Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-11-15
HIS MAGIC BOTTLES,
Tricks of London'S Professional
 Wine Doctor.
HE IS AN EXPERT JUGGLER.
This Master Mixer, With His Chem ! calls, Spirits and Water, Will Turn
 Out CheapIy and With Ease Any
 Desired Brand, New or Old.

and treat him accordingly. But I pre- fer to regard him as an entertaining juggler who does surprising feats with q magic bottle,
 His apparatus, arranged on q narrow shelf, consists of a dozen or 50 or small glass stoppered bottles of vari- ous colored liquids. q big jar of cara mel and another of silent spirit. There are other things, such us an aerated water plant, but it is openly displayed downstairs For the aeration of table waters is the wine doctors Ostensible calling.
 Fact is there's too much wine made already" he says-'Teal wine, l mean. its not wanted. It keeps down the price. Besides, it. wasting good land to plant 1t with grapes just to keep up the old myth that they're necessary for wine making"
 He draws my attention to his row of bottles with a comprehensive wave of the hand
 See those? Wine in embryo, tons of it! Give me good water''-he indi- cates an innocent looking tap In the corner-"and I'll turn you out bottle of anything you like to name-while you wait,"'
 That is what I have come for I ought perhaps to explain that l origi- nally met the doctor in a distant col ony, where men talk more openly than they do here, and-well, he knows that what I may set down in print about him will convey no clew to his idcn- tity.
 Mind you," he goes on, "I don't ob- ject to real wine in moderation. My own best qualities have q base of sound sherry or burgundy. Take claret, for instance. Why send to Bor- deaux when with a gill of Australian burgundy or Spanish rioja, water watch while l do it-a few drops of French vinegar and 25 per cent of po- tato spirit that's colorless and odOrless and only costs few pence per gallon I can give you chemically the same thing with more alcoholic strength?
 Presto, It is done. He pours some of the result into a wineglass and hands it to me. It has the look, smell and taste of the wine for which 1 pay Is. and Sd. bottle.
 Total cost a fraction over three pence, bottle and label included.' he ex ults; "hocks and sauternes the same. A little real sherry for the base, sufficient acidity-say citric-an aStringeTt like tannic acid to dry them, spirit and water in proportion to dry them. and there you are! Leave out the tannic and use white sugar sirup instead and you have chablis."
 A dispensing druggist in a hurry could not make up prescription more quickly than he manufactures wine before my eyes. 1 taste "nierstein- CT"
 Light elegant dinner wine with good body, from the Hoggen-Hoch- heimer district" he remarks in the tone of one quoting from wine circu- lar. "Now try the graves. Dry and favory, eh? The chablis soft and round. isn't it? You quite recognize the vintages you've had to pay respect able prices for?"
 Is 1t so. or has he the power of sug- gestion, like a prestidigitator. who can make you believe that you hear your eighteen carat gold hunter ticking in side boiled egg?
 "These, of course, are new wines" he explains. "The addition of tea spoonful of sterilized glycerin ages them at once. You might remember that when you've got new whisky. Its worth knowing"
 know some whiSkies that would need pint of glycerin to the bottle at least to make them palatable. and l be gin for the first time to suspect their source,
 "A whisky or brandy properly made ought not to want glycerin. though" he observes, as If he had read my Thoughts. Here's a brandy that l made yesterday from silent spirit and oenanthic ether. colored and sweeten- ed with caramel, that hardly differs from we'll matured cognac That's be- cause it's been heated to 140 de grees F."
 My palate may be getting corrupted. do not know. but in spite of natural suspicious the brandy seems above re proach. So does the champagne, which is his next dexterous connection. AS far as can see 1t consists merely of a mixture of chablis and hook. with which a little aerated water Is re- quired He calls IL extra dry. ad- init that Is what should have thought it under the disguise of tinfoil and n label.
 The doctor shrugs his shoulders "AnybOdy can print labels and brand rorks." he declares contemptuously. ''Labels. The average man will drink anything and enjoy it so long as it's labeled with one of the few names he's acquainted with-beaune or rudesheinI- CT. for instance. He imaCines these are vintages. but they're only dis triets and don't mean more than the collective expressions beer or whisky. The thing is t0 adapt the liquor tO the label. 1T yoH want an illustration Of what ! mean. here's one"
 From the bottles on the shelf he takes benzoic acid benzoic ether. acct f. acid and ether. oenanthic ether and giyoerin. a drop or two of each. and fills up the glass with the ever iadis- uensaFle alcohol raise the cOl0r5sss EIxIure to 1y nps. and. uenTI1. IT s uaraSchfn0.