more acres may be-
added.
Ofthe five hundred thousand gallons Of
wine made in the neighborhood of Cincin-
natl, about forty thousand will this year be
made into sparkling wine, and the rest
drank mostly by the people of that city,
and few surrounding places, in its simple
pure state. That SO large quantity finds
so ready a sale on the very spot of its pro-
duction, is sufficient proof that the Ameri-
can people can be relied on for taking to
wine as readily and kindly as young ducks
take to water; and that the cheapness of
whisky will not preserve its supremacy,
when its competing drink is sufficiently
abundant.
i The Catawba as drunk in Cincinnati is
not very attractive to the palate accustomed
to branded and sweetened wines from Eu-
rope, such as are most in vogue, but the
taste for it once acquired, holds on for life.
Besides. being an an,idote forintemperance
it is the mo.al foe of gout, rheumatism,
stone and garvel, as both theory and expe-
ricnce have shown; and it Is also found to
be inconsistent with good many other
!. ailments.
! When Mr.. Longworth discovered by ac-
cident, that the Catawba would make good
sparkling wine, (like Champagne. Spark
ling Hook, and other kinds, he commen-
ced preparing it in the mode followed to
produce those wines, and has since push
ed the bushes as fast as possible. Spark
link Catawba, having brilliant merits, has
easily found is way to the consumer, in
all parts of the country, aud by Its imme-
diately attractive sweetness and flavor, by
its noisy and f,othy manifestations, has
greatly helped to introduce its more ster-
J ling and stable, though at first taste, less
lovely brother--the still Catawba. Years
hence, the sparkling wine. for the tables of
the rich,. and tho occasional regalement Of
all. willdoubtless be produced largely, and
its annual productionacoupted by millions
, of dollars; ;but the still wine will be counted
by its hundreds of millions of gallons, as in
} France is now the case with Claret, Bur-
!, gundy, Sauterne, etc.
The wine houses Of Mr.. .Longworth, three
in, number, are. and for the last seven years
! have been. under the charge Of his direc-
,, tor, Mr.. Fournier, an accomplished wine
: Chemist Of Rheims, in Champagne, Franse,
who'receves large salary The Method