Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-12-10

adviser to abstain from this wine.
Nowadays his majesty only touches
it on ceremonial occasions, and then
he never, exceeds two glasses. Later
on his majesty was advised to follow
the example of Queen Victoria and to
take a little old Scotch whiskey in
mineral water, but now he drinks
Chablis, a fine white Burgundy, usual
~ mixed with a sparkling natural wa
ter. The Chablis arrives in hogs
heads, and is bottled in the cellars
at st. James's palace. No labels ap
pear on any of the royal bottles, but
the royal monogram is stamped on
the seal of the corks.
The staff of cellarmen and bottlers
of ST. James s. palace is a large one,
and is under the control of chief
clerk and a chief cellarman, whose
duty it is to check the receipt and
delivery of every bottle of wine and
to see that the correct wines are sup
piled according 10 special circum-
stances. Thus. when the French
president was the guest of the king
special brands of claret were supplied
while during the sojoUrn of the
kaiser hook was the wine most in de-
mand. The car drinks champagne of
a somewhat sweeter character than is
generally popular In this country. and
the wines most favored by the king of
Spain are dry champagne and sherry
and settler water. The wages of the
cellar staff are paid out of the kings
private purse. and not by the lord
chamberlain. The high officials of the
court are given a certain allowance
of wine, and the CHEZ servants are
given a certain allowance of spirits.
AS a matter of fact, however, very
little spirits are drunk nowadays at
the royal palaces, and punch, that
famous tipple of the Georgian days
when deep drinking, and shallow
thinking was the rIle of the times
is unknown. Some time ago a large
stock of fine old rum was privately
sold, and from time to time sales of
other spirits-brandy Schnapps, gin
and whiskey-have taken place.
The supreme head of the royal Gel
lar bears the title gentleman of the
cellars, and it is his duty to attend
or to be represented at all the prin
cipal sales and 10 acquire suitable
lots The fact that the king is
really the buyer is, of course, kept
secret, to prevent fancy prices be-
ing run up. The prince of Wales has
his own cellars, but is occasionally
from those at st. James's
palace. The king, when prince OF
Wales, always made a point of taking
his own wine with him when he at
tended public banquets, and this Gus
tom is still favored by the present
heir to the throne, who usually drinks
a special brand of hook.
The duke of Connaught, on the other
hand takes the wine supplied at the
dinners he attends in an official ca
Dacity The king has his own wine
sent to private houses when he &C |
cepts invitations to dinner, except In |
places where he is an old or frequent /
visitor and knows that his special |
tastes are understood and will be ca
.ered for. Originally, the cellars at
castle, which are Of enorm-
1us extent, were the chief repository !
If the royal wines, and until they |
we're overhauled nobody knew quite F.,
what they contained. The electric /
light now illuminates their dark
depths and every bin is numbered |.
and catalogued with all the accuracy |
If business house.