Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1860-06-19
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XVI.
American Wine.

I American Wine.
As an evidence of the possibility of making
wine in countries previously believed to be un-
suitable to the culture of the wine, we may in
stance the case of the United States, where con-
siderable progress is being made over large ex-
tent of territory, and in widely dssimilar .cli-
mates. Mr.. Erskine, our Secretary of Legation
at Washington, in a report recently submitted to
the Foreign Office, furnishes some interesting
details 1t is generally received opinion, that
in Europe good wine cannot be produced in re-
gions where the mean temperature of the year
does not exceed 30 deg. of Fahrenheit; and it is
deemed essential that the summer heat should be
| of some duration, with mean temperature Of
not more than 70 or II deg. that the atmos-
phere should generally be clear and dry, the cold
in winter not excessive, and soil dry. Along
the seaboard of the United States, most of these
supposed requisites are wanting and so far back
as the year 1917, Humboldt predicted that the
vine could not be cultivated in America north of
the 40th degree of north latitude, the climate of
which, it was assumed, would bear close re-
semblance to that of the 50th parallel in Europe.
But on the settlement of the regions lying to the
west of the Allegheny Mountains, it was found
that the vine might be there grown with greater
prospect of success, in consequence OF the cli-
mate being less moist than on, the ocean and
accordingly palatable red wine was made from
the native grape in Indiana and Missouri, to-
| ward the end of the last century. About the
year 1926, the Catawba, native American
grape, was first brought into notice, having been
found growing in Georgetown, near Washington.
This vine, which is derived from the wild fox
grape, has gradually supplanted all others, and
is now adopted almost universally throughout
the United States for making wine. 1t imparts
a very peculiar musky flavor to the wine, dis
pleasing when first tasted, to many palates; but
this dislike is easily removed by habit, and the
wine is much relished in Ohio and Missouri,
where it sells readily at prices which would be
deemed exorbitant in the wine countries of Eu- 3
rope. aa .bslal9. s,QslsI
The Catawba is at present almost the only
grape cultivated on large scale in N North Amer
ica for wine. In time, however, other varieties
will doubtless be discovered better adapted to
the widely differing soils and climates of the
Northern and Southern States. In southern
Missouri alone, 100000 acres might be select
ed, admirably calculated for vineyards, without
encroaehing upon the better lands adapted to
other crops. This single State has an area avail
able for vine culture more than equalling that of
all Europe. In the Carolinas and Georgia also,
there are said to be hundreds OF thousands of
acres of poor and partially exhausted hlsides,
which are unfit for the growth of either cotton
or maize, which might easily and cheaply be
converted into vineyards. s;..-sr
Even in California the vine grows in great
perfection, yielding an abundance of good wine.
The banks of the Ohio are now studded with
vineyards. between 1000 to 1000 acres being
planted in the immediate vicinity of Cincinnati,
with every prospect of vast increase. In st
least twenty-five out of thirty. two States in the
Union, vineyards of more or less promise or ex-
tent, lave been planted. 1..si taa
The extent of vineyards is thus returned at
the present time: in Ohio, 5000 acres; in In
diana, 1000; in Missouri and Illinois, 500 each
Georgia, 100; North Carolina, 800, and South
Carolina, 200. 1t is calculated that at least g.
O0O,0 gallons OF wine are now raised in the
United States the average value of which may
be taken at 6s per gallon.
Large quantities of sparkling wine are made
both at Cincinnati and St. Louis, in imitation of
champagne, and fetch, under the name Of
Sparkling Oatawba," about 81 bottle. 1t is
made by exactly the same complicated process,
and, with as much care as in France, which will
account for the high price. AT no distant peri
cd, wine will be produced as cheaply and abun-
dainty in the United States as in Europe, al
though not equal to the best quality of European
wines. Whether American wines will ever be-
come an important article of export, must de-
pend mainly upon the price at which they can
be produced, but the home market is already so
extensive that many years must, at all events,
elapse before wine can be raised in sufficient
quantities to turn the current of trade, and con-
vert the Uaited States into the exporters of an
article which has hitherto been chiefly derived
from abroad.-London Wark Lane Erpress.