The morning call., 1893-12-14
WINE INTERESTS.
6. A. WetmOre on Old
hams Reports.
AS to the Shipment of Samples to
the Royal Commission in
London, England.

At meeting of the State Viticultural Com
mission of California, held last Tuesday, the
following communication. which is OF interest
to all engaged In the wine industry in this
State, was read:
The report to the British Royal Commission Oh
California wines and brandies made by Charles +.
Oldham OF London has been printed in full by all
the leading wine trade reviews Of this country,
anu anu WIN NO uouot troFe 10 % the ntsl important
step toward nprejudced crItt; recognition o.
the varying merits and improving conditions. AS
wei as the shortcomings of our vihtages. AS
soon as the general wine trade accepts California
products, subject 10 ths distinctions OF quality
and vintages the grower who aims at qualify viii
have a chance To rise in the market above the
dead rrovincial level.
Under the arrangement which was made with
the British Royal Commsslo on, the report of Mr..
Oldham was TO be public matter. to be followed
hy tn Transmission to the Royal Commission in
Lo n don through him of samples OF such wines and
brandies as he ght select for further and more
praetlcaiiy effective examination and demonstra-
ton. IL 1.-THE proof OF the pudding is the eating
the proof OF Mr.. uidhsms criticisms will be in the
future Sampling III London.
II was my understanding with Mr.. Oldham that
sa mples In liberal Quantities of all the wines and
brandies especially designated in his report should
be collected by the State NItieultura Commission
and forwarded at the expense OF the State TO him.
This should be done without any unnecessary de-
lay: The expense of transportation and the
British duties Will not be very great item.
lnere are some directions which Will need to be
carefully attended o.
firSt-Let it be borne in mind s O this shin
ment and any others that our producers may con-
template that under recent law the regulations
OF the British custom service are Chinese wall
against any goods which bear according TO British
ideas false representation. For instance Mr.
Oldham Informed me that a lot OF wine shipped
In barrels from Santa Clara county was stopped
bee ause the WORD burgundy" was on the heads.
He is IN doubt whether ne could get them al ali
even after offering TO scrape the offending word
from the wood. Ii is assumed in England that
burgundy means French VINE unless uumis-
Ia kea0ly described as "CaIifornia burgundy" not
withstandng the fact that the real signifcation
OF the term In a French sense is very vague.
There Is telling what difficulties nigh arise
from the popular mercantile use oi general terms
such as "Hock," Port" Sherry" "Sauterne' and
champagne" II the popular term ..Burgundy'
causes diIncuity what might happen TO a cask
marked - ohnnisberg Riesllng' o a "ToEay."
Bearing this IN mind it would probably be best
to put all saml les in new, unstamped boxes, viz.
without proprietary brands, and To label bottles
ana marx cases with simply the names OF exhib-
itors. and distinctive terms after the following
fashion: California wine. from Riesng grapes"
or IRON Sauterne grapes varieties or 'Sau-
terne types" In all cases indicating the Califor-
MIA origin in connection with all of terms of
foreign character This work, to avoid trouble.
ought to be done by wine per annum for five
years, provided the American duty on still wines
IS reduced TO rs cents gallon (33 r. pr. hecro
Tie details can easily be arranged by appointing
say. NJ Albert Schuyler, to treat with the CaIifor
mia state Committee on VitieuIture in regard to
quality. shipment, etc. If bordeaux will send
him, or anybody like him. we Will guarantee him
against Indians. the cataract of Niagara and
American whisky. He ought to be here by Christ
mas.
Whoever the bordeaux people have had here re-
Gently appears not TO have succeeded nor to have
been wise In his methods The suggestion voiced
through BonfoTts mas been cabled 10 Bordea ux.
ana the result is made partially known by the iol
lowing news dispatch which appeared In the New
York papers. viz:
PARIS, Dec. The Bordeaux Society of Polit,-
cal Economy yesterday decided to ask the French
Government TO open treaty Of commerce between
aud members OF the Chamber OF Deputies repre-
senting the Department, OF the Gironde to
their influence In behalf of the proposal
We may assume now that the agent OF the Bor-
deaux wine men is now on his way to our country,
Iully empowered TO act for a syndicate
In Connection with these movements the reports
OF the last vintages In Europe and the market
| quotations from new wines are interesting.
The French vintage for 1898 is estimated at
I,3OOOOO,O0O gallons. This amount Is about
double what IL was few years ago. and almost
SS9s TO 'n' average for the ten years prior to
There appears to be some reason to believe that
the phyiOxera plague has spent Its force and that
| it Will now succumb to careful management.
The importations into France from Spain have
Degun TO materially diminish; The increase of
| the French vintages aided by the Inventions
which have been introduced during the period OF
scarcity such as second wines" made with cane
| sugar ana pOmace, and raisin wines, has made il
possible for the large exporters TO think OF In
creaslng expectations. especially to those coun-
| tries like the United States which have been edu-
| gaiSoD).
by reference to "Bonforts" European CORE
spondence, published on the goth ult, 1t will be
seen that wines have been sold In all districts
| at very low prices because coopeIage was lacking.
In the Herauit, light grade Ararnon wines sold
at 10 to IL francs per hectoligre or about cents
per gallon; superior quality Ararnons at II TO 13
francs. or about Va 10 cents per gallon: other
superior wines, 10 TO IL francs, or l112 to 1912
cents Der gallon.
In AGiers good wines of II to Il degs. of alco-
mol" are worth from TO 10 francs per hectolter
& TO cents per gallon) "and distilery wines 10
centimes per DEGREE"
Considerable quantities OF fair qualities of '93
Medocs have been sold from 25 TO 80 cents per
gallon.
France could easily use a quantity of stout Cali
I fornla wines 20 be blended for exportation,
thereby saving all duties, but whether she can pay
enough To make 1t profitable TO use them is the
question. Perhaps a compromise she can.
There are several views OF this tariff question,
which may be taken seriously under consideration
with reference to our future prosperity, but do
not propose to be a volunteer in the coming fight.
L leave the subject with caution TO the vine-
growers to take charge OF their own interests.
CHARLES A. WETMoRE.
RAI DOAD MATTEQS