The New York herald., 1879-11-23
Wines of the Gironde for
Castle and Cottage.
EVERY MAN HIS OWN vINTNER
Arts of the Gastronome Unfolded
to the Lay Public.

the orands ervs Of the Gironde IL succeed in dis
peliing few mistakes and giving some Of your
readers moro correct notions OF that most useful
and agreeable ar.--the art OF drinking Bordeaux.
Everybody knows that they divided into vintages
of the rst second. third. fourth and fifth classes.
and. according to the Bordeiais. the classification
supjoined 10 perfectly correct-First class
Chateau LATTE. Chateau Margsux. Chateau Latour;
second ciass-Mouton. Rauzan. Lcoville. Lascombes,
GruaudLarose. BraneCantenac. .Pichon-Longuc ville.
Cos-d Estournel. Montrose; third class-Kirw an
Chateau Issan. Lagrange Langoa. Giscours, Male
scot-Saint- -Exupery own-Cantenac. Palmer; fourth
class-Saint-Picrrc Branare-duLuc, Talbot. Duhart
Milon, Chateau Beychevele; fifth class-Pontct-Ca.
net, Pataey. Grand-Puy -Lacoste, Mouton-d Armail-
lac Belgrave, Camensac. Cos-Labory. Cierc- -Milon.
Croizet. .Bages Cantemere. Below tho NTH class be-
gins what is known as vin bourgeos Then comes k
vim trisar and lastly k de pdysan This claesif-
cation has been made by the public according to the
different prices at which tho vintages are sold.
On an average q second class vintage brings ,GOOf.
to lsOOf per ton; third class, 1.3O0f. to 1.4O0f;
. fourth. l,1OOf., and nth. l.OO0f. Below tho
fifth class the good bourgeois brings roof. sOOf.
and good paysan formerly 25Of. to 36Of. but this
year already 5OOf and it will get still dearer owing
to the poorncss Of this years vintage and tho
ages of the phylloxera. which has already assaied
the commoner vineyards OF the Gironde. In the
Upper Madoc there three irst class vintages be-
yond criticism-the Latte eRothschild. tho Chateau
Margaux aud the Chateau-Latour. These three vint.
ages are rivals il were. The vintage OF 1878 Of
those first three classes is still unsold. Neither Of
them will sell cheaper than the others. Margaux is
waiting for LATTE to x its price, and Latour is sta
tionary till tho other two Laitte. was told
expects 6.OOOf ton for its 1873. Buyers hesitate
and the three great vintages Of the Upper
Modoc meanwhile remain in their cellars
Between the Arst and tho second classes
is the Mouton Rothschild. the average
price Of which is from 2.4O0f to 2,sOOf. Der
tun-a vintage which has the qualities OF tho arst
class with certain inferiorites OF the second. Aate
proprietor Of the Mouton. whose vineyards were
contiguous with those OF Lantte had written ON
boundary stone between them. "Hic e bossm vinsDs'
The proprietor OF Lshtte wrote the other side of
the stone. "Hic est meiws." The position of the
Mouton is exactly defined by this anecdote. II is
widely difused idea that the name is the guarantee
OF the quality Of the wine. This is incorrect. Along
side the name must be tho year. There arc years
when the best vineyard have produced the poorest
wines, and other years when the second and third
and fourth class vineyards superior to the rst
class. Only this Ia very unusual and occur to
wines Of all classes. Thus the year 1877 was worry
poor for the arst classes aud the instance is cited
Of the Cos d Estournel du Chateau do Pornys which
year refused the price of 2SOOf-a very high one
for second class-for vintage Of 200 tuns, and
which wound up after somo years OF resistance by
selling tor s00f per ton.
LES GRANDxs AxNxEs.
Sometimes, when the wine is OF middling quality,
the proprietor will refuse to let 1t be drawn at the
chateau, not to let IL bear his mark, lest it
sooS ars Pv nssp rns
that 1870, 1871 and 1876 In general good years.
and that 1874 was what is called 0raade AIMEE.
