The Negro world., 1900-03-17
MAKING CHEAP WINE.
French aud spanish limitations of
Good HrandS MadeIn
La Ee Quantities.

The trade in cheap or spurious wines,
forth terms are usually convertible.
is now very large The average wine
tlrinher in England has no idea of the
origin of=the liquor he drinks, and
rests content with neat bottle and
high-souhtling title Twenty five
Years ago the consumption of wine per
head of the population was larger than
il is to-day, but il is now nearly double
that of less than half century back.
The wine taste seems 10 be iairly CON
stunt, and it is largely due to the low
price of SO many of the modern wines.
Our grantlfathers did not drink much
wine, because they could not afford it.
To-day. and for the present genSration,
all that is changed.. Cheap wines are
eyerywfere.. They have induced nany
TO purchase, and have reviviiied the
trade. What is this cheap wine? The
writer does not hesitate to say that "a
lot of IL is nauseous stuff. sweetened
and favored TO render it palatable, and
fortified with spirits. Some millions of
pounds of sugar, often of the common
est description, are used annually by
French wine manufacturers; common
spirit. unmatured, is obtained, and the
inferior wines are MIXED and blended
with this crude spirit. the sugar is
added, and an artificial bouquet, in inn
itation of some standard vintage, is inn
parted by the further addition of orris
root, oil of cloves, oil of almonds and
other havoring substances.
The sophistieation is carried TO far
greater lengths than is indicated by the
| foregoing. In France there is process
which is euphemisticnlly termed ton
ing. In point of fact. instead of adding
| the ''riquette," or sour wine, the munu-
| factm crs blend their wines in many
| instances with decoction of CONNER
cial glucose and liberal supply OF wa
ter. The glucose, il may be mentioned
contains traces of mineral acids, chalk
and even arsenic. Fortitication with
strong spirit and this dilution process
| produce an article which, as was truly
| said in the French senate, "is no longer
wine after having undergone such
| processes" One credible authority
states that he saw a factory at Nalen-
cia, in Spain, whose stock in trade and
| plant consisted of cistern and a
pump, alcohol and tayoring and color
| ing extract of wine" After due adj
mixture of the alcohol and the extract
the wine was shipped 10 France for
the purpose of further treatment in
the shape of an addition of real grape
juice. whence ii reached England as n
French wine.
As regards the sale of homemade
wines. as "claret,' etc, it may safely he
said that II would not be profitable 10
undertake the business To any great eS
tent in England, for the reason that
taking into account the duty on cur
rants and raisins and the heavy charge
for The spirits necessary for fortiiicae
ton to bring the strength up TO that
of a foreign wine, an outlay would be
incurred quite equal 10 that of the duty
on foreign cheap wines produced under
the most economical conditions. That
such n fraud is praeticed is, however
undoubtedly the case, but the wine
thus sold is not raisin wine solely; any
saccharine matter is good enough fer
mented and favored with cheap claret
London Chronicle.