The tri-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1866-1868, 1866-08-07
California Wines.

gives the following account of the his
tory of the grape and character of Cal
ifornia wines, May 29th, 1866, from
Francisco
Considerable attention is given in
California to the cultivation of grapes
and the manufacture of wine. Grape
raising is the oldest form of agriculture
in the State, and one to which the soil
seems admirably adapted. In many To-
caliIies where wheat, oats or other crops
would perish without irrigation the
grape will thrive and grow, and come
to perfection, although it may not be
watered by a single shower during the
entire summer. 1t is thought in many
parts of the East, where attention is
paid to this matter, that the soil must
he we'll irrigated, but most of the varie-
ties produced here hardly seem to re-
quire it. The oldest vineyards in the
State are at San Jose, and were estab-
lished by the Catholic missionaries from
Spain soon after the church had plan
ted its colonies here. l cannot ascer
tain the exact date of the introduction
of the grape, as no record has been kept,
but have heard it placed all the way
from 1860 to 1900. have been shown
a vineyard forty years old, in which the
vines had no appearance of old age, bnt
bore themselver and their fruit as if
just entering thier teens. The mission
aries brought grape from Spain and
introduced it at their missions"
whence this particular variety is known
as the Mission grape. Besides this,
nearly all the favorite European varie-
ties have been introduced, and flourish
III as great perfection as the Mission.
From being first on the ground the Mis-
sion grape is most widely cultivated,
and either from, its long acclimation or
from some inherent good qulities has
been found of most advantage, and
hence but little wine is made from
any other variety.
The vineyards are planted from the
" cuttings" of the vines, which are Civ
Ell away by the owners as of no apprecia
BILE value. These cuttings are set out
in rows, about eight feet apart, at any
time between January and March.
Ploughs and " cultivators" are run he
tween the rows from time to time to
keep the earth loose and to suppress
the weeds and give the vines every
chance to grow. A vineyard will be
gin to bear about three years from the
time of planting it, but it cannot be re-
lied upon for auy return Of Importance
until it is five years old. AT that time
it will bear fair crop and for several
years will increase the yield every sea-
son over the preceding one. 1 am told
that good, thrifty vineyard will make
three hundred and fifty gallons of wine
to the acre, while in the wine growing
countries of Europe two hundred gal
Ions to the acre is large average.
Men engaged in this grape culture
tell me that the vines are never affected
in California by the rot, mildew, and 9th
er matters that play such havoc with
vines in France, Italy and the other
wine regions east of the Atlantic. 1t is
seldom that the frost Injuries them, and
as they generally find sufficient mois-
ture in the soil for all their wants they
can naturally. be expected to show them
selves in good condition. They fulfill
this expectation, and the grapes pre-
duced are very large and finely devel- !
Oped. Some grapes from meadow land |
Of moist nature grow to IA wonderful !
size, but are so full of watery substance
as to be worthless. Some Of the grape |
lands in the southern part of the State |
sequently the grapes are not SO full of
saccharine matter as those from other |
localities. AT first the natural mistake !
was made ofplanting the grapes on the
meadow or bottom lands, and though |
they hourished finely an experiment |
with the hilIsides, useless for anything !
as well there as on the richer soil. AT |
r hn cil ~. h,,
not occpuied, but it is safe to assert |
that i'll time the hills will be terraced |
and converted in vineyards. a point |
that is now sought is to get field that
slopes towards the northeast to catch |
the first rays of the sun in the morning.
With such an exposure the best vines |
are grown on rocky or gravelly soil.
The grapes are thoroughly ripe in
October and November, and the process
of gathering them and expressing their
juice is like the same process in all 9th
er wine countries. After the first fer
the wine is racked off into
pipes, and left for a second fermentation,
which takes place during the spring, at
ter which the wine is agaiu racked off.
The most of wine growers consider the
wine fit for sale and shipment when it
Is year old, but some OF them keep II
a longer time. The sweet variety
known as the Angelica is made by stop
ping the fermentation at a particular
point, so as to retain the saccharlne
in a certain combination with
the watery portion of the wine. Sher-
ry is made by fermenting the wine un-
der heat of one hundred degrees and
upwards, and with the exception Of a
slight rawness in its taste it proves to
be very good article. Champagne is
made just as the sparkling wine OF the
East is made, and will compare favor
lbIy with the most OF the Cincinnati
brands.
The wine crop of California for the
year 1855 is established at not less than
;wo and half million gallons. Los
in the southern part OF the
State, and the valleys of Sonoma, Napa
md vicinity in tho MORT hern are the |