Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-05-06
Vinous Gossip-The Wines Of France and
the Consumers Of ENGLAND.

the Consumers Of Ensland.
The London Times takes Mr.. GladStone's
new financial budget as the text fer this gos-
slipping story of the wine consumptioa Of
England in past and present times;
THE HISTORY or THE TASTE ron WINE.
Mr.. Glsdstone's evidence has earned com
pliments like those paid in old times to the
disputations Of eminent schoolmen. Five
hundred years ago he would baye been
STYLED the "Seraphic Orator" or the "An-
gehc Chancellor" His financial statenient-
q discourse naturally very dTy-was called a
garden of flowers, and not without some
Justice. But the prettiest plot in the whole
paTterre was that which he devoted to the
French grape and its products. There he
luxurated in description, calculation and
prophecy. His policy had been successful
it was full of promise; il was taught with
manifold beue6s to society-in fact there
was no telling what might come Of il when
time enough had been allowed for its opera
ton.
Briefly, Mr. Gladstone's views are these,
that light wines were once the favorite wines
of Englishmen, and at a period, too, when
England was "Merrie England" that the
legislation Of Queen AIMS Ministers intro.
dnced the wines of Portugal, to the preiu.
dice of the wines of France, and that a revo-
complished, against which counter revolu-
ton might now beadvantageously attempted.
81 believe" he added, that it would be
possible to write an exceedingly curious
tract upon the history of the taste for wine
in this country" There is no doubt about
it, and the subject happens to be of import
snce enough TO invite the discourse but
tracts are out of fashion, and "articles"
reign in their stead.
OLD "NERRIE RSGLAND.n
There was a time, beyond all question,
when England was known as "Merrie En-
gland" not only by its own inhabitants but
by foreigners also. Lord Macaulay concludes
that this pleasant reputation was not really
founded on fact, but had its origin in the
preference naturally given to the rosy visions
of times past over the hard realities of times
present. We are by no means sure, how
ever, that this view of the case is correct.
We suspect that in former days, when there
was less struggle for existence and less
ambitious pursuit Of wealth or fame, there
was more general indulgence in diversion
and amusement.
Mr.. Motley tells US that in the reign of
Queen Bess the English were considered the
merriest people of Europe, and he adds to the
statement, which he makes on the authority
of foreigner, remark which both confirms
and explains the assertion. He says that we
were not only the merriest, but the idlest
people. The truth is, the Elizabethan age
was not bard-working age, and when men
did not work they naturally went to play.
So far, therefore, Mr.. Gladstone's first prop
ositiOn is sustainable. There were at one
time merry days for England, and it is in a
great measure true, though not comprehen-
sively go, that the wines by which this mer-
riment was created or enhanced were those
lighter wines of French growth which Queen
Anne's Ministers drove out of fashion.
THE WINES OF THE CONTINENT.
If the reader will glance at map of West
ern Europe, and trace the situation of wine-
growing countries down the sheet, he will
find that the alcoholic strength of the bev-
erages produced increases gradually as he
gets further South. The wines ofBurgundy
are naturally stronger than the wines OF
Champagne; the wines of the Rhone, such
as Roussillon, are stronger than the wines of
Languedoc; and, when we cross the noun
tains, we come at once to the potent vintages
of Spain and Portugal, which exceed in
strength any French wines whatever.
In the earliest days of our wine imports
under the Norman and Plantagenet Kings
we took good deal of wine from France,
especially from 'Gascoyne'--whicE, indeed,
was for some time an English possession,
doubt, the clarets which Mr.. Gladstone is
now naturalizing among us once more.
| Other sorts, however, entered largely into
consumption. The wines drawn at the
Three Cranes, in the Vintry, were Malmsey
and Canary, rather than light red Clarets
| Falstaffs drink was not Bordeaux. His
"Sack" was Sherry sec-dry Sherry-and
that was the favorite beverage of the time.
Still, as a general rule, France was re.
garded as the country of wines-pdr excel
lence. Spain and Germany had their dis.
tinetions, but this was not among them. In
the fifteenth century, indeed, we learn thai
Burgundy, of all the regions of the world
was thought in this respect the richest, and
its Dukes were familiarity styled "the Prin-
cess of good Wines.' But when Mr. Glad.
stone follows the national taste down from
the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, he
overlooks some important qualifications ol
the theory he is maintaining.