Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-10-26
BOOK NOTICES.


WINES AND VINES OF CALIFoRsIA.-A treatise
on the Ethics of Wine Drinking. by Frona
Eunice Wait. Endorsed by the Board of State
Viticultural Commissioners of California.
San Francisco: The Bancroft Company.
The discourses INDUCED in by the author
of this volume are such as prominently
engage the Viticultural Commission, and
all wine-growers. The author announces
it as ''the firstling of my pen" an apollo
getic introduction that should have been
omitted. AS a rule, all who write of
practical affairs, and especially those re-
lated to the material resources of State,
gain nothing by the pre- announcement
that it is first effort. All such books and
papers must be judged upon their merits.
The question of the juvenility cuts no fig
ure. Nor do we think it was necessary to
ask indulgence in this case The book is
creditable, indeed a valuable contribution
to the literature of wine.growing That
literature does not need literary finish; it
deals with hard facts, with commercial
problems, with financial results and with
the output of human labor and skill for
one definite and clearly defined end. Even
the ethics of winedrinking are not to any
considerable degree sentimental Never
theless the author has given much of lit
erary character TO her paper; the diction is
strong, clean and has those graces that give
a good flavor to frank text. There
is no unwarrantable statement, so far as
our own knowledge of viticultural interests
qualities us to judge. On the contrary, the
tone is temperate and moderate, and it is
as free from the epithetical as from the
fanaticai.
The subject of wine drinking is treated
in this book with fairness and the energy
of conscientious writer, and it therefore
will command attention.
Vine growing is fact in California /;
wine making is its inseparable ally. The
two are potential industries of the State.
They are to give value to our lands and aug
ment our exports. They are, therefore, to be
considered with small regard for senti-
ment But the capable and graceful writer
of this book has seen fit to devote one
chapter to Wine as temperance agent"
1t is scarcely necessary TO say that she con-
tends for wine as food drink; as the
means for reaching that temperate plane
that lies between prohibition and the
excessive use of alcoholic beverages from
which flows so long train of ills. In a
spirit of humor that testifies to native
wit, she reaches the conclusion
that the drinker of pure California
light wines is better of stomach than the
ascetic absainer whose intemperance OF
diet in other directions makes him too
often "bilious" She holds that it has been
demonstrated that the free introduction OF
wholesome native wines to the table, is a
positive and successful assault upon the
perpendicular spirituous drinking that re.
suits in dyspepsia and drunkenness-iu
short, that the wine drinker from the table
does not make a tipple Of his bottle
but using wine as food, eschews the
between times drinks and the alcoholic
beverage But it is not the purpose
nor in an ordinary review could we debate
the question with the lady, either to affirm
or deny her conclusions; and as dogmati(
assertion of belief is no proof, we prefer tc
give our readers glimpse of the contents
of the book, from the statistics and interest
ing facts, of which we cannot quote much
without, by the necessities of concise
ness, doing discredit to the work, which
while it is a delicate, shall We say adroit
and happy blending of literary effort, tech.
meal handling and advertising is none the
| less valuable work. 1t is largely personal
in its pages. 1t speaks of special vine
yards and of noted growers; O
owners, and of brands, of cellar:
and dealers with perfect freedom. Perhaps
it was as well. Why should she not, il
| treating of the vines and wines, tell u:
who grows and who makes and give u.
her opinion of qualities and soils auC
brands and methods, as well as to quot,
the testimony of others?
Since it is impossible outside of techni
| cal treatise, which the book is not, to pre-
sent the claims and tell the pleasant truth:
! of California as wine.growing State
without embracing the interest of every
vineyardist and every dealer there is
| therefore, no improperly in a writer OF
these subjects, in her own pages, speaking
of the people who are the pioneers
| in the work that Sir Edwin
Arnold has declared, as travelled man ant
cultivated observer, is to make us the wine
| supplier of the continent and large par
| of the rest of the world.
| And now what does the work contain
| that will interest our readers? 1t open.
with a chapter on "The Art of Wine
| making" and therein touches upor
| the wine production of the world. W.
| learn that we export to the Atlantic coas
as much wine already, as is imported tt
the United States from France, and tha
we consume of native production three
fourths as much as is imported into the
United States from all countries; but we also
learn that our native wines are sadly han
died and initiated, and that the genuine
anu QOOtOiC Gu 4dlBtll, IudSks
under French label, to satisfy the senti
ment that demands foreign brand
and accepts it as proof positive of ex.
cellence. But she finds that wine
drinking is increasing, and that Cali
fornia wines are growing in popularity
The chapter is not a consideration of the
methods of wine-making, but rather ar
eulogium upon our wines and discussion
of the reasons why our wine-marketine
has suffered. The chapter is, therefore
misnamed.
Chapter second interestingly tells us how
our native wines are managed. of the pick.
| ing of the grapes, their transference to the
winery, the stemming, crushing, fe-ment.
| ing storing, casking and bottling, blend.
ing, etc, and therein of the kind.
of wines, the distinction between
them, and the qualifications they should
have Chapter third is devoted to the his.
tory of the industry. The fourth is en-.
titled How 10 Drink Wine" and is by
Arpad Harazthy, the well known grower
dealer and wine connoisseur. 1t is a discus.
sion of customs, of conditions under which
to drink, of effects, of the art of serving
| wines, and of their cooling. The pith Of
| his chapter is that our wines would have 8
| better reputation if our Eastern friends un.
derstcod how to receive, how to handle and
how to care for them.
Chapter fifth treats of wine as a tenn.
perance agent, and the sixth of the
prominent winemen of California, and
of medals and honors won by brands
Napa, as the banner wine county, absorbs
chapter seven; Sonoma, ranking a close sec.
ond to Napa, has the eighth the
Livermore District, the ninth Los
Angeles vineyards the tenth; the Santa
Anita Ranch the eleventh; the sweet wines
of Fresno the twelfth.
Chapter thirteenth gives information Of
1