National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-02-14
OUR FoNDNEss FOR CHAMPAGNE.
Some Peculiar Views as TO Wines In
This Country.

some Pecuitar views as to Wines I'm
This Country.
Hew York Tribune.
"Why do Americans drink champagne in
preference to claret or Burgundy 2" said a
nnoisseur in wines to Tribune reporter.
over his coffee at Delmonicos the other eyon-
ing. "Pll tell you. In the first place cham
payne suits the climate and the people. 1t is
exhilarating, appetizing, and easily digesti-
BILE. In the second place, it is about the only
wine you can count upon getting unadulte-
rated and good. You can easily tell a
genuine label or genuine cork if you know
anything ut all about the subject. and
whether you are in New York or Oshkosh
you can got bottle of Pommery or Clicduot
which Is what it protends to be. Again,
champagne is wine which is easily kept
If you let it lie on its side and do not freeze
it, temperature cannot affect it. If it
freezes you will find that the bottom will
be driven out of eleven bottles of each
dozen, cut of as neatly as if GLACIERS
The twelfth bottle will have
its contents broken, caSSec, as the French
call it, and of course, will be worthless. For
these reasons the love of Americans for cham
payne need not seem surprising, especially
when one takes into consideration tho fact
that every firm of champagne producers has
its agents constantly travelling through the
country and actively engaged in pushing the
wine. As regard other wines, Burgundy the
king of them all, is practically aXiled from
this country. You cannot get it here, in the
first place, and in tho second could
not keep it here if it were posi-
Bile for it to arrive in good condi-
ton. Burgundy won't bear o sea voyage.
Madeira and some Xerxes, Malaga for instance
| n mi rOya1 Inv N ha 10
deauX wines suffer no harm; but, unless for
tilted, Burgundy is killed by the voyage /
have known several cases in which an Amer
lean travelling in the Cote dor tastes "a tho
roughly good wine, rushes TO the merchant
and buys quantity which he orders to be
sent home to New York. Arrived here after
his travels ho receives tho invoice and
tho wine. After giving it reasonable time
to recover he orders up bottle, rubs his
hands in anticipation, draws tho cork
and pours out glass of vinegar. THAT ras-
cally wine merchant is tho cry when it
should be that rascally voyage or this
rascally climate" The wonder is to me how
any wines OF delicacy can be kept at all in
this city. There is not in the whole of New
York real wine cellar. l do not call base
ments or endorsements next door to the fur
mace, wine cellars but n real wine cellar
as tho term is understood in Euro pc can
not be found hero. Pierre Lorillard has
Il magnificent one at Newport and friend
OF mine living near New York has another
at his country place, hut those are the only
two in the country know of How can a
wine merchant pretend to keep vino worthy
the name when at 3 o'clock in the afternoon
the temperature is probably 70o or 500 Fahr-
enheit and at o'clock in tho morning it is
down to 100 or 1892 That Is what ut present
prevents the California wines taking
the place they some day inevitably will.
They have not yet found out how to give
them maturing properties. When they do
this will become the vineyard of the world,