Daily Los Angeles herald., 1881-09-13
Wine and Wine Merchants.

We have been more than charm-
ed by the perusal of "Portugal Old
and New" written by Mr.. Oswald
Crawford, for many years Resident
Consul of Hsr Rritanic Majesty al
0porto.
We venture to say that Mr..
Crawferd's work is the best account
we ever had of PortugsPs early
history, literature, chief industries,
life, mauners, habits, governme mt
phi ysical aspects and antiquities.
But our object in mentioning the
book now Is mainly to publish
some extracts from it containing
facts which are exceedingly sug-
gestive and will be, no doubt, of
deep interest to cur wine growers:
"The universal interest that is
now taken In wine, and conse-
quently the mass of literature deal
ing with the subject, dates from
little more than about twenty or
thirty years ago.
"When port and sherry were the
daily drink of English gentlemen,
claret and champagne not very
common ones, and the German
wines hardly knowp, there was
very little to make u book about.
There were few rivalries among
wine merchants, seeing that wines
of each variety were the staple of
every merchants trade, and there.
fore If q man sold claret he did not
care to say bad word for his
neighbor who sold port, as it is to
be feared he does now when wine
firms have multiplied, and as
always happens with an increasing
trade, businesses have been sub
divided. 1t was then the golden
age of wine dealing, when an in.
nocent and unsuspecting public
drank over-branded port, and
"piastered" sherry aud loaded
claret, and paid their wine bills,
and held their tongues.
"From 1908, when Lord Metheun
concluded his famous treaty. with
Portugal, which admitted Portu-
guese wines through our Custom
House on easier terms than the
till then favorite wines of Gas
cony; from that time port wine be-
gan to be drank in England and
the wines OF France to be neg
lected. 1t was our subtle British
policy to drink the wines of our
ally and to eschew those of cur
hereditary enemy, and it was the
wines Of Portugal ana its Colony
that were used most, aud
that the patriotic Euglishman II
drank.
"From 1902 to 1915, inclusive, there
was succession of splendid vinta-
ges, both in Portugal and Madeira.
Never before had such wines been
made. Most of these fourteen vim
tages were abundant; all were
good; one was the famous "Comet
Vintage" Of 1911, and the last was
the magnificent vintage Of 1915,
which has never been ex
celled in Portugal. On the
other hand. the wines made
in other parts Of the world during
this period were of Indifferent quail
ity, and most of the vintages Of the
Medoc, always, excepting the
"Comet Vintsge,n were bad.
In the year 1915 the great battle
was fought, from and after which
our antipathy to Frenchmen began
to lessen, and our desire to drink
their wines to increase. Then
came the opening of the continent,
and Englishmen went abroad again
and found, to their surprise, that
their were wines fit for an English.
man to drink besides port and Ma
deira. Tnen 1t so happened that
the vintages in Portugal and also
in Madeira for the next four years
were detachable. - The year
1920 is memorable in the chroni-
cles of wine as the most remarka-
BILE vintage Of port wine ever
known. The wine made in that
year was not indeed SO fine as that
Of 1915, but it was nearly as good,
and 1t was such in other respects
as had never been known before
for the wine made In 1920 was as
sweet as syrupand nearly s black as
ink, it was full OF naturally formed
alcohol, and OF all the various con-
most of them far beyond
the analysis of the ablest chemist,
which 60 to make of wine liquor
from all other liquors.
1t was this seemingly favorable
circumstance which, in time, in-
jured the good repute of port wine;
for the public having once tasted
this dark, liquor like, highly flaw
ored wine of 1920, would accept of
nothing less dark aud less rich as
genuine port. Then set in the
OF port wine, and all
the various men4uvres by which
wine lacking color, flavor and bou-
quet are endowed artificially with
characteristics which nature has
not bestowed upon them. These
tricks began before the grapes had
left the wine press, into which
were thrown bags containing dried
elder berries whose coloring was
transferred to the grape juice.
When the "mustn had gone. some
way towards fermentation-before,
that is, the whole of its sweetness
was converted into spirit-bra1dy
in far greater proportion than had
previously been employed was
added 10 check the fermentation.
Here, then, was wine to which
artificial means had impaired q
color, sweetness and spirit; but
nothing could give it the full, ma
tural vlnuous flavor, for this was
hindered by the over.interrupted
fermentation. Such tampering as
this would ruin any wine but port,
and the result would be q poor
uadrinkable stuff: and with mort