Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-06-09
IorrL ARRIVALS YESTERDAY


Ransacking all the cellars OF Europe,
no quantity Of any amount OF the cele.
brated 1911 Comet vintage wine would
be brought To light. Even the renowned
1884 vintage wines are now very scarce.
10 taste glass Of that vintage in u cell
lar whose good fortune has preserved a
lrifie Of it, is chance few people may
enjoy. And when the select ones that
are so fortunate as TO partake OF it, are
allowed the privilege, depend upon it,
they can do so only as the highest dis.
tihction OF the acknowledgment OF real
wine. wisdom. Should mortal OF cul'
ture venture to express the contrary to
what he thinks Of the dram, his doom
would be sealed and his gastronomic
talent henceforth be annihilated. Re-
member, when a glass OF old wine Is
offered You ia cellar of some fame, IL Is
your duty to praise its quality. Your
host would be offended TO the quick and
your Judgment be lowered III his eyes 70
the deepest degree, should you lind one
flaw in the liquor rendered You.
Now, the best room in your h"use
contains the picture OF your grandmoth..
err 1t represents a youthful, beautiful
face. This was |, the old lady VIII tell
YOU. when was married to your grand
father. if YOU ask whose picture It is in
that room. Comparing the lace III the
picture with that of your worthy ances-
tress, you find lines OF semblance'
There are the traces OF family IKE
ness. There You have the counterpart
Of the very old vintage compared to It's
younger successor II you know now TO
perceive it, a faint remnant OF the spicy
fragrance Of the young vintage Will
greet your senses from the glass OF the
venerable wine aged with your ances-
tors. The family resemblance is pres
ent. but here is the fire Of youth OF the
liquid win b once has been charm
ing, and now only presents shadow
where once was light and graceful.
ness and piquaucy? And these traits Of
semblance only exist for him who can
find them. The uninitiated perceive
none of the slight remnants oil navoi
which has been, aud which age has not
quite effaced. The 1924 vintage OF the
celebrated Rose of Bremen. OF which
the writer was permitted to take
glass, exhaled an atom OF fragrance
like that of faded flower kept for
hall century among the leaves OF an
old book as keepsake. But the taste
had, without daring to confess it, to
compare with salt water TO which vine
gar and some bitterish matter had been
added These were the impressions
from $50 years old wine. A singularly
fortunate circumstance allowed the
writer to become acquainted with
VINE 1900 years old.
The ancienis bad their IDEAS OF the
continuation of existence after death,
which are different from our customs
That the deceased may enjoy the advan-
iages Of some of the necessities OF tins
life when landing in the future
life, the pious rel. tives put into bis
grave his arms and coin to pay the
ferrynian to cross the river. 10 let HIN
aueneh his thirst. Roman, accustomed
to goblet OF fair wine, received an
''auipulla" of wine in his grave. Such
ampuIas can be seen in collections oil
antiquities, taken from Roman graves.
The wine in the flask shown me had
long since dried into reddish brown
substance, the rest OF coiofing
matter OF a red wine. such substances
have often been mistaken for blood OF
martyrs.l Long before the historical
times OF the Romans, the provisioning
Of a warrior with wine in his grave was
practieed. At Aliscamrs, near Aries in
France, an ancient Roman grave
was discovered. An ampulla with
its neck closed by fusion was
taken from the grave. This was sent TO
Paris, aud Monsieur Berthelot, the
chemist. made researches on 1t. The sub.
ance described. contained at its bot
tom, was found to have been wine OF a
low alcoholic strength, with traces oil
flavor and considerable proportion OF
aceiic acid. OF course, cannot de-
scribe how the wine must have tasted,
but | remembered the Bremen Rose
wine. The vessel was glass. but decom-
posed and partially become crystalized.
Heated, it did not melt like ordinary
gIass into tough mass, but fell asunder
in shapes of tender leaflets.
The idea struck me that it might be oil
interest to observe how wine thus in
closed in bottles, Theoretically closed by
fusion, might behave, having its compo-
sition carefully analzyed each time when
opening the bottles. Changes thus OBJ
served after given periods may lead to
very important knowledge in the study
OF wines. --t0eno .ihilus in Viennese Allg.
Wine Journal.