The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-02-14

Madeira wine of the choicest grade il
 made from mixture of white and dark
 purple grapes; and from a light clare
 color when fresh from the vintage, il
 gradually pales to rich topaz in itf
 cobwebby old age. This kind costs the
 gourmet not less than five dollars the
 bottle, even in the vinyard, and in its
 ripe age is found only in the cellars ano
 on the boards of royalty and million
 aires.
 The center of the grape growing dis trict is the Estreito district, Vintage
 time in Madeira (from the middle of
 September to the middle of October,) is the gayest season of the year. Then the peasants working all day among
 the vines. are heard singing and im- provising their doggerel poetry. Like
 Ney England huskings in the early days, labor is united with festive en-
 joynlent and though all are busy as
 bees from dawn till dark, the season is regarded as holiday. Women and girls go into the vineyards with their
 great flat baskets, pick the grapes and l bring them to the press, carefully bal
 anced on their heads. Then every
 bunch must be "schalhido' o''-that is,
 picked over-the good and indifferent
 separated and the very best reserved | for the costliest wine. Then the fruit | is thrown into the so-called press,
 which is nothing but wide, clumsy trough, into which men jump barefoot | ed Get us hope not unwashed,) their trousers rolled above the knee and
 precipitation trickling down their faces
 as they trample out the juice. They | have ancient precedent for this method | of wine-making, which was evidently
 in vogue in Bible times; else why the
 passage, "TIe hath trodden the wine- press alone?"
 The advantage of pressing out the | juice with the feet is explained by the fact that while machinery would also crush the stems and seeds, so that their bitterness would mix with the pure juice, flesh gives way before such ob- stacles After the first expression has
 been drawn off, the remaining portion
 is put into sack, hung up and reduced to lever pressure. The juice is con- veyed to the store house in goat-skins, which are thought to give an addition al flavor, and is later emptied into casks. The process of fermentation oc- cupies about five weeks, After the juice has been taken out of the wine
 press water is thrown in upon the re- fuse and this undergoes the same pro-
 cess as the pure juice, making what is called agoa pc, literally "foot-water,"
 which is certainly not an appetizing
 name. It is the cheapest of wine, re-
 tailed at the ventas to the poorest a1DSGpc. a t1I ctr tp ifs iI,to
 icating properties are far greater than the wines which have more grape juice
 in them Soon as their days work is done the peasants have grand frolic all through vintage time, The wealth CT is so delightful that their dances are held in the open air, and everywhere, till nearly morning, you hear the tune ful strumming of the queer little native guitars Everybody dances and every body sings-if not with perfect grace and harmony, at least with abandon and hearty enjoyment.
 Soon as the wine has ceased ferment- ing it is drawn off the lees and put into sweet casks, where it is clarified-usu- ally with gypsum, sometimes with OK blood, or with eggs; and a soupoon of brandy, (aIso made from the grape,) is added to each pipe of wine, to prevent the acetous fermentation. The grapes that make the best wine are not those which are most agreeable to the taste as fruit. The finest wines now made in | Madeira are known as Malmsey, Ser cial, Bual, Tinto and Burgundy Madei- | ra. Of course the best and costliest is | Malmsey: though a favorite author ,l,o Jy,,a good teacher-has this to say of Ser oial: Tt is called dry wine; and of a verity, if taken in full glasses, the imbiber will be dry enough the morn ing after. Ii is potent and to be treat ed accordingly. Its bouquet might ere ate a soul beneath the ribs of death, if such thing were possible. It diffuses an odor through a room sweeter than altar of roses A glass of it after soup the grace said before and pre- disposes the heart to the fullness of gratitude-to a sense of favors to cone.'
 The true Malmsey is produced mo- where but in Madeira, and nowdays not much of it here. The peculiar grape from which it is made is extraordinari- Iy subject to fogs and dews, and years may pass without a successful vintage. But the old Monks still cultivate it with greatest care, and it is said the royal houses of Europe are familiar with the mysteries of the monastery cellars. Since the capital of the graperaisers is their vineyards and stored wines, they levote much time and labor to the man. agement of both, Great care is be- slowed upon the selection of the cut .ings, great nicety in planting and l pruning. The soil is always kept clean, properly irrigated and cleared of insects md weeds; and if by such treatment | fifty pipes year of tolerable wine is produced, the proprietor's fortune is made. Instead of keeping their wines n cobwebby cellars, the Madeira mer- l hants store theirs above ground; but he sun is carefully excluded from the 'bodegas," or warehouses, and they are lept cool and sweet. Some of them contain as much as a thousand pipes of vine, of different vintages and denom- !, nations, ranging In price from two dol : ars a gallon to the largest sum that z he most extravagant wine bidder q would care to pay. " Though all the commoner wines of the sland are designated abroad by the 1 z Nf ;c. | q