The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-27
A WOMAN EXPERT ON WINES.
TELLS OF DIFFERENT PRODUCT OF
CALIFORNIA VINEYARDS.

From the Denver (Col) Sunday Post.
wines We're made as early as ITO in
California" says Mrs. Frona Wait. the
wine expert. "They were manufactured by
the padres at the missions, and, as they
have always done, the padres began to en-
courage this industry. You know those
wines the monks have made famous, the
Benedictine. the greens white Chartreuse,
made by the Franciscan Brotherhood, re-
quiring 800 years of study and endeavor to
produce, and the celebrated Closvoguet, a
Burgundy more precious than champagne.
And, by the way, there is a pretty
story about the Closvoguet. During the
Franco russian war when the German
army swept past the old monastery of
Closvoguet the German commander made
his froces pause, present arms, and salute
the venerable walls. Even the German
knew and loved a good wine, and out of
that love felt called upon to honor the ex-
ceeding good vintage in an enemy's scoun-
try.
The Roman Church has always fos-
tered the cultivation of high-grade wines,
for the Catholic takes the view that the
temperate use of wines is beneficial. They
realize that all wine districts are temper
ate districts, and the only way in the
world to use wine is to make it food
drink-something to be taken with fooA
How does Omar Khayyam glorify it in
the Rubaiyat? And you remember our
own Eugene Fields "a large cold ootue
and a small hot bird?
ITO begin with, winemakng is gen
tleman's occupation. No unfeeling, unpo-
etc soul could possibly produce me
wine There is ceaseless energy and care
devoted to it, fact true OF every WINE
district. not only of California, but Of the
world. Grapes do not grow every place.
the fine grape is found in little pockets III
the valley. The Chateau La1tte Is mace
of the Cabaret Sauvignon-a beautiful
grape belonging to the noble vines, only
Welding one and one-half tons to the
acre. when any grape of a common order
Yields from seven to eight tons. 1t Is
shy bearer and five to eight years are
necessary to mature 1t. And apropos OF
the Chateau Lafitte the wine is a blend
of the Cabaret, the Semmillon, the Petit
Pinot and the Sauvignon France.
SIN California we grow the Identical
vines and have the soil so closely analyz-
believe it the same soil. We have the
same saline air and the same fogs, so
necessary to the development of the grape
There is at least one vineyard where not
a Bit of machinery is used, and where all
the product is by hand work. We pro-
duce a Chateau Laffitte, not the real. but
| possessing many of the characteristics of
! the genuine.
IAN of the Livermore valley will not
| -ofa fl,o a
| Crane is found in pockets If we have a
| .high-grade Burgundy, It will come from
| the foothills. and the Sauternes will come
from Liyernore, with the high-grade clar-
| cts from the Upper Napa and Sonoma
| county. The sweet wines will hail from
Fresno and Los Angeles counties; the
sherry from Fresno, and the port from
Los Angeles.
II am not exuberant in my praise of our
wines. Paul Deschanel. president of the
| Chamber of Deputies, at Paris, with whom
1 lunched in San Francisco. is loud in his
praise of our wine. Signor Rosatti, the
! Italian government expert, sent to this
| country to report on our wines, has re-
| ported most favorably and confesses his
| sunrise. F. d. Oldham, the London ex-
pert, who ranks with Henry Vizittely, has
expressed open admiration, Senior Dupuy
| de LONE, late Spanish minister to Wash
| 1n2tOn, anu pTSSlu6Ilb Ol Tic July VI
awards at the worlds fair, and Duncan
Bankhardt, sent by the Mayor Of Cette
to California TO purchase wines for the
Mayors cellars, are other converts to our
| American wines.
''They found that their win ordinaire'
land by the way, st. Julien is nothing but
1 the commonest kind of cheap clareO, is
outranked on every point by our Zinfandel.
| This statement is according to the French
decision. Now, what are its points?
"When we pay tariff on wine We first
decide on its vinosity, that is 10 say, the
percentage of natural alcohol that it car
| ried which must be Is per cent, and the
| Frenchman congratulates himself If this
| amount is carried by the wine naturally
| without fertilization. He Is accustomed
| to find 1t fortified by potato juice and col
| ored by beet juice. The next thing Is It's
color and the next body-which is not
strength, remember--but the velvety,
smooth character of1the wine, and finally
| it's aroma and bouquet. You say aroma
for white wine and bouquet in reference
| to the red wine.
"If these qualities ranks Al your wine
! is standard We found our Zinfandel had
all these points, and Frenchmen buy
all they can get of it, Why haven't we
shipped more to Europe? Because of that
mysterious blending process called the
| marriage of wines, which must take pace
within the year or else each grape sets up
its own claim for excellence and will not
blend. Now, a sea voyage greatly i'm
| proves the quality of any wine, and we
would naturally send ii by sea. but 1t does
not reach Bordeaux in time, as 1t has to
go around the Horn. 1t is not in time for
| this marriage when the voyage Is ended.
seWith the opening of the Nicaragua ca
nal there win be no difficulty and we will
have a market for 9Oo0OO,OOO gallons a
year. because this is what France imports
every twelve months. When you buy
French wine in this country do you get
il from France? Not bit of 1t. You are
merely paying for the French cellar mas
ter's art We do not raise enough to sup
ply the port of Havre alone. Our market
is glutted by 100000 gallons.
$50 poor is the ordinary French wine
that a tariff Of only francs Is placed on
every hectaliter, equal to BIZ gallons. al
most a half barrel. 1t is not higher than
per cent alcohol. II Is wonder we
have men who VIII stick 10 if and raise
L., tbo faro of what we have to- rom