The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-10-19
.,out California Wines


II has been known some years ~
there has been large consunP'Fi from
california wines in this country;er into
: 600 600 to IL, coo, 900 gallonssiv Vet
our home consumption anIy amount !
it is very certain that no of California
cohsuinT hat, then 'eccueS oil this
great quantity? &c writer recently
had occasion 70 .lyerse with a repre-
sentative of @ell-kHwwn California
wine company and in answer to inquiries,
he was~fnfogned that there were large
orde1s for California hook to be put into
hIttles labeled German hook" The
California hook is pure wine with a
bouquet, but with much more spirit
than the imported hook. 4 verv large
proportion OF the so called Rhine wines
and hook wines in our market are really
California wines in bottles bearing labels
which would seem to indicate that it
came from the other side of the ocean.
There is also some demand for red wines
to be sold as sherries and ports.
Why, said the writer to this expert.
de vOa not sell your California wines
under names that are distinctive? Why
call them ports and sherries when it is
obvious that a superior California wine
will not give satisfaction. if sold as the
imitation of an inferior European wine?''
q 1t is very true" said the dealer, that
this calling of California wines after
European names injuries permanently
the sale of the home product. We have
many sheIrios, so-called, which are much
superior to the poorer classes of sherries
that are imported; yet they DO not sell
as well because they are called sherries.
The interest on money IS so high in
California that growers and dealers are
compelled to part with their wines too
soon. They cannot keep thep in stock,
as the interest would eat up The profits.
But the time cannot be distant when it
viii be found that our California wines
will be equal to any in the world OF
late years there is coming into bearing
all over the state the choicest represent
alive OF the best grapes in Europe. East
of the Rocky Mountains the foreign
grape does not thrive. But on the Pa
ciic coast the most delicate foreign
grapes are easily acclimated, and the
consequence is that there are already
coming into bearing all over the state
the very choicest representatives of the
grapes of the old world"
How about California chamDagnes ~
There are some varieties now coming
into the market which are pronounced
by connoisseurs equal to any that we i'm
port. There is what is known as the
Eclipse an extra dry, the Private
Curvee,' medium dry, rich and with
fine bouquet, and the Muscatille, which
is very fruity and heavy. Hamim x Co.
are the agents of these fine wines."
''What with regard TO the other So
called California wines aad American
champagnes?' DWELL, the objection to
the ordinary American champagne IS
that it is an artificial one. II is usually
made from the Catawba grape and
charged with carbonate acid gas. Wines
made in this way have not the bouquet,
nor are they as clear nor as healthfuI as
the best champsgnes. Alum is put into
them to make them clear, and no first
class grocery would dare to sell the
manufactured champagne, however good
might taste or look, on account of its
unwholes oneness. The California cham
pagnes, also, which have heretofore been
brought into this market, were made
from inferior grapes and represented the
first attempts at champagne making.
But, it is believed by all in the trade
that California champagnes viii event
ually compete successfully with the
choicest varieties of European cham
pagnes. Some of the best wine makers
in Europe have been employed for some
time in California TO produce the best
results in making champagnes. Al
ready the competition of California in still
wines ia seriously affecting the foreign
importation, especially those which
represent the ordinary Rhine, hook and
berry OF the old world. One leading
wine company sold 1900 cases last year
0 a choice California champagne, and
the trade is growing rapidly"