The San Francisco call., 1899-09-10
CALIFORNIA WINES AND BI2ANDIES
BRING HIGH PRICES in FRANCE,
WHILE WE IMPORT THE FRENCH
VINTAGE UNDER THE DELUSION
THAT 1T is a SUPERIOR QUALITY.

houses of Chicago, by which the fruit Is
conducted to the crushers situated on the
third floor of the fermenting house. Here
the grapes are crushed, separated from
the stem and conducted by gravity to the
numerous fermenting tanks on a lower
floor. There they are allowed to como to
the proper stage of fermentation, when
the liquid is drawn off and either pumped
into the fortifyin2 tanks or the distillerY
The pomace is conducted to the hydraulic
presses. where any residue of liquid 1t
retains is extracted and pumped to the
distillery. The remaining portion of the
pumace is then hauled away and used as
hog feed.
The visitor will get a pretty fair idea
of the immensity of this work when he
is told that sometimes 800 tons of grapes
go through this process in one day. 1t
takes about 200 men to do the picking and
seventy-fiVe mule teams to haul what
they pile up.
The grape crop this season is expected
to amount to about 10000 tons, which will
produce about 100000 gallons of wine.
from which will be made about $4,000 gal
Ions of brandy. This wine is stored in
a wine cellar which has a capacity Of
about 1,75O,00O gallons.
The brandy goes to a special bonded
warehouse on the place, where II is looked
after and guarded by United States
house is not exactly known, but some
idea of its size may be obtained from the
fact that over GOO 900 gallons of the popu-
lar liquor has been stored there a. one
time
All this the man from the East will
learn as he goes from field to meadow
from orchard to vineyard and from cellar
to distillery, under the guidance of Mr..
Ramsay, who, though but 90 years OF
md
whose knowledge of the vine and fig tree
is so thorough that he has been chosen to
award the medals and prizes for the hor-
ticultural and yiticultural exhibit at the
Paris Exposition.
When the man from the East has been
shown the workings of this great industry
and driven over miles upon miles of road
way, as he goes from place to place tasting
pears here and grapes there, taking a sip
of wine from this storehouse and little
brandy from that one, patting the glossy
skin of a racing thoroughbred as a host
Ter holds open the door of one of a long
row of box-stalls, or subjecting himself
to the contempative scrutiny of a mild.
eyed, kind-f faced, motherly looking Hol-
stein. who seems to regard him with
kindly interest as he watches her tran
gully chewing her cud, when the New
Englander has seen all this he will find
that it has consumed 50 much time, not
withstanding the hurried nature of his
inspection, that the shadows Of night are
beginning to drop down and mingle with
the shadows cast by the foliage of the
magnificent oaks that are dotted over the
entire place.
Then it will be time for an excellent
supper, which will precede the evening
smoke and cnaJ IN the ranch ofice-a
two-storied building wherein labor the
Cn a q
clerical force.
Here the traveller from the ice bound
COZ ol @ey ba ,Iane iaia h H,in be
told that the central portion of the prop
erty was originally a part of the old
Bosequyo Spanish land grant. The orig