The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1888-03-25
WINE MAKING IN PERSIA.
zHB COS THAI NOLAN HAssAN COT
OF ron n CHRLSTIAN BIBBEh.

yard Near Gutsck-Jars leo Years Ole.
Tho world moves slowly in tho East. The
Oriental never OF his own free will changes
anything. In travelling through Asia you are
often brought In contact with scenes that CON-
jure up at once visions Of Old Testament times.
One OF my most interesting recollections In
connection with this phase OF Asiatio life Is q
wine-making soene in Persia. There is q good
deal OF wine made and drank In the Shah's
dominions, and the nodus operand OF extract
ing the juice. fermentation. &C., is probably
about the same now as 1t was in the days Of
King Darius. Neither tho vino itself nor tho
process OF making It has, We may easily be-
lieve. undergone any material change sinco
Darius and his mobiles held their nightly oarou-
sails in tho banQueting halls Of Babylon. The
Persian mobiles are as bibulously inclined these
days as they were then. though thor hold their
revels less openly.
The finest wine In Persia 10 made In shirah.
It is known as Cholar wine, and Is such L. ia
nous all over Central Asia. One Of the frst
things given to me BY the Afghan ofacisl who
arrested me at Furrah. while I was making my
tour through the country on my bicycle. was =
bottle Of Cholar wine. To get to Furrah It had
been conveyed not loss than 1900 miles BY
mule or camel caravan.
The people OF Shiraz are celebrated through
ous ! " NAoAA - 0ho uAopooA-
tons. While the average Persian, outside the
nobility. Is a calculating. mercenary trader and
traficker. the Shirazt is . gallant, Q beau. .
FREQ liver, The best soldiers In Persin are at
Shiraz, and the ~loveliest women: from Shirn1
also Issue hundreds Of lutis or bufioons who
wander about oil over tho empire, singing.
tom-tomlng. and exhibiting trained monkeys.
Persspolis. believed to have been . mighty
city before tho birth Of Babylon, and about tho
earliest home Of pomp. wealth. and magnia-
ccnce, Is situated near Shiraz. The old pagan
kings and nobility OF Persepolis were royal
wassailers. Drunkenness and revelry were
carried to an extreme In the marble halls OF
this ancient Iranian capital that We OF to-day
little dream Of. One has but to taste the IA
nous Cholar wine. note the curious difference
between the Shirazis and other Persians OF to-
day, and then look up at the old ruins Of Per-
sepolist to come to the conclusion that the three
things have some mysterious connection.
No finer grapes are grown anywhere than in
Persia, saying nothing Of peaches, a%pricots.
pears. and other fruits. In some seasons they
are SO plentiful, too, and so cheap that the
people feed them to their horses and donkeys.
On certain varieties OF sweet grapes horses are
said to thrive very we'll indeed for q while. For
several months In tho year they also form
one OF the staple articles OF food for the poor.
Every autumn one meets on the roads whole
caravans Of donkeys and mules. and some
times OF camels, laden entirely with grapes.
They are carrying the grapes from outlying
vineyards to the cities for making wine. Ger
tain vineyards. or districts. are celebrated for
the excellence Of their wine grapes. and the
grapes from these particular vineyards are
sometimes carried to cities distant several
days Journey.
The ChoIar grapes grow in vineyards four
valued for wine making that there is no end Of
rivalry md intrigue among the ShiraZ mobiles
1G a'i bask. .ss@ eall. rhf iodd DANES q Esa iai ieSah IN h pSdas
two Of tho lesser size being a donkey load, and
arrived in, Persia in the middle Of the crane
e esssen an !" inte sh9ftly s a,tsr rsSeh III sb re a1assss be- e.
maxi aH w vHisse thSro .ps The house US M in '1 WHICH, 1
Der Of the, Persian Telegraph, Department 1t
awakened my curiosity. was three huge earth:
tss' eon isss d.af Thegy. W We = sG ';sr sf th ane stood s,oi as Ss
high as 9 mans shoulder. and bellied out much
In hn,d ne .h shap ,b; o. slender ss,, barrels. Each vessel
What are they tor-to hold rain water" was
the z Hs' "ua;d query that hst. su g st Itself I ,s to mae;
old T.rsiap wine jars. that were In use 5000
hut not these same iars-2.0oo years7"
mo. not exactly; but those three jars have
r,oSabliy y, h I'D vine vi, isr%%sn'sa in them e. every ,Ssy
The Persians believe that these wine Jars i'm.
prove with age. Just as the wine itself docs. and
INT ~, better, ers wine can % made a hnr n oId Jars IN ,hn n
worth several times more than a now one. not
because of any value attached to its antiquity
seasoned vessel. Good wine. they say. cannot
DO made In new jars; tho olderthe Jars the bot
Tho Mohammsdan Injunction against tho
making and drinking Of intoxicants has had tho
effect OF making sad hypocrites of thrse-fourths
not only do not Indulge. but they profess t9 70
The wine.tnaking season arrives there is ~
much wire pulling and diplomacy employed
among tho Persians to make wine on tho Iuiot.
u political campaign.
The great scheme among tho mobiles OF Te-
Wishes Wfshs 10 m make vino for Rimself. and by eoins
halves With him secure 9 supply for their own
nss; ior So i = nor yses 4 sd Ica ~; sba r,s sEfa RiSd
OF a Persian. II he is an old resident OF tho
place. and y connoisseur, OF grapss and wine.
SLAMS are, ne is q valuable partner to have. He
knows whore tbs best grapes are. to be OBJ:
isInsai all pr ssSss n ana %i,I 'I so MINE IN BY hs .ni III Id
the scandal Of making wine In his own house; or
Persian pnrtn0r IL mercy q visitor. an interest
ed on-iooker; whom tho intruder leaves. ho
blossoms ut once into the knowing superin-
tendsnt and expert
finding in tho person Of Mollah Aghn Hassan-
or. to be moro correct, Mollah Agha NISSAN did
tho finding. Hassan sent word round by his
farrash ons day, asking the privilege Of an In
terview with n Sahib-R private inter-
view. The interview took place that afternoon
and ended favorably.
MolIah Hassan had hoard that ~ intend
cd to brew wine, and was DESTROYS Of becoming
q secret partner to tho transaction. He would
share half the expense. and superintend the
making Of the vino. When it was made he was
to take half.
out to u big vineyard near Gulack. In the foot
hills OF the Elburz Mountains. to pick out the
necessary quantity OF grapes. Hassnn said 1t
was best to buy them on the vines md leave
mud walls twenty feet high. A little stream of
water lowed beneath an %opsniHE In tho wal at
wafer was used for irriGating the vines.
Instead OF bolnG trained, un posts or trcllis
Of dry,earth. The coil Of tho vineyard was piled
high. The vines were planted in the trenches.
made perpendicular on the south side, but