The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1897-10-28
WINES IN AMERICA.


Champagne Is by No Means the Most Ex.
ga pensive Used.
The consumptionS4 wines il tbs
United States is detlssaslng y
the imported wines q Fned
and increasing as fis ma
tive product, say Chicago
Chronicle. The WirI rance and
Germany, the fanJous Rhine wines
and the French pdrgund ysand claret,
are not in demand to any extent
among native Americans Tbosd
Americans who have Travelled 3
great deal on the continent affect
me imported wines, but the average
citizen does not. Some Of these
wines cost considerably more than
champagne, and their particularsex-
cellence is only known to the con-
noisseur.
The Americans who have bit &C.
CURED taste for beverages this
kind either stick to the pls h corn
juice of commerce or the d eering
or inebriating beer, or, if thd drink
wine, they tackle the honhemade
stuff.
Among the steadiest partial ers of
these wines are those of the reign
population who have come this
country with the taste alrea& ac-
quired. Here in Chicago the ELS
mans and French knowyf mes
and drink them, but their son do
not follow in the footsteps of thfir
ancestry in this respect, SO that ii
trade in the rarest OF the German
and French wines is confined in CHI
cago to the foreign born and few
Americans. Some champagne is
,drunk~-a good deal, in fact, com
pared with other wines imported,
and that is brought from France.
The French have D practical mo-
nopoly of the champagne marked
There are two reasons f6r this. he
first is that the grape Used ia BE
manufacture Of champagneE gra
best in France, and the second
sonis the long continuance of chs
payne making in that country. q
grape used is fit for making no 9TH
er wine
But the making of wines and their
consumption have advanced won
derfully in this country, and with
the increase has come the falling off
in the demand for imported wine.
More than half ambition gallons
of California winefis sod inSC Iji,
cago every year, and the sales ARE
increasing each year. The industry
in California has doubled itself -four
times in the past 90 years.
The best grapes for the dry whitl
wines are the Semilion, Pedroxi
mines, Riesling, Sistan, green Hun
garian, Chardonay, Sauvighon
Blanc and Burger, by the blending
of which all types Of dry white
wines are produced. OF what arr
known as the black grapes, used fol
the making of the dry red wines
the varieties used mostly are the
Petite Sirrah, Duriff -Mondeuse, Neb
biola, Beclan, Barbera, Alicante
bourchet and Tannet.
The best dry sherry and port come
from Spain. Dry wines attain then
best at about five years in the cask
If bottled and Theoretically sealed
they will grow mellower, but in any
other respect no better by age
Sweet wines improve when bottled
for 20 years and possibly after that
American wines are driving foreign
wines from the market, except as t.
the very fine brands Of German ant
French wines and champagne. The
American growers have not yet sue
ceeded in making good champagne
but that they will do SO is assured.
What port wine is consumed in
Chicago ought to come from Oporto,
and the grapes from which it is
made should have been grown along
the banks of the Douro river, for in
that case it is the real stuff, but it is
extremely difficult to get hold of
first class port and sherry, and only
by dealing with the best dealers is
there any hope of obtaining pure
wines of these kinds.
Deadly Literalness.