Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-10-02
WINE FROM DRIED FRUIT.
An Industry and Method Growing out o
Necessity-Its Present Status.

When the rayages of the phylloxera first
devastated the vineyards of France the i'm
ports of raisins and currants into that
country were very small, amounting only
to between 5000 and 1000 tons a year. The
failure of the vintage for several years in
succession Influenced French wine makers
to turn their attention to the dried grapes
known as raisins and currants. 1t might
be expected that a people who displayed
such peculiar ability to make a stimulating
drink out of a cup of water and a piece OF
sugar would soon find a method to make a
wholesome wine out of dried fruit. Such
has been the progress of this business that
for the last three years the imports of cur
rants and raisins have averaged 65, 900 tons
or an increase of nearly 60, 1000 tons in seven
years. The magnitude of this business,
which is comparatively new, can be more
correctly estimated when il is known that
these imports represent no less than 10000
t)ns Of fresh grapes.
It was only natural, when the extent of
the business became known, that there
should be complaints from the wine-grow-
ers. The Governments attention was called
to the fact that French ~wine-growers were
suffering from this competition, and the
| Minister of Agriculture ordered an investi-
CATION. The report is favorable to wine
manufactured from dried raisins and cur
rants. The preparation of the wine, &C
cording to this report, is simple. The dried
fruit is put into a vat with water at q
temperature of Csc Fahrenheit, there being
SIS gallons of water to every 100 pounds of
fruit. At times a small quantity of sugar
is added, in order to assist fermentation,
which as a rule soon occurs, and generally
continues for q week or two. Atthe end of
this period the water is drawn off and the
wine is made. As q rule it is of a very pale
color. When highly-colored wine is re-
quired il is mixed with the very darkest
Spanish wine. These wines, when made,
contain from six to ten per cent. of alco-
hol, bnt they have very little tannin and do
not keep long.
The greater part of the supply of fruit is
obtained from Greece and Turkey. OF cur
rants alone France imported the last two
years $4,000 tons. The demand for this
quarter has greatly enhanced the price.
The production has not increased, remain
ing almost stationary. While the imports
into the United States decreased from 12,-
500 tons in 1888 to 7,400 tons last year,
those of France increased from 20, 26o tons
to 10000 tons for the same period. The
fruit from the Ionian Islands are most de.
sirable, because in curing it is allowed to
remain Upon the tree until dried, the stem
I Utlb6 sniclNn III OlNNA w RACfCbb III sap
from ascending. The average price of the
dried grapes in France, duty paid, is 5
cents a pound, the duty being one-half
cent q pound. The cost Of producing
wine from them is small. Allowing a fair
profit above the cost OF production, it can
be sold at 16 cents a gallon. This wine,
the report says. lis perfectly wholesome,
possessing many Of the properties of the
the wine made from the juice of the fresh
grape, and to be infinitely preferable to the
mixtures, most of them very deleterious,
sold as genuine wine"
This wineis not only made to sell, but it
is made by the housewife, and for this rea-
son the consumption of it has greatly in
creased. It can be made at a small cost.
This new wine has opened the door for an
increased consumption of the small grape
grown in the great archipelago, and might
induce the Ionians to make wine them
selves. Already Cyprus is exporting wine to
France, and the industry may spread along
the southeast of Europe. One thing is
sure, il will prevent this market being
overloaded with currants and ~raisins, and
1t viii give our raisin producers an oppor-
tunity to obtain a fair price for their prod
uct.- Bradstrees's Saturday, August 81, 1885.