Evening star., 1932-12-24
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C.. BOWERMAN.

It Is Q pleasure to come across . light
treatment Of the question whether to
drink or not to drink, such - Ernest
Peixotto gives in his little volume oi
travel, "A Bacchic Pilgrimage: French
Wines" It is one Of those books. writ
ten with delicacy Of style, which i'm.
mediately gives one q feeling Of leisure
and gentle refiectiveness. It Is no prac.
tical guide book, but. the author says
may well be guide, counselor and
friend of the motorist or the unhurried
tourist (or the fireside traveler) who
VINE In the nrst chapter. THE Gentle
Art Of Drinking Wine" Mr.. PeixotN
deprecates American habits Of drink.
ing. We can almost see him shudder
Had Americans generally understood
lea, probably, would never have beer
nately. to too many Of Us, drinking was
just drinking. And drinking that i.
just drinking is no more civilized thar
eating that is just eating. A savage
tearing his food with his teeth, eats; q
civilized being dine There Is Just al
much art and refinc-,ent in the vinifi.
cation, the aging and the drinking oI
fine wines as there is art and ref1ne-
ment In scientific cookery"
The Bacch.c Pilgrimage" began In
early September the vintage season
when four companions rolled out Of
Paris In q Daimle.. car, called "The
Dovager," through the Bois, Versailles
Mamtenon, Chartres and on toward
Touraