The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-07-12
Hints to WinQ-Drinkcrs.

contained an article upon artificial wine man.
ufacturc which is almost enough to make the
most ardent lover of Wine determine to fOrcgo
the pleasure Of ever tasting another drop of
it. Not that it advances anything against
the judicioliS use of this beverage, coCyal
almost with the existence of man. but that it
proves to us the almost impossible task OF
being able to obtain really genuine glass of
winc-i. e., the honest product Of the grape.
DR.. Thudicum and DR.. DupTe, WHO have
Just produced two elaborate works upon the
chemical analysis of French wines-being an
addition to some six hundred works already
existing upon the subject Of Gnology-give
some details that are really startling in their
application. The leading feature of their
works, and indeed in that of any
others on the production of wines, is
the universal conspiracy against the pure,
natural juice Of the grape into which Wine
growers and manufacturers seem to have ell
tered. Port and sherry, for instance, ire
universally known TO be more or less artiti-
cial concocions, and there are large qanli-
tics of liquor sold under these names which
have not one single drop Of the genuine Wine
in their composition. The chief business of
The RouiSsilon vineyards is to supplya wine
which is exported into Portugal for the pur-
pose of being dOctorcd; but not untrcqucntly
the trip to Portugal is dispensed with alto
gcther. Then there arc French wines which
are similarly, used to Il great extent in the
manufacture of sherry. As to champagne,
such Il thing may here and there be
met, hui The ordinary champagne of conf
MERGE is :nutoriousy an artificial produc-
ton. Iii the champagne region, Tor i'll
stance, the manufacture has increased
from i've: millions OF bottles ill 1874 to be-
tween twenty-five and thirty millions to-
day; but although real champagne is grown
only in the procedures of Rhcius and Epcr-
llay--a very limited ;irca--and although 1t Is
known that the late War must have seriously
inlrrlercd with the cultivation Of the vine
yards, there does not appear to be any fall
ing off in the yield of this wine. burgundy
and Bordeaux have in like manner been
transferred into nothing but artificial mita-
tons. The doCtoring OF common Wines is
| openly practiccd OH the qllays of bordeaux,
| sugar and brandy being the chief ingredients
of Burgundy. DR.. Thudcum and Dr.. Du.
pre- say that they have seen as much us
twenty pounds of sugar to the "piecc
| added to the. Bordeaux, and they attribute
to this much Of the injurious effects Of this
| manufactured wine TO those who drink il.
y remarkable instance of the growth of adul'
| teration Is seen i'll the almost total sup
plantiD. of MllSca,t wi by the Use of d
| tincturc of cldcr-ilower, which resembles the
| muscatel closely i'll flavor. Many Il connois
scur who Slnacks his lips over the rich musk
flavor of his gl'lss OF sparkling MoSelc il
only paying homage to the cldcr-llowcr fOl
nowhere OH the MoScllc, nor in that region
is any muscatcI grape grown lit Tor wine
making. Fortunately for those thus cheated
the clucI-!lowcr is not known To be prcjll
dicial to health, rs are many other substitutes
used III tho adutciation OF wines and LIQUORS
One of the most surprising passages in DIR
Thudicum's and DR.. Duprc's treatise is thai
in which they give an account of what i:
called "Sugar infusion wines" BY thi,
showing the manufacture Of wine is now
conducted on such highly scientific prIn
cipIcs that grapes are being gradually dis
peused with altogether. According tt
Petiot's process, sixty hcctolitres Of iuic,
can be converted into two hundred anC
ei@hty-tivc hcctOlitreS of So-called wine by
simply adding Il sufficient quantity of water
and sugar to make up the difference, anC
squeezing the husks OF the grapes five times
over.
There Is ut least one consolation to tbi.
painful exhibit, and that Is that while adul
tcration is going on at this fearful rate, il
| order to meet the demand made upon certain
| districts whose NAMES have become famous
there is no lack of pure grape juice tlIrougl
out the world, and that our own country is
| daily cnlarging the area of its cultivation
w hat seems to be most necessary under such
circumstances is for the public to be kept
constantly Informed OF the tricks to which
| they are constantly being subjected, and fol-
the public taste to be SO tutorcd us to tho
merits of genuine wine that they shall indig.
nantly protest against its adulteration, even
| it it he necessary to enforce it by heavy legis
lative penalties. In this our own wine
growers have wide field before them. But
so long as people can be found contented to
assemble round Il conviyial table and TO get
halfpoisoned over-doctored Jersey cider
proclaiming it all the while the choicest juice
of Rheims or Epcrmy, SO long will they find
plenty OF subtle chemists able and willing to
tickle their accommodating tastes.