The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-26

his nelghbor as a si9n that he drank to his health. Thus the sense of hearing came into the feast and . new form of sa,utation was established.
 If two glasses of champagne are set be- fore . clever wine expert, one . cham paRne of the vintage of 1884 the other of the vintage of 1ssS. he VIII tell readily which is which. There are. Indeed. e half dozen vfntages which he can desig- nate by their taste alone without the helpful presence of the labelled bottle.
 The wine expert must also have a pro- found knowledge of red wines. Among the red wines of France. he must be able to tell those of the Garonue from those Of Burgundy and of Dauphiny.
 In the white wines also he must be learned. and he should have no difficulty in distinguishing the champagnes of sil- lery. of Ay. of Rheims and of Epernay. and in distinguishing also their best vint- age. Among the other French white wines he must know those of Sauterne. Barsac Preignac and Bommes. And the Spanish white wine of Heres. the German white wines of Johannesberg, Steinberg c and Hockheim must be like oldtimA friends.
 whisksys and brandies are divisiins of his work that are as important as the wines. He must tell at glance whether a brandy has been aged in wood or in glass, and he must not only separate with ease the Irish. the Scotch and the Amer ican whiskeys, but he even must desig- nate the districts in which each was dis tiled.
 Considering his knowledge. the salary of the wine expert is not great. It aver ages s4o a week. Occasionally it falls as low as $2S, and occasionally 1t mounts to mupifcence,
 The expert must not eat rich. heavy foods and pastries. He must not keep late hours His life, in c word, must be as temperate as that of an athlete ID training. This Is in order that his senses of sight and taste and smell may pc at their best always. Smoking 10 eao TOT the smell; rich foods are bad for the taste: late hours. or any sort or dissipa- ton. even the mildest, Is bad for the health generally and for all the senses. sight in particular. Hence the rigorous and sscetic life of the wine expert. The wine expert works with stomach empty, for then his taste and smell are at their keenest. He works on bright days only, in q room flooded with sun | light. fo rthen he can best weigh liquor | color and lucidity. He uses glasses Of the | oldest shapes-a different glass, almost | for every different nquor-for these nelr him to distinguish the most delicate sra- dations of smell and color. The brandy glass, for instance. has bowl almost a. | biz as q wash bowl The bottom Of this | bowl the brandy covers in the thinnesi layer: the expert puts his face dowr | close, and, with his nose inside the bowl rolls the brandy about, thus getting tne full bouquet of the liquor.
 l He must never swallow the beverages | he tests. He holds them in his moutr about a minute. rolling them upon hi' l tongue and letting them touch his palate and that Is sufficient fer an accurate 5udg rnent To swallow them would not ait l him, for there are nc nerves or taste 1T | the stomach. To swallow them would or the contrary, hinder him. sending hin drunk to bed each testing day.
 The expert of a large and fashionable l New York hotel in discussing his business said:
 What Is more difiicult than to describe in words the taste of anythingf How. fol instance, would you say what bread tastei
 like, or meat. or potatoes?
 "But red wines have after all. de finable taste The poor red wines ar' | earthly, they have a flavor of fresh soil The godd ones taste like field mushrooms and the best ones taste like truffles Bu the taste of whiskeys and brandies ana
 white wines Is not to be denned In an! such concrete way as this.
 ''The wine science is nice one. Fev
 men know it. Few men. indeed. can tell
 with their eyes shut, whiskey from bran
 dv or ale from beer. Few men know th
 wines that should be drunk with q din
 ner.''
 when asked what those wines were h'
 said:
 "sauterne with the oysters. sherry witl
 the soup, Rhine wine with the fish, clare with the roast. champagne with the game
 salad and dessert and cognac with tn | coffee."