Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-12-13

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to this section. 1t is from the pen
Of T.. ]. Rose, Esq, a gentleman
whose notable success as vine-
yardist and wine and brandy maker
Ia Of universal cognizance in Cali
fornia and the East, and even in
Europe. The HERALD and its
readers will await further contri-
buttons from Mr.. Rose with inter-
est. His experience will be highly
useful to vineyardists of all stages
of experience.-EDIToR HERALD ]
Col. M. Keller, one day, on our
streets, pleasantly said to the
writer, ut is we'll enough for you,
who have q business, to make all
the different kinds of wine for your
sales, but the Mission vine is good
enough for the general grower, be-
cause this is country where we
can make wines of generous
strength and sweet wines and
brandies, and the Mission has no
superior for that purpose" very
highly value Col. Keller's opin.
ions, and I have learned much at
various times, when conversing
with him on almost every subject,
but on this grape question there
are some differences between us.
1t may be owing to the fact that
my experiments have been excep.
tional, in getting, perhaps, varle-
ties which he did not, or it may
possibly have been in locality; at
any rate, 1 have got some few vari-
eties of grapes which, take them all
in all, are more profitable to the
producer than the Mission, if for
no other reason than this, that
they produce at least 50 per cent.
more grapes to the acre. think,
also, that they are more valuab lie
for other reasons. The Mission
grape is one which possesses many
good qualities and it is perhaps
better than nine-tenths of the So
called foreign grapes; for 1t is
found, after years of trial, that, out
OF one hundred varieties, there is
perhaps only one worthy of cult.
walton, but this last may have
qualities for special wines which
the mission does not have. Were
there an unlimited demand for An
gelica and Port then perhaps moth
Ing further would be wanted than
the Mission grape. 1t, too, makes
. very fine brandy; yet l believe a
better Angelica, Port or brandy can
be made from other grapes than
the Mission. In these three pro-
ducts, as said before, the Mission
sxcels and leaves little to be de-
sired; but the demand for these ar
ticles is limited, and nine-tenths-
yes, ninety-nine hundredths - oi
the wines drank are dry wines
claret and hooks. Now the Mission
grape dry wines are very inferior,
and will not sell for more than hall
as much, with slow sales, as Zin-
fandel, Blaue Elba, Berger, Reis-
ling, Gutedel and other wines
made from foreign grapes. II this
10 30, then the only question re-
manning is, can we produce these
grapes? l can with certainty say
yes.
/ have made both red and white
wine from foreign and Mission
grapes, and Blaue. Elba, Zinfandel
and Berger will make at least fifty
per cent. more wine to the acre
than the Mission grape; and in our
trade in New York, Chicago and
Boston, the wines made from the
former grapes have brought, to
draw it mild, at least twice the
price per gallon. Now this is the
real test-the money test and
there 10 no going behind that. Be.
side this, the wines made from
these foreign grapes keep sound
much better, with less care, and
stand transportation better. 1t is
almost an impossibility to keep o
Mission grape red wine to three
years old and not have it get sour.
five had a speciality in wines,
which we have not, and unlimited
demand for that specially, then it
might do to confine ourselves to
that; but it would be Gall our eggs
In one basket again." If, however,
we can make all kinds of wine, or
even many kinds of wine, of good
quality, it will be still better. We
houo n n fA
sweet wines; but go into the mar
kets where wines are bought in
quantities and say, ~ have some
hook or claret," then you will be
asked where you are from, and
when told Los Angeles, you will be
met by, "Why, you can't make
good dry light wines there; Napa
and Sonoma are the places to buy
those" The only reason for this
idea arises from the fact that Sono-
ma and Napa were settled largely
by Germans and other foreigners,
who planted foreign vines, Colonel
Haraszthy doing much to furnish
them, and, consequently, they
made light sub-acid wine, while
here we were on the outskirts of
immigration, where we found old
Missions and old vineyards with
but one variety Of the grape, viz,
the Mission. This grape had ap.
parently every good quality, for
was 1t not the best eating grape we
had ever tasted? AS it was SO rich
and luscious to the taste, did it not
follow that it would make the best
wine? This was my belief for a
time, and, when L saw and tasted
the ZiDfandel, l could not for a
moment believe it the equal of the
Mission. But some one suggested
that the best cider was made from
crab-apples, and not the best eat
ing apple. There are those who
contend that this climate is too
warm to make light wine. Let
me say to them that you can pick