The Grenada gazette., 1888-03-31
VINTAGE IN cvpava

i 4 Cssvss DsAgs - " hseA sAs CO. si,s
Cypstss = vsAss shs 0ssess.
The first days Of August open The
general vintage although the grapes
from the warmest spots are sold and
eaten from the end of May oaward--
and ito duration OF some six weeks 10
due partly to the widely differing alti.
tudes and aspects Of the whey ards
| and partly to the custom Of first
| gathering and pressing the inferior
grapes and leaving the best until the
end Of October to ovcrripen and grow
sweet for the choicest wines They
arc pounded with hat mallets on 8
sloping hard Aosr before pressing,
and the deep-red must fermsnt in i'm.
mense inverted pear.shaped stone.
ware jars half sunk in the ground
When the jars are. at the end Of some
six weeks covered over the wine has
become lighter in color The Jars,
which arc baked 80 large as to hold
from twelve to twenty barrels. have.
been made probably from all an,iq uity
ct the villages Of Lapith ,s. Korno,
and Varoshia The custom OF bury.
ing those holding the best wine in
deep trenches has long furnis ishcd the
cunning Cypriot with means Of
evading the gaugeE Beirz 2or.
Gus. these jars are coated with p.cil.
or with compost Of pitch. tnrpen.
tine. vine ashes sand and goats h.ir.
This applied boiling. penctrates the.
substance Of the jar and never qpits.
1t. and partly accounts for the repul-
sive taste and smell of almost ali the
coarser and newer Cyprus wines But
the chief cause Of this tar flavor Is the
transport Of the wine In skins, which
are also stanched with pitch within.
The churning Of the wine in these.
under an Eastern sun during q tedious.
Journey. completes the ruin OF the
wine for European pala'a and it takes
it ten or fifteen years to recover. The
local taste Of course approves. and IL
is no worse from hygicnic point d
view than Berkeley's once-famou. tar.
water. which is still upheld here and
there at the table d ho.e OF the French
and Belgian bagmen. The only rad.
lcal cure for it is to make roads prac.
Iicable for carts into the wine districts,
10 that the merchants Of the towns
Tor Mohammed must go to the mount
'in-can send up pure casks and
bring down the wine themselves
some efforts have lately been made in
his direction near Limasso, and wine
low in some places comes down In,
vood on camels instead nf in skins on
Ionkeys and mules. but the vast ma.
ority OF the communications are all
'ut impracticable noun; ain paths
nd mule tracks, which drive the
'easants to the use Of the wine-skin.
he more fastidious residents Of the
'calas have long been accustomed to
end up the large glass demijohns
Arabic. dancjana) cased in wicker.
'ork ON donkey-back. to bring down
,eir household wine in c!eanly fashion
ON the vineyards aud tho vine
eeps better in dalne-jeanne than in
ood. but then they are fragile. 81
ing as the wine was worth little or
othing the pitch did not matter
ANY Spanish village was plastered
ith mortar made with wine, as being
sndier than water; but nov that,
ran ce's difficulties have given Cyprus
opportunity. we ought no longer
have Cyprus wines offered in posi-.
rely repclant condition. as they were
the Colonial Exhibition last year.
Is curious to find that, so long as
10 hundred and twenty years ago.
me winemakers from Provence es-
blished themselves at Omodos to,
adicate the pitching practices. and
and good foreign market tor their
oduce. Saturday Revicw.