The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-07-12
Wine JURY'S WORK
AT WORLDS FAIR
How Experts Are Selected to Pass
Upon Varying Beverages on
Exhibition.
DAYS DEVOTED TO THE TEST.
Liquors Are Tasted, but Never
Swallowed, and Special Atten-
ton Is Given to Flavor,
Ferment and Color.

The successful Inauguration OF the
Worlds Fair in st. Louis by the dedica-
tory exercises that were held on April 30
makes every item of information that will
tend to make that Exposition a glorious
success Of more than common interest.
10 The selection Of experts to pass upon the
different articles on exhibition is a matter
which will doubtless soon be considered by
the Exposition authorities. and 1t Is eminent
ly desirable that all information pertain
ing to jury work may be had at as early
date as possible.
There is much that Is interesting in the
method of examining wines that was en-
ployed by the Jury of Awards at the Worlds
Fair held in Paris in 1900.
1t will be remembered that some feeling
was created by the fact that many of our
native wines. especially those from Califor-
mia. were prevented from competing for
awards on the ground that they had labels
bearing a false Indication OF origin. thus
giving rise to the opinion, at least on the
part Of many. that the American wines
were superior to those of Europe. and there
fore were Disseminated against.
Beyond doubt the wine growers OF the
United States will present full series of
their products at ST. Louis. which will have
to be passed upon.
The wine jury in Paris consisted Of 101
members. of whom twenty were assistants.
or suppleants, as they were called, and Of
the entire number twenty-three were from
foreign countries and seventy-seven from
France.
The American member of the jury was
Dc ctor Harvey w. Wiley Of the Bureau OF
and his associate was Mr.. l.. J. Vance, ed
itor Of the American Wine Press of New
York City. The jury was organized in
The wines were not examined in the Expo
stion building itself, but in the large VINE
testing room of the Entrepot Saint-Ber-
sieu.
In this room. which was furnished with
some twenty-five tables, the jury could
members Of the jury were assigned to each
group. SO that as a rule twenty groups
could work at the same, time. The wines
which 20 was the highest.
Samples reaching 10 and 20 were entitled
to the grand prix; all wines from Is to Is.
u to 10. inclusive, a silver medal: all from
to II. inclusive, a bronze medal, and all
The T hours ~ s. for . testing were from to IL
o'clock In the morning Of each working
day. and each group would usually COM
The wine itself was cooled in cellar until
constant temperature of about 20 degrees
was reached.
1t was then examined by the judges, and
special attention was paid to the following
points: Color and appearance-that is:
whether 1t vas clear or bright; favor and
had gone too far or the reverse 1t was then
tasted, but never swallowed. and finally the
results tabulated. After five or six samples
for few minutes, and then eat a bit of
cheese and biscuit. after which they
would rinse their mouths with mineral
q ar haf0 To
way they were able to work until some
nifty samples were completed.
In al there were about 5000 different
samples of wines that were tested, and the
jury sat almost continuously from the
time of Its organization until the latter
part of August
to each group were unanimous in their
Judgment it was accepted by the entire
another group considered the sample. and
Its decision was then accepted as final.
1t may be interesting to add word about
the disposition of the wines from the United
states that were placed hors de concours by
the French jury.
Insomuch as the character of wine de-
Composition. it was decided by Doctor wiley
to bring the wines offered for exhibition
in Paris direct to Washington without
oratory Of the Bureau Of Chemistry they
were examined under the direction Of Doc
tor W D. Bigelow, and it is proper to say
dards that have been adopted for Europea
wines. and in many cases showed an i'm
provement.
Doctor Wiley. In commenting on the re-
port made in his laboratory. says: 1T Is a
remarkable fact that American wines are
largely replacing other wines in the London
markets. and their qualities of strength
color and purity have commended them to
winemakers and consumers throughout the
world.
1t is not claimed that in this country we
have yet had the experience and the skin
70 produce wines of the highest type, but
We do produce wines Of excellent quality
and Of undoubted purity and wholesome |
ness"