The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-11-25

wine from nifty down 10 twenty nve and
fifteen aud FIVE years old When an or
der from abroad is received bv the agent
st Csdiz. it IL at once sent 10 Nercs to J c
HE'D according 10 the price 10 lie paid
for the wine by The gallon. Before 60
ing further II may be well 10 say that not
drop of pure Ut sjullera:od sherry 9
ever allowed 20 leave Spain. This will
be understood as we proceed. AT
each of the Bodegas IS employed an edu-
Gated chemist, whose chief duty II is 10
superintend the distlling OF alcohol from
the lees left after the grapes have been
deprived Of their valuable juice, or from
any other fruit We witnessed this pro
cess. and were informed as TO the dis
posal of the alcohol or proof spirit thus
obtained. " hen the order Is received
the requirements are met rs follows:
EMPTY casks having been duly prepared,
a certain amount of the oldest wine, or
mother OF wine" Is taken from one of
the twelve apostles and equally dis
tribuled among these new casks. The
ausutity thus taken Is regulated Ivy the
value of the o.'er. ia cheap wine is
wanted SIN ,ller amount of."mother OF
zine" ia need'si, but IL il DC an expensive
order, one OF the a; oslles must he made
10 part with sn unusual supply OF his
liquid treasures The vacancy thus LETT
! in the supply of mother of wine is made
IN at once by wine taken not from one
OF tie zig tweivo, out from oask hold
log wine at less, fifty years old, which
second deficiency is made up by wine
I ..-E ahnrf fUgnfy A.
wears oil, aud so on down until the iivC-
year casks are reached. BY this means
the entire series % casks are always kept
full ana the newest wine the sooner,
thereby converted into mother OF wine.
The new casks having received The reg
ulation supply Of pure Old sherry, As
lust described, are then filled up with
the alcohol prepared on the spot for The
purpose, and thus becomes tie wine OF
commerce OF course this mixture Is
not vet dt for use. Il is generally carried
to London. stored away and kept until
the alcohol has become 50 sofie1ed iy
the presence Of he rich and pure pro-
duct OF the Andalus an hills, that II docs
not offend the palate OF the consumer
/ The best aod purest sherry Is OF decid-
ed straw color. and looks more like oil
than wine. Visitors are generally treat.
cd 20 a small glass Of the precious liquid
so that they mayiake their leave with the
most deiis htfui rccOlections OF Aerts
and its enchanting Bodegas The vine
we took on this occasion was said To he
nearly hundred years Old, CONSEQUENT
| ly had had tioe 10 be educ ted up 10 It's
full capacity OF imparling pleasure to Il e
palate We are not an experienced
wine bibbcr. snd therefore are not IA
miliar with the vocabulary Necessary to
! formulate our sensa ions on this DC ca
sion. Although it had plenty Of body
! il seemed 20 W soft, rich and yelseiy.
nullv in favor and aroma, while its fare
vel left with Us the painful regret that
The bon -bolche could not be repeated.
Not a drop Of this wine can be purchased
on the spot We made the experiment
! by irving to secure a small yitlidl on the
assurance that it was 20 be carried toour
distant homes f1r exhibition 70 our
I friends But ii was denied. II the pro
prieiors were to ssll one yislful. why not
/ a gallon The tIulh is they cannot af-
| ford 70 part with the smallest quantity.
Only certain amount Of pure sherry is
made annually: and if this were con
sumed at once The world would thereby
be soon deprived Of the dainty attendant
now so common on festive occasions
Wines brought from Andalu'a are
I frequently mistaken tor sherry. They
belong TO numerous variety Of the
grape product pecu lar TO certain local
tiles. and differing from each other In
color. body, and keeping qualities. Some
of these are very d -ii-ious and rare, but
for lhe most part are common, cheap,
aud In foil use by all classes Of the in
htbitants. OF these the three varieties of
/ Mauzanares aud Nslde-penas are the
most prominent When, therefore, one
hears that certain traveller or naval
officer has brOugh. home pipe Of sherry
purchased al Gibraltar or Malaga, IL may
be safely put down as mistake. A.
proof OF This il is only necessary 20 add
here that rs far back ms a decade, betor,
we had the privilege Of visiting the
sherry district, very few rich people even
would have been tempted 10 pay between
ge and six hundred dOlials for a single
pipe Of hundred gallons Of pure sherry
al the doors of the vine depot, and thai
too, without adding the duty and cost q
transportation.
Twcnty-fOur hours at The mctropOli.
Of the wine district bad enabled us 70
accomplish the sole purpose Of our visit
We had seen The sources Of thst Circesr
stream whose branches are 10 bee found
in every cline ana in every country, anc
were now ready 20 20 in arch of such
other attractions as might give Us in
formation. Scarcely town or village
is 10 be- found in all Spain around Which
do not cluster interesting associations
We therefore might, with profit have
/ fingered longer shers we were, but time
would not allow this Before. however
turning our hack upon this most interest
/ ing spot, We must not forget % refer 10
"a famous battle ground to be
seen from the towers OF Heres
Upon the fertile lands where now
| ilourished the vine and the olive, one Of
the most eyentiul scenes ina the ever
changing panorama OF spanish ,iOry
took place. Indeed - 'he IS
sue of this battle, So fercely fought 70
| three days, that ia pain
aud Of Chrisliani J IN tnat pcninsI,
were decided for more than seven hund