The Washington critic. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1889-1889, 1889-06-19
VIRGINIA WINES.

A Charlottesville (Va.) correspondent
Of the New York Commercial Aduertisey
writes; AS one comes into Charlottes.
| Vile, Va. from the east, a large build.
ing set In the mouth of ravine and
prettily overrhadowed by oaks and
| clms, attracts attention A big sign
declares II TO be q wine house, and re-
minds one that this town Is the centre
OF the important wine making and
grape growing industry Of Virginia.
Walking out to these wine cellars, |
| find Mr.. a. Russow In chnrge--a genial
German who has become American
apparently, In inverse ratio 10 his
alien.like wines. He took me first to a
subcellar or great double vault, full of
darkness and rotund casks, each Of
which would hold 1900 or 1000 gal.
Ions OF wine, which stays here for
years, seasoning In quiet GOODNESS and
| gloom. Our heaviest wines will not
even settle properly in less than two
years" Mr. Russow tells me, "and of
this, )" holding his candle up to caslS
marked Norton, 49," 1.-The sediment
makes an excellent dye" Above this
was second cellar, containing tier
upon tier Of immense casks, each
chalked with the kind and age of It's
contents.
I'VE make both white and red
wines" the manager remarks, Fbut
principally the latter. OF the white
wines we make Catawba, which has
less acidity than that Of Ohio. and a
yellow Delaware that Is as soft as silk
and has great body A poor sort of
Sherry can also be made, much like the
natural Sherry of Spain, which contains
only fourteen TO seventeen per cent of
alcohol until II is fortified up TO thirty
per cent In London docks.
The red wines In these casks are of
two kinds" he continues. Zone is n
light, sound clarct, made almost ex.
clusively of Concord grapes, and far
superior to the sin 0rdiadire usually
imported, or at any rate, sold by the
dealers. Its strength In alcohol Is only
from 3 to 10 per cent, and the wine Is
absolutely pure. It's only objection Is
that II contains rather more tannin than
the foreign wines. II Is sold very ex-
tensively as table wine throughout
the South and West, the factory charg.
ing eighty cents TO $125 a gallon, or
1926 to IA per case of twelve bottles,
according TO age. A claret made from
the Ives Seeding has some astringency
and fine color and improves with age
The same is true of the uncommon AL.
vey claret, which resembles a fine Bor-
deaux. The wine of the Clinton grape
az first tastes of wintergrecn and Is not
much liked, but that flavor disappears
after time"
But what Is this Norton and Gym.
thiana' marked on so many of these
huge casks2" l ask.
They are wines made from grapes
OF that name which comes TO perfection
only in Albemarle county and on GER
tain soils. Like all other american
grapes that amount TO anything, these
are cultivated varieties from wild ma
tive stock. The former was produced
by Dr. Norton, who lived on Cedar
Island In the James River, just above
Richmond. II is small grape, grow.
ing In heavy punches, almost black In
color, and, as IL abounds in tannin,
furnishes a wine thoroughly Burgundian
in character. The Cynthiana is very
similar, but originated In Arkansas and
is less grown. II Is curious fact that
these two grapes, and the Norton in
particular, only come to perfection In
this one locality, and upon the red soils.
j can tell at glance when a quantity of
these grapes Is brought to me by a
farmer whether they grew upon the
gray soil or the red"
''The redness of the hill soil is due TO
the excess Of iron-rust II contains" l
ventured TO say.
Yes, and the grapes take up so much
OF this that the Norton wine is highly
recommended by physicians as pre-.
ventive Of malarial fevers and as valu.
able in diseases OF the bowels. These
Burgundies are highly esteemed in
Europe, where they took the silver
medal at the Paris Exposition of 1878.
The older they are the better. Nearly
all of this sort goes to New York,
where the most of It is sold for what
II Is, but a large quantity is bought
by importers and given to the public
as imported.
1t is rather odd, by the way, that al.
most every article used in the bottling
house is imported. The bottles them
selves are of German make. American
bottles are cast, not blown, and show
the mark down each side of the mold.
They are not SO good as the German,
nor can the French make an equal bot
tie. The straw jackets are imported
from Germany, ready made, because
the American straw is too brittle. The
corks and the corking machine are both
Of foreign make, and the packing cases
are made in New York and sent here
cheaper and better than the local makers
can produce them. Until lately even
the wire nails with which they We're
fastened came from England
While we are testing samples of the
different wines some interesting facts in
regard to grape culture in Virginia, and
Its importance as an agricultural re.
source in this central part of the State,
are communicated Albemarle County
has always been noted for its fruit.
There is the home Of the Albemarle
pippin-probably the best apple in the
world, and more often seen In England
than in America, for nearly the whole
crop is directly exported TO Liverpool.
Peaches do well, too. and are acquiring
commercial importance. Grapes were
planted in every garden long before the
war; and many families always made q
few gallons of cordial for home use II
was not, however, until the close of the
war found everybody utterly poor, and
the great farms practically untillable
because the slaves were free, and the
planters had little means of hiring
labor, that grape culture, properly
speaking, began
II originated with few German resi-
dents who had little vineyards, and now
tried the experiment of making red fer
mented wine In their house cellars. The
product proved excellent and found a
ready sale, 1t was seen that here was q
money making industry which might
be engaged in al once with cOmpara