New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-01-21
HIGH PRICED VINEYARDS
ALBERTs RECENT PURCHASE
CANNOT BE SAID TO HAVE ESTAB-
LISHED A RECORD

LISTED A RECORD
10 the owner Of even the most valuable landed
property on this continent mining property alone
excepted, the news that Prince Albert of Prussia
has purchased the Wilhelm vineyard at the rate
Of $4,000 an acre WIN have seemed gross ex-
aGgeration, if not worse. There is not anywhere
within the United States an agricultural prop
erty for which any such price would be paid.
Nevertheless, two foreign members of the
wholesale wine trade in New-York and one
man prominently connected with the Cali
fcrnia wine industry, when asked about the
credibility of the report. saw nothing ex-
travagant in it, California vineyards it is
true, have never been bought or sold at very
high prices as vineyards; the wine producing in
dustry of that State has generally begun with
the cultivation Of what had been virgin soil, and
little Of it has changed owners since it began
to be used for it's present purpose. But the first
remark, in the case of both the foreign experts
was: The johannesburg vineyards would sell a
good deal higher than that"
Both the johannesburg and the Marcobr11nn
wine lands, in The latter of which the Wilhelm
vineyard lies, are in the Rheingau-the small
district from which the cream Of the famous
Rhine wines comes. The johannesburg vineyards
are mostly the property Of Prince Metternich. to
whose ancestor, the famous diplomat of the Con-
gress Of Vienna, they were presented by his In
perial master, Francis Joseph of Austria. To
understand the enormous values of these lands
on basis of simple arithmetic it is only neces-
sary to know that the average production of an
acre Of RheingaU vineyard being about two hun
dred gallons, a half stick of Rheingau wine.
"Steinberger Cabinet" of the vintage of 1893,
sold for 1850 marks, or about 81 200. a half
stick contains 100 gallons, so that the product
in this particular case Of less than one acre for
on Tror
one acre in Prince Albert's recent sensational
purchase. But even this achievement was less
astonishing than that of the vintage of 1868
from the same vineyard. $50 gallons Of which
brought more than 81 500
Everybody knows that the quality Of the wine
made from the same vines varies with the year
1t IS not SO generally understood that wine is TO
some degree a work Of art. and varies in ex-
cellence with the skill and care exhibited in The
making Of IT, This fact is one Of the most hope
full topics for those interested in the production
Of American wines, which. it Is said by those
qualified to predict. is certain TO improve in
quality as the men engaged in the industry
gather experience. Still, the grape itself is adj
mitted TO be the principal factor in the produc-
ton, and there IS no end to the mystery of the
influences which combine to make one little
patch Of grape producing land seveufoId more
valuable than another bit next to it. In the
Rothschild vineyard, for example near Bor-
deaux, a wagon road Of very moderate width is
all that separates the finest spot in the vine
yard from a tract which is comparatively value
less Both these pieces of ground enjoy the
same aspect and exposure. and apparently, are
Of the same chemical composition. It is easy for
any grower TO tell at a glance what land is
unfit for grape growing, but, beyond saying that
grapes can be grown on it, no grower, theoretical
or practical can say anything to the probable
quality Of the wine which any given piece Of
land Will produce. This uncertainty, leaving, as
it does, the grape growing and wine making art
after ali these centuries in a stage hardly be-
yCnd empiricism, gives the industry some of the
excitement of gambling