New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-07-28

1unnage of vessels arriving for the first months
Of 1868 and 1869:
From domestic Atlantic ports......e2,Sn 1910
From Great Brtaih % a.E,
From Chna......... s4,los
CALIFORNIA PRoDUCTs-wISE MAKING.
The treasure export is little over 4400O0,0o0
per annum. The value of few other leading ex.
ports for the year just ending are:
Wheat........ss,2ls,3SSW Wine. 2ot
Flour......"... 2a!Sis s Quicksilver ..s1S7@
WOOl........... 23Is,t3SI
Yesterday spent two hours in the largest chams
payne making house the coast. Last year its proc
duct was 10000 bottles this year it is expected to
reach 10000 The new wine is put into old bottles
which cost here five cents apiece. The superin-
tendent, an educated Spaniard, has been familiar
from boyhOOd with the champagne regions of France,
and he describes the naked workmen there in
the vine watts up to their waists with vehement gesS
tieulation and unr leasant Vfvdness and mnuteness
California champagne is made chiefly from the
Mission grape, though the Muscat is coning moro
and more into use Each has its peculiar na-or,
but neither is as pleasant to my palate the Ca
tawba of Ohio and Missouri. Here, the Catawba is
not used for wine, as other varieties yield much
more abundantly. Almost any grape from any part
of the world will thrive but the California soil and
climate modify it essentially. wine maker, thor
oughly skilled in the processes of Germany, France,
or the Mississippi Valley has TO learn new treat
ment for the same grape when it is transplan'st
here. In Ohio given variety may produce viii o
which contains eight per cent of alcohol here the
wine from it will contain ~ or Is per cent
In making California champagne alcohol Is
added. The crude wine is run into tank which
holds 5000 bottles and then sweetened with So
pounds of sugar. The succeeding processes are nice
and complicated, and some Of them believe are kept
secret from the public The solution of the great
problem of childhood-how champagne corks get in
when they are SO much arl er at the bottom than at
the top-appears in ingenious machine which
congresses them onehalf and then drives them in
in twinkling The newly-filled bottles are laid in
frames with the necks sloping downward. Here
they remain for some weeks, but shaken by hand
every day. The pressure on bottle is 90 pounds to
the square nch or equal to that of six atmOspheres.
About one in ten bursts. The men who shake them
wear masks of wire to protect their faces. The
superintendent has long scar on his right hand
where he was once cut by the glass of an exploding
bottle After the wine has worked itself clear, the
cork is removed for an instant to let the sediment fly
out; then it is replaced. the bottle is labeled,
wrapped and cased by Cinnamon, and 1t is ready for
the market.
The production of still wine is much simpler
than that of sparkling, and the consumption OF ii
much greater. White wine, made from the Mission
or native grape continues to be the general favore.
In taste it is almost identical with certain Rhine
wines. Considerable claret is produced the best
quality is sold by the manufacturers at 81 per box,
and honestly labeled; but great dealof the French
caret consumed in our Atlantic States comes from
California grapes.
The only vineyard have been able to visit is THAI
of VIM. @. Hopping, near Sacramento. 1t covers 30
acres, and the labor of three men and two horses
suffices for carrying it on. If all its grapes were
turned into wine they would yield 10000 gallons
year but some are sold for the table, and many ara
converted into brandy The brandy sells at the sun
for 81 50 per gallon; the white wine for ABOUT fL
Both wines and brandy little sharp ana merry
from the unusual amount of alcohol they Con'aii'
The wines in general have new, raw TASTE Ou' "ss
gives them smoOthness ,,.o.1
Of all the California wines, probably 80 per cenf
! are consumed on this coast, . per cent III 'he
Atlantic States and the rest In emma hussia' anu
Western Europe The Russians Ike To nave thelr
,,';nos sweet and strong; the Germans, sour and
light; the English, sour and strong ana Caiiorma
manufacturers begin to vary their product accord
ingly. :,
Wine.making which for while seemed to be de-
c,inn0 is now largely on the increase The capital
invested in it and in vineyards probably amounts 10
400 600. There is yet great deal to learn ouo
the manufacturers are sangune that all dithcultes
will DO overcome and that this will develop INTO one
of the leading interests of the State IL is an oiu
lest that the Calfornans never drink theh own
wines; but now the champagne is growing IN iavor'
and the use of the white wine is very genera. lug
Coming Californian is to Drink Wine. Whetner ~
will Pay or not remains to be SEEM Aoont 'ne oniy
value thus far of our practical observations Oh 1ns
point has been to show what delshtuiy unp,e.u'
diced creatures we are. One Eminent american:
who is teetotaleT, visits the wine diSulc's .,
Europe and finds drunkenness there great ueai
more common and disastrous than among peoples
who consume whisky and brandy. Another al
anti-teetotaer following right in his footsteps, To-
ports the inhabitants in state OF unequaieu Si
perance innocence. and happiness IN our o..1sns
Vaov Generation has grown up since the Ca'am
al German wines have largely displaced d's'nieo
Iouors, Aud il SOME careful, exact observer WV