Los Angeles daily herald. [volume] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1873-1876, 1874-03-13
California as a Wine Producing Country.


The efforts now being made to mod
ify the Tariff and Internal Revenue
laws so as to remove the burdens
under which the wine-growers are
laboring, have brought out many facts
bearing on the wine interests. Rep
resentative Luttrell is making an eff
fort to have all taxes and restrictions
upon the manufacture OF native
brandy removed, except an impost of
fifty cents on the gallon. 1t is urged
with much force that the revenue
from this source will be greatly IN
creased by the proposed change and
| in support of this Mr.. Luttrell gives
the following figures: "By the report
of the Internal Revenue Bureau, it
appears that the average quantity of
brandy made in SOnOma valley, Cali
fornia, is 10000 gallons per annum.
The amount of wine manufactured in
the same valley is about 1000, 900 gal
Ions annually. This manufacture pro-
duces annually about $4,000 gallons of
"yeast," which might be made to
yield 5000 gallons of proof brandy,
and $50, 900 gallons of "piquette,' from
which there should be manufactured
81, 900 gallons of brandy, or together it
would seem that there ought to be an
annual production from these two
kinds of residuum of about $4,000 gall
Ions of native grape brandy in Sonoma
valley alone; while, as has been seen
above, the actual production is only
some 10000 gallons per year. The eX-
PLANTATION ofthis enormous proportion
of waste (which, of course, reacts di-
rectly upon the profits and production
of the, native wines) is found in the
fact that as long as the tax on brandy
made from grapes, apples, peaches or
other fruit; is the same as the tax on
grain-spirits, the former cannot COM
pete with the latter; first, because all
fruit distillers, working only a few
weeks or months in a year. cannot af-
ford to put up large and costly distil-
leries, and they, therefore, make an
inferior article which becomes saleable
only after storing it a number of years;
while on the other hand grain-spirits,
made with fine and expensive stills,
doublers and refineries, are fit for mar
ket Immediately after manufacture;
and secondly, the distillation of fruit
Is more expensive on account OF the
greater amount Of laborin getting the
material ready for distilling and the
higher cost of the material itself. AS
suming the truthfulness of those
premises, the deduction from them is
very simple, for 1t follows clearly that
If the wine-growers of Sonoma valley
were to be enabled, by reduction OF
the tax from about seventy cents to
fifty cents gallon, to make $1,000 gall
Ions of brandy per annum, instead OF
the present PR duction of 10000 gall
Ions a year, the Government would be
the gamer by at least $4,000 per year
in its revenue from the same district
alone.n
The interest that Los Angeles has in
this subject is easily inferred when we
state that in the production of wine
and brandy this is the leading county
in the State. The number of vines
returned by the Assessor of this county
for 1873 is 4,22O,0OO. The number of
gallons of wine returned is 1,508, 900,
and of brandy $4,000. This is nearly
three times the wine and brandy pro-
duced by Sonoma county, and six
times the average given by Luttrell.
A correspondent of the Bulletin esti-
mates as follows: "California con-
tains 1919, 947 $40 acres of land, mostly
rolling lands, hills and mountains.
Well-informed persons claim that ten
per cent. of all the land in California
is fit for vinicultural purposes Tor
about 100000 acres), but if only one
Hull u ~, ,is .a uG . 49, % w st;ii
xeis s i0w 200 anra ,,;ne,.or S ,an'1 IN
tno o,y toto r I'LL 10 canabIe of nrodun.
:. 'o.a.e, "m' - ~ Let coo polInno
ny, oi al 1855 i ;ft%a W. , Soo
=. VIZ Pc e. az" ,;..tn 10 sa,,ad and H.
a anu 9ha, u .dd;t;enoi nroSmot n Of tnn
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:" oaJo Vi pra;s ,dmId %;vo on annual
,,ro ne f . nn0 ono noo Sa ,,ons Of VIM
pa o az 600 ~, o M" rolrnS Of brandv
anu aha oo,voo,v s s ,;na - ost;n,atod -
LIZA. .ne sa,ue =, 'iro or W." ai,on ond of th %o
tmemSy Sen.s Roi S" ,er noiinn th .
,ua,Iiy az Hne ~ h t;mp FIJI nro od
t Woo eo.. nno 900 nnr onnnn, aS tho
.a.o,,,a ~ol1 ~ %"iitornieis ~;nnwardi The
p,ouu.o "a 1870 ~ ~ AZ tr;e;,,o
uos a.,a niii CIV "a olt;n,atnd hu thsS
rpa,Jon l;f 1 ho ;S rot airoadv t;yod Of
a eo me ,,;,as1 f I 80 sno 49, -.
r rgure a or n axo,ns;wa 81 t"un
, GouS , T a.os. nf Iond ond
:o''' i'os,o' g. I
~ 10 saae Sa9
HioIe th"h Seh Pei, 0oh.' va ~ 10