The Lahtto, Margaux, Latour. Mouton, Cos Estour.
mel. Leoville. Poyferre, Leoville Lascase Pichon,
Lascombe. Cantenac 1874 are the great and unques-
:ionable wines. But who is certain OF drink
especially those Of 0rdnde AIMEE The ten
wines 1os sa.Ds ssh'R
been drinking them for three years. and am
convinced that on the surface Of the globe there
they produce altogether. Happily imagination
goes long way in such cases. and man convinced
1874 is happy as one who really drinks it, For
my own part. since my hastings, am persuaded
that with tew exceptions had never before drank
genuine Bordeaux Of certain years. The tasting in
the owners cellars IL normal operation which goes
on nearly all the year The matte. as the man who
ofictates is called. knows what our purpose IL on
seeing us arrive. NJ. Taste "a very appropriate name
for the first faster i'll Bordeaux armed with glass
and with silver instrument which he plunges into
the cssk. half hs the glass and offers It to me.
inclined to sip and hnger over IL, but am reminded
that have a good deal to get through and that my
head would be exposed to severe ordeal were to
drink 1t up. The Bordeaux tasters keep the
wine moment on the tongue and then spit it out
in this way. but resigned myself to it. conse-
quently made only . very brief acquaintance with
Longueville ct Pichon Lsande. Pontet Canst. Male
scot-Saint -Exup6ry, Lascombe and Brane Cantenac;
%a. With aouh .tss STns .na s'i to
Margaux. 1876 and 1878; Lstour. 1876. and
Mouton- -Isothschiid. 1874 These l really drank.
sparing my head. can now understand how the
Due d'Aumale, when young man. ordered the rogi.
ns 10 1o
ter acquainted with than the Latour so uncov-
viii euua al de on leav he An
TO the Chateau Msrgaux the 1878 wine drank there
was positive revelation: This wine is somewhat
mysterious product. The vines are dotted all over
tho parish OF Margaux, some OF them surrounded
by peasants vines fetching only one-tenth of the
this grand cru There has sometimes been idea
that the wine could be made still better by clninat-
result was the reverse. so the nnai conclu-
sion was that tho entirety of these vines
was essential to the flavor of the wine.
Chateau Margsux is more variable however, than
the other first class wines, and its value depends
enormously on the year. Lantte comes from sin.
gle vineyard and. ~ already stated tho adjoining
vines OF rank. Tho property was bought
only few years ago for 1900 00Of.. and Il IL esti
mated that this sum has already been nearly cleared.
slight emincncc commanding the charming roads of
pauillac on one side the view ON the other extend
ing to the hills or Patiras 1t il ono OF those lew
vincya partly situatcd level with the river
and which might be submerged II tho terrible phyi.
havo made a lasting acquaintance I should
mention Leoville Poyferre. whore we break.
Inktcu. Ine foyIcrre OF 1913 nHurcs among
tho chief wines. and IL would be diHnoult 10
analyxe lts charming favor. Leovillc partly
belongs to M Ialande tslso the owner OF Ia
Couronne. neophyte already Vt good reputel. the
rest Of 1t belonging to the Marquis Las Cszes. The
consumption OF Leovlle does not appear to shorten
life, for the Marquis, who Marie Antoinette's
page had to take refuge in England, is hun
dred years OF age amt still virs his vineyards. HIS
carriage boasts armorial bearings in the time OF
the old monarchy and he speaks with bitterness OF
his kinsman, the author OF tho Memories do 81
Helene" who attached himself to the tyrant. The
Haut Medoc is now In full vintage. the quality 10
not vet aeccrtained but s not expected to be very
high. while the quality in general s forty or nifty
the price Of their stocks, and 1t will be strange IL
this rise In price does become . general rule.
The impression carried away with me from my ex.
cursion is that the Bordeaux wines seldom drank
in perfection. because people do not know how TO
drink or how to prepare to drink them.
WHITE WINES CHATEAU YQURN.
with white wines. as with the red. the vintage