The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-08-21
The ITse of Ice with Wjne,

It is me-honored, but none the less
deleterious, custom to cool wines with ice,
and the cheapnesS of ice in this country has
| led to II profuse and indi>crminatnS use of
| the article. Ice, certainly, is great lux
ury during our bot summer months, for the
preparation Of cooling beverages, Gnd the
| injury which it ipflictS upon the teeth l.;
| scarcely regarded in a country where dem
| tistry has reached the highest degree of per-
fection. But cooling drinks and iced wines
are two very different things. There exists
| no class of wine which can he iced beyond
| certain limits without being injured by the
process, for the cold kills the taste aud the
| aroma of the wine.
! Bordeaux, and most of Che southern
wines, develop their fine qualities only
| when they are Slightly tcpid, and should,
therefore. never come i'll contact with ice.
| In the winter season it becomes even ne
ccSsary to iumerse the bottles in hot WA
ter for few minutes, if they are brought
| from the cellar, shortly before dinner. But
| this is easily ovcrdOne, particularly if left
| to servants, and it is therefore better to al
| low the bottles to stand in IL warm room for
few hours before they are opened. Port
wine should likewise bc kept i'll warm
room for several hours, and decantercd
shortly before using 1t.
Rhine WINE and Moselles, which, of all
wines, possess the strongest aroma and bOtl-
| quet, and can therefore withstand some lit
tie ill-usace, are pleasant when they ue
lcool. But the at tmosphere Of a cool cellar
| is all they require and, if they are brought
ND straight before being opened, they are
| Just in proper condition. Few private
houses have cold cellars, and it may conse-
qllently become necessary during the hot
season to immerse the bottles in ice for a
short time ; buC this operation should
not exceed duration of from ten to fif-
| teen minutes. The same rule applies to
| champagne for, in spite of the generally
prevailing habiL of icing champagne, it is a
| fact, well known and recognized by con-
noisseurs, that champagne cooled in Ice is
not by far as good rs when 1t is drank COM
ting straight from cool cellar. There is no
champagne is injured by icing, and it be.
comes difficult to distinguish fine quality
OF champagne in a frosted condition from
an interior one. But if the wine is iced ut
all, it should not be cooled beyond the con-
dition which the French call .tfrappe. Some
peopIe imagine that "chumpagne frappe" I"
means champagne in partly congealcd
] condition but there exists no more sense
less and barbarous treatment OF fine wine
| than to freeze 1t. .. 4..,,. a..
| A habit which is Of frequent prevalence
IN 1llS country Is tuc iuluci sioh vi Jumps
| of ice in the champagne glasses. CHAM
| pagne cannot be treated like cocktail with
| impunty. The fine etherial qualities and
| bouquet of the wines are utterly destroyed
| .by this abomDable habit. If it becomes at
| ali necessary to cool the wine, Let the bot,
ties be placed in o cooler filled with small
chopped ice. Ice is 80 cheap in compar1-
| son with the value of the wine, that the
expense Of little more ice is not worthy
Of considerations. ALI that is required is a
tr1fie more labor, and this the attendants
| should be made to perform. If no coolers
| sre at hand, an ordinary pail or bucket
will do the same service. D. a."s l.
| Sherry and Madeira stand some cooling
notso with Burgundy or Hungarian clarets;
neither can Greek or Italian wines bear ice,
which Is decidedly antagonistic 10 their
origin and their nature.-Bonfort's W. 6 L.
| Circular.