Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-28

begets mildew dry rot and the micro-organisms
which attack the corks In the necks Of tho
bottles and 30 spoil the wine. They are free
from draughts, kept scrupuIously clean and
must be regularly inspected for mildew and
other fungus. These were the duties of the
old-time cellarman.
Today they are performed generally by the
master Of the house, who. If he is anything %
an enthusiast, viii duly keep the temperature
around So to So degrees Fahrenheit and do his
best to ALLEVIATE all vibration. He viii keep the
cellar in darkness, for wine is not improved
by light; catalogue all his purchases in the
cellar book, giving the name Of the merchant,
the price paid, the date on which it was laid
down" and the condition Of the wine at the time
of its purchase
A BIG cellar in the old days gave the cellar
man more than enough to do, and today
even a small cellar needs plenty of attention.
The smallest in an apartment can take up
quite . few hours of each week in attention
which Is wen repaid in thousands of British
homes at dinner time. Port, for instance, 30
best put in half bottles, for once a bottle IL
opened it loses half its bouquet If it is recorked
. They put their wine most carefully into its
allotted bin with the white splash mark
uppermost, neck first, yet not allowing the cork
end to touch the wall of the cellar, and arrange
their bins so that the new wine and the older
vintages can be got at without disturbing other
bins in their turn. Many wine merchants in
England at this moment are sending out spe-
cial operators who 'bin" the wine in cellars
for their best customers.
Even here In England people do not realize
the vast number Of people employed in the wine
business in London and the other great cities
of this little island. No less than $4,000, 600
gallons Of wine arrive IN England each year
from foreign countries and this necessitates q
vast and complicated organization to deal with
it reception, treatment, care and distribution.
And in addition 10 that some 4000,0 900 gallons
of proof spirits were landed this year in Eng
land despite the almost prohibitive weight Of
the import tariff.
DISTRIBUTION Of all this booze is, however,
by no means confined to England alone,
for the export trade in the rare vintages and
admirable spirits Of France, Portugal, Italy,
Spain and Germany Is principally controlled by
the famous wine houses of London.
France sends bordeaux, burgundies, brandy,
Vermouth, champagne and liqueurs; Spain
sends SherrieS and tarTagonas; Portugal her
ports; italy chianti vermouth and asti Hol-
land-home Of the old square -face-contributes
her gin Germany sends the sun-kissed wines
of the Rhine and the West Indies and Natal
the hot, fiery rum-So welcome in the trenches
at the dawn stand to-" and all of this hetero-
geneous mass of alcohol arrives and is unloaded
on the quaysides Of the London Docks, under
the control of the Port Of London Authority.
The greater proportion of it arrives in bulk,
not in bottles, in great casks of all shapes and
sizes from the giant hogshead to the even larger
pipe of massive construction
AS soon as the stuff is landed it comes under
the care of the customs officers who see it into
the bonded warehouses" to await redistribution
by the trade. Here in giant vaults the wines
and spirits nursed by large staff of ex-
perts and subjected to all the care and treat
ment necessary to their welfare during their
stay in the warehouses.
IN addition to the bonded warehouses are the
famous wine and spirit vaults of the Port
Of London. built in the early nineteenth CEN
fury by Rennie, the great architect. It is here
that England's most famous wine merchants
mature their wines and brandies for years be-
fore they are sent out for consumption by tn
public.