The morning call., 1894-09-11
OUR WINES.

The New York World OF September 4
has the fOllowing:
A gold medal was awarded yesterday TO the
California wine at the Antwerp Exhibition.
Foreigners visiting America who are fortunate
enough to taste the better grades OF real Cali
fornla vintage are astonished tnat we can pro-
duce such wines in America. But we DO not
think them good enough for US unit! they have
been exported to France and shipped back with
a foreign label.
Wine experts in the United States are
few In number. A proportion of the few
are in the business for what there is In the
business for them. Some of them are en-
plcyed by manufacturers of foreign wines,
with branches or agencies in the Unlted
States. Others have a social following
that enables them to draw profit from
recommendations of certain foreign brands.
There is story told, which happens to be
true, of playwright. who did not know
cne variety of champagne from another,
who was promised $1,000 to introduce the
name of a French champagne, with Off
hand intmation that no gentleman drank
any other variety. The champagne agent
spent another $1,000 in writing up the play.
He declared it the greatest play ever writ
ten. The agent. however, changed his
opinion of the merits of the play when he
witnessed the first performance. The
manager, who had not been let in with
the arrangement, made changes in the
text at the last moment, which
killed the play as an advertisement.
The mass of American wine-drinkers get
their ideas of the relative merits of wines
from such tricks as this. They order wine
that has been frequently recommended on
good authority. Very few would dare to
order wines for guests on their own iudg-
ment. If they get bad wine under a good
bel the responsibility does Aot lie with
them. The influence of society in Amer
lea is against California wines. The fact
that California wines are offered under
the cost of choicer European wines of cor
responding quality subjects host who
provides them to the suspicion of having
been Influenced in his choice by the fact
of comparative eheapness. There is not
probably a social leader in the United
States who would boldly proclaim that he
ordered California wine on its merits. At
least such courage would be as rare as that
possessed by a woman who should give or
ders to American milliners and dressmak-
ers on the ground that The homemade
article was the best in the market. There
are no brayer people in the world than
Americans, but socially they average sad
towards. Who among the social leaders
of New York, Philadelphia, Boston or
Baltimore has ever admit ed that he Liked
California wine? Wha. woman in the
United States will order an American
bonnet il her means enable her TO order
directly from Paris? Even our political
leaders imbibe their ideas from Paris or
London. President Cleveland has never
been west of Chicago. and he did not spend
much time in that city. If we were to
write out twenty names best known in the
East as embracing social, political and
finan cal standing the chances are that an
investigation would show that not one of
them had ever seen the Missouri River
They spend four months of each summer
in Europe, ana when they come home they
repeat the remark OF titled Englishman,
that. except Russia. there was no country
in Europe so unpleasant to. live in as the
United States.