Evening star., 1912-07-07
KING GEORGES WINE CELLAR
Duties of the Gentleman of the
Cellars"-Spir;.s Little Used.
From Harper's Weekly

From Harpers Weekly.
The head of King Georges wine cellar
bears the title of Gentleman of the Cell
lars" 1t is his duty to attend or to be
represented at all the principal sales and
to acquire suitable lots and quantities.
is, of course. kept secret to prevent prices
from being rur up. The king has his own
wine sent to pr ate houses when he ac-
cepts invitations to dinner. except In
places where he is an old or frequent Wis
itor and knows that his special tastes are
understood and will be catered to-
The bulk of King Georges wines and
The fact that the king is really the buyer
spirits is stored in huge cellars beneath
St. James Palace. certain supply,
however. is kept at Windsor Castle and
Buckingham Palace but In each case the
stock is of comparatively small dimen-
stons, and on occasion of state banquets or
the entertainment of royal guests the nee
essary supplies are drawn from the st.
James Palace stores At one tin the
stock OF wine, accumulated during vari-
Gus reigns, was Of enormous dimensions.
No proper record was available, and one
of the first acts Of the king in coming TO
the throne was to order a thorough over
hauling OF the miles of barrels and casks
and bottles. The result was that many
thousands of dusty and cobwebbed bottles
were brought to light. These contained
wines of extraordinary age. but of a
class seldom drunk nowadays-Canary,
Madeira, heavy ports and brown sherries.
and many strange liquors of unknown or
igin, the gifts of foreign rulers. The chief
wine stocked for the kings use now Is
champagne. which is practically the only
wine used at state banquets; although
wines figure on the royal menus they are
rarely served. The king himself is q
light drinker, seldom indulg'lg in more
than two glasses of wine during q dinner.
The staff of cellarmen and bottlers at
st. James Palace is a large one. and Is
under the control of a chief clerk and a
chief cellarman, whose duty il is to check
the receipt and delivery Of every bottle
and to see that the correct wines are sup
piled according to special circumstances.
Thus, were the French president to visit
King George special brands OF claret
would be supplied, and during a visit from
the kaiser the hook barrels would be
heavily taxed. The car drinks a some
what sweeter champagne than is general
ly popular in London, while the wine
most favored by the King Of Spain is a
very dry champagne or sherry and seltzer
water.
Originally the cellars at Windsor Castle
which are of enormous proportions, were
the chief repository of the royal wines,
and until they were recently overhauied
nobody knew quite what they contained.
Electric lights now illuminate their once
dark depths. and every bin. barrel and
cask is numbered and catalogued with all
the accuracy of a business house, thing
during the centuries past not thought or.
The wages of the cellar staff are paid out
of the kings private purse. The high Of
ficials of the court are given a certain al
lowance of wine and the chief servants
are given an allowance of spirits. AS
matter of fact, however. very little spirits
are drunk at the palace these days. and
punch, that famous tipple of a hundred
years ago, when deep drinking and shall
low thinking" was the rule, is practically
unknown.