The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-03-27

has been deposited. which must DO removed
before the wine is ready for consumption.
The bottles. therefore. arc placed In slantine
direction. with tho necks downward. and the
angle OF inclination il altered from time to
time till they stand almost perpendicular.
Eventually the deposit collects In a ball in the
neck OF tho bottle. whence 1t is blown out
when the original cork Is removed. A tenn
porary stopper is inserted. until the liaucur
which is to give the vino its distinctive
character. dry or sweet. is introduced.
This liuueur Is n combination OF the finest
rock candy. the best champagne. ana the old
cst and purest coGnac. In tho final stage OF
the process the bottles receive their per-
mancnt corks and are carefully wired. They
are then allowed to rest for two or three
months. in order that the wine and liqueur
may properly amalgamate; but some Of the
best wines are kept for years to mature, and
thus acquire. OF course. far higher value. 1t
ia interesting to learn that a sweet champagne
can be made Of any wine. but dry champagne
must be good wine. as. IL it DO not sound. It's
acidity is detected ut once.
| v.
Next to champagne. the French wine which
| Americans most care to hear about Is
Bordeaux. ostensibly the product OF tho
region watered by the rivers Dordogne. Ga
| rome. and Gironde. As matter OF fact the
quantity shipped from Bordeaux to all parts
| OF the world. compared to tho acreage OF
growth. entirely precudes the suppositon
that it could all have been tho outcome OF tho
Mcdoc district Tho compilers cnumerate the
rod wines OF Medoc comprised in the first Ave
classes. or "growths." but disregard the moro
inferior grades. whose name is legion. We be-
lieve the ompilers to be right in asserting TINT
fha ersr, CT plyf,
Latlttc. Chateau Latour. Chateau Margaux. and
Chateau Haut-Brion: but 1t has been for some
time supposed that the official classiers
would soon transfer Chateau Mouton from the
| head OF the second growths to the small group
OF first growths. We are reminded that the
pre,niers tr',s nre not always good. For in
stance. In 1863 a very large parcel of Chateau
Margaux was sold at auction for about thirty
| shillings per Dozen There was no doubt that
4 it vas genuine wine bottled at tho chateau !:
but OF such low quality was it. or 1t deterio-
rated so RAPIDLY. that when sold again in 1871
| 1t only averaged eighteen shilings per dozen.
or the white wines of the Medoc and adioin-
ing districts only two receive particular at
| tention. One OF these. the well-known Chateau
| diquem OF the Marquis do Lur Saluces. is
| said to owe its exquisite bouquet and delicious
| flavor to the presence Of mannite, which. ac-
| cording to the French chemist Berthelot, has
the peculiar quality Of not becoming trans
formed into alcohol and carbonic acid during
the process OF fermentation. The other wine
| deemed worthy OF notice Is the La Tour
Blanche. which among the liaueur-like saul
| ternes ranks after Chateau d'Yquem. Tho
characteristic qualities Of the last named wine
| are the results Of an extremely complicated
and delicate process.
| Passing to the wines OF Burgundy. the COM
pliers note that the vine growers divide the
district OF Cote dor into two sections. the Cote
de Nuts and the Cote &c Bcaune. tho first Of
| which produces the finest wines. OF oil the
Burgundies. Romance Cont is pronounced the
king. and naturally Clos-Vougeot is placed
next. 1t is pointed out however. that there
are plenty OF good Burgundies to be bought at
moderate prices. rs. for example. Chamber
tin and Nolnay. The compilers say that Chnblis
| Is chief among the white Burgundies: they
| mean. OF course. the best known in England and
the United States: Montrachet is incomnarably
superior They do not, on the other hand.
| make the mistake OF referring red and white
| Hermitage to the Cote dor. These admirable
| wines belong to the products OF tho C5tes du
| Rhone. AS to the vntaGes of l.angaedoc. the
| compilers content themselves with saying that
| Roussillon Is nearly cs good as burgundy. and
| after being manipulated Mt Cette is often
palmed off for Port. Unconscious liaueur.llke
| wine known as Muscat Of Lunel is also worthy
| Of mention.
| On the Rhine or on its tributary rivers. be-
tween Coblentz and Maycnce. all the most cell
| ebrated wines OF Germany arc grown. Tho
grape preferred fcr cultivation in this
region is the Riesling. q small white. harsh
Species The reputed characteristics OF Ger
man wines are generosity. dryness. fine flavor.
and endurance OF nSe. 1t is averred that even
tho strongest are never saturated with brandy.
The whole eastern bank Of tho Rhine to Lorich
"a tract called tho Rheingau. nbout fourteen
miles in extent-has been famous for its wines
for ages. Here is Schloss-J ohannlsberger.
once nearly destroyed by Gen. Hoche.
To Steinberger is assigned the next rank.
Grafenberg is thought to produce wine equal
to RGdesheimer. which is q wine OF the first
Rhine growths. Marcobrunner. Roth. and
K0ngsbach are highly esteemed. but Bach
arach has lost its former celebrity. We have
thus far spoken only Of the white wines of the
Rhine country its red wines are deemed in
ferlor Red Asmannshauser Is pronounced the
best. The most celebrated OF Moselle wines
is tho Brauncbcrger OF which there are nu-
merous varieties. One OF these. known us
GrucnhNuser. used to DO styled the nectar OF
the Mosell,. In Wnrtzberg Is grown Stein
vein. produced on mountain SO called and
named by the hospital to which 1t belongs
Wine OF the Holy Ghost.
We obtain from this book very little lnforma-
ton about tho wines o! Hungary beyond the
statement that they possess considerable
body and certain amount OF as
trlngency. The compilers might as we'll
have mentioned tho interesting fact that
tho Hungarian methods Of dealing with the
grape hnrs been handed down straight from
tho Romans one OF the Angevin Kings having
transferred from Italy not only vines. but vine
growers ana wine makers With regard to the
Tokay esscnce, we are reminded that it should
BIO very old. and we arc assured that when fifty
years in bottle it costs presumably In Vienna)
some fifteen dollars for small flask. The
compilers Of this volume think that the value
OF Tokny essence is duo to the caprice OF
fashion. They assert that the Muscadine Of
Syracuse or the Lagrma OF Malaga is equal to
it In richness. and that all buyers would think
SO II they dared to have q taste OF their own.
1t seems that Ausbruch. also sweet wine OF
Hungary. should be old. Maszacz Is OF four
kinds. tho best Of which does not get into
trade. MeoGrad. Krasso. and Vilany. from the
u,aut ~ uununrr MA cital 0onJ avn ~, pI,s