The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-27
FAsHIoN IN WINES.
Good AngIomaniacs VIII NOW Drink
Less Champagne.

The latest report of the commissioners o.
her majesty's customs, just issued, IS not
calculated 10 throw SIR Wlfrid Lawson
INTO a paroxysul OF delight. An o1servant
politician was once heard 10 declare
IN the House Of Commons that Inc pros
peflty and happiness OF a nation could be
pretty accurately gagged from the amount
OF wine il consumed. But this not being
the view taken by good Sir Wilfrid, 5
scarcely a reflection that wild be consol-n-
90 those Of his supporters VINO may cnance
10 light upon the report now published
Figures are known TO prove anythiug-eN-
Cept entertaining; bul for once in way,
statistics have come 10 hand that are
really instructive and worth bordering
Say the commissioners: The yield OF tne
wine duties in the past year was tl,Ssslui
or t13,1-8 more than in lSsl-Ss-an increase
OF SIS per cent" Here, 10 begin with, Is
indicated an augmentatcn in the c0nsump-
ton OF alcohol that would rejoice the heart
Of any one believing in the dictum above
quoted But ia s IN relation 10 another
phase Of the question hat the returns Iot
the year are peculiarly interesting. For
according to the commissioners the per
centage Of wine paying duty at the higher
or Is 81 rate per gallon, has sieadlly de
clined for many years while the consump-
ton Of light wines has increased IN cor
responding degree. To go no further back
than 1857. Just after the alcoholic scale was
last altered. 603 per cent. of all the wine
consumed IN that year paid duty at the
is rate; and the percentage continued 20
increase in favor Of the hight wines unul
1875. when the proportions were: Al the
IS rate 72.2 per cent; at the g Sd rate
27s
However in the last two years the pro
portions have been altering in the opposite
direction. and It Is In this connection, more
especially that the revelations OF her maj
esty's commissioners possess exceptional
interest. The Increase, It appears, IN tne
percentage at the higher rate, brought
about since 1896 has been owing to the
development Of the taste for port wine
Indeed the principal increase has been IN
the duty payments upon this wine,
which" the report asserts has risen
very markedly in public favor.
Not a little startling is it to learn that
the additional quantity consumed has been
about 645,O00 galons-an augmentation that
easily accounts, of course, for the very
large swelling of the revenue from the
wine duties in the past twelve months.
But the main point which is now inter-
es ing and significant lies in the undoupted
fact that the past two years have seen
marked development OF the public taste Tor
that generous" wine so beloved by our
forefathers, and that, in the matter OF
lighter wines and the sparkling variety
in regard to which the two previous dec
AIDES had shown a steadily increasing con-
sumption-the palate Of the community
has undergone a distinct change. How Is
this TO be accounted for? Every wine, we
know huctuate in the appeal it makes to
the general body Of consumers, The de-
cline Of sherry, most popular OF dinner
wines-after madeira had had its day-m
the remembrance Of the oder generation,
synchronized with the advent of claret as
at the dinner table.
and IL cannot for d moment be pretended
that the taste for light Bordeaux wines
10 this country at the present day As any
thing like what 1t was a few years ago.
But there certainly has prevailed OF late
a very general impression that at no time
has there been so enormous consumption
Of champagne as now, at the end or the
expiring century. All the more surprising
is It, therefore, TO learn that the taste for
the rich blood-giving wine OF Oporto has
been largely on the increase, and that for
sparkling wines il not correspondingiy, at
least appreciably, on the decline.
can il be that people in this country are
at last waking up to the fact-admitted by
experts and high-class representatives, or
so-called champagne served up nowadays.
particularly ct hotels, restaurants ana the
like are deleteTious decoctions, no more
entitled to that designation than the VeIl-
est gooseberry? And, what is more, al
though quite a contrary opinion prevails,
the dry wine is very frequently more
doctored and faxed than the sweet varie-
tv, despsed as the latter usually is by
the fastidious connoisseur. Our ancestors
wonderful people those ancestors of ours!
could drink their two or three bottles
of port without turning a hair. as che
saving goes and later generations have
paid the penalty for that generous ndulg
ence. But the doctors nowadays have hit
upon new and original treatment for the
govt born of the excuses of their pa
tents forefathers. Bring 1t out at all
cost they say and so we find them reck-
lessly recommending port of ell things in
this world to sufferers from "twinges,'
and what was formerly anathema to the
victim of govt is now poured down his
throat as though 1t were a German Bad
cure But is this to be held accountable
for that striking additional consumption
OF 645 600 gallons? Scarcely. 1t must be,
then--and the experience of members of
the wine trade bears it out-that recent
years have witnessed a strong revival in
favor of port as a post-prandia. accom-
paniment to the walnuts. The famous
sale of Count Burnay's 1000 pipes, follow
ing upon the Well-remembered Portuguese
loan. accounted in a measure according
to one expect, for such a revival, aud to
that sale. in his opinion may indirectly
be traced the increased reported by the
commissioners, since ii led to the shipment
to England of far better quality of port
than this country had teen wont to re.
ceive under the head of medium wines
But when all Is said and done, whether