The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-16
WINES ENGLAND DRANK,
sWBETENED AND sPICBD MIXTURES
or TINE MIDDLE ACES.
From Methegiin to Hypocrassc-sir Johs Fat
stan's sherry sack Cl arete aud Maivelsey
-StronE Waters Drive Them Oat-hSw
Port Crushed Out tho wines Of france.

Port Crushed out tho wines Of France.
From the SATURDAY Rsri,V.
The old English drinking vessels taken by
explorers from the graves are Of small capacity
and Of the most delicate glass, The graceful
stringed and lobed vases, the spirally stringed
Cups-perhaps the "hroden salD Verge tho
TWISTED. ale cups" OF BcoNulf- the trunpeit.
bpakers. palm cups and bowls, are all distin-
guished by total absence nt feet. signifyins
that they should not he set down unemptied.
and implying rapid and dangerous tipplins
out OF small "tumhiers. a. ContradiStinRuished
from copious drauRhts from horns and portly
wooden goblets. The latter vessels were for
the primitive hydromcl OF mead. for the Anglo
Saxon 'beor, the Gala" Of the Danes. and for
"braRgot,' a mixed beverage which no one
would drink now. The little glasses served
for the more potent varieties of liquor. the
heady metheglin, humming in the head Of the
reveller. and speaking, as the old saying went.
too much of the house IL came from, for mel
licratum." "inoinellurn." and for the rough
red and white wine of home growth mingled
with sweet wort, or with metheglin, stuck
with herbs and boiled with spices, and recalling
the waxed. rcsined and spiCe-stuck classical
cups Of beechwoOd introduced by the Romans
into northern regions, But from tho period
Of the sheltering graves 20 the middle Of tbs
sixteenth century there ~ az almost total abb
sence Of tangible evidence concerning glass
drinking vessels in England, and the history
of their manufacture Is wray ped IN much OBJ
security.
The Vocabulary" Of Archbishop Ahrto Of
the tenth century mentions "xewyrtod wins
(spioed winc), win Remrnged mid myrrsns
(wine mixed with myrrh), gehluttrad win ire
fined winel, "gehlyttrod win" (pIre wine). and
"Resweted win" (sweetsned Winel. These, tho
choicest and strongest productions OF that are
were certainly drunk from The glass palm cups
and small bowls such as from The picture IN tho
stitch work of the tonqIeIor's banquet after
the arrival of the army AT Hastings, we know
we're still in use In the middle Of tina eleventh
| century. The treatise DE Jtensilibus' Of
Alexander NeCkam of the twelfth century
mentions clare and nectar as proper To be found
In the cellar or in the storehouse. Clare was
a mixture Of the clear red wine. the best of
which came from Guyenne, with honey. sugar
and spices. as distinguished from piment %
nectar, an amalgam Of much the same kind
but with more substance. being founded ON
the red wine OF Bourgogne, DauphinA, 40.
These were the two principal sweetened and
spiced wines made in England In the Middle
Ages.
The hour ehold accounts OF Eleanor, Countess
Of Leicester. sister of Henry III. and wife Of
the great Simon de Nontfort show clearly
VIM wv Niit Ill III Fikldnu uufu1B tU0
thirteenth century came chiefly from AnjouI
Poitou, Guyenne, Gascogne and Auvergne.
1t ia certain that the bulk Of French wine in
the time OF Henry III, and for nearly three
centuries after. arrived very. immature, rough
and hard and very different in character from
the Bordeaux and Burgundy Of the present
day., brought as they have been to the utmost
down from the Middle Ages Of the poor wine
distributed in liveries. and in the hall. even in
toySi hod d much S OF IT however, was
Clarete and Pymcnt. and into spurious bastard,
no, infrequently helped by, boiling, and called
Of the ancients. III the fifteenth century the
WINE" 70 distinguish i from that OF BourGosne.
The two principal saccharine wines were
Greek Archipelago, and, italy. Both were
w aiRPa no Question i0 h n reane n Ssr Of sa E q fRs
,Tge Muscadine: As with the cookery a the
the sacks pSrticulnriyT. from their nrst appear:
with honey. and thicRcnesd by Pciins' ThSs
Ias% :pssciSI!y .o G%sHsd's On the .tPiS,s Ron:s
by Henry lII in the middle Of the thirteenth
narde, all sweet Spanish wines, as well az MAI
voisoy and the blended Muscedine. were dis.
seFs a %nt, over d-Terp i5Hs SFisin and ohaaI YSoersssss
and "Basturde" became mere generic terms
for q multitude Of spiced nectarious compounds.
by tho slow Introduction into. England OF tho
process Of distillNtion. early in the sixteenth
century, the vicious and indigestible mixtures
we're gradually operated upon and driven. out.
while Imperial Water. AQUA yite, Aqua Com:
posita. and n world Of other waters" cordial
and aren't, took their places by degrees In
In The meantime Here's sec-,-the natural
Greek and spanish ,sa%ochs1ns winr-4s
":hGrris sack" and fertile shsrts.
G S,. Fptl o a. mad! mSde d its SPpearsnSc ,,nt :o%s What
later came that marvellous searching vine
Canary, =" and by the cunning OF the viptner
James Howell has recorded in 1884. "a hundred
times more drunk under the name Of canary
S anne c 1aSn ea' Te4 rs e afst Brought 'ni IN H s%on ss' ::
they were used to be drunk In adua-vtte meas
pres, but now they 90 down ever ones throat.
sweetened, and as .FaIster truly putt q: n
Household documents and the literature OF
the seventeenth century show the progress
Of 9flo s = in nol public s7t seS spsSls.d s ,n,%.,d y
being made in Venice .for. the English market
in the time q Charles II for the npe sack laid
'' French vine. had had" not ye, bes epr much shaken
IN, public esteem by Spanish sack. The blow
s s]n,s@, was oS no = nsiai H iGsa of n III lENp letter ae 0e 70
the spanish Rlyieras- MalaRas, SherHs, Tents
and Alicants-says that little OF the last-pamed
comes over right and that consequently the
winners make Tent. I. q. Tinto, which II a name
for all wines in Spain except white" 70 supply
the place Of II. Ho adds that Portugal affords
no wines worth the transporting But the
heavy and raspinG vlntages Of the valenctan
and CatPlopian Rivieras continued 20 find
favor in England with hard-drinking folk until
the end Of the century
As early ne in 1894 Howell spoke favorably
Of the white wine Of Ribadavia on the Mimic
River in the Spanish frontie province OF Cali
cia. adjoining that Of the Upper Douro. the
port wine district Of Portugal. That q great
Improvement was at that time taking place In
the ~vintngos Of the tpper Douro Is indicated
bv the fact that in 1909 the duties had come TO
be identical on the wine . NJ France and Portugal,
In 1899 and in 1897 higher dues we're levied
unon French wine. Under these fiscal con-
ditions the imports from. Oporto and Lisbon
rapidly increased. and although the natural
character Of the wine was quite altered, the
English taste entirely changed In favor OF II as
against the noble wines OF France which had
been paramount IN England almost sin e An glo-
Saxon times. and were now at laat deposed.
IN 1903 the Port Wine Treaty. negotiated by
Mr.. Methuen. admitted Portuguese wine at Q
duty NJ one-third less than on those OF France,
Portugal receiving English manufactured WOOL
len goods ~ one-half less duty than was levied
unoa the like productions Of other countries,
| 1hA FaWnaRtnl1a raZt. . al shat NK4u. ,HN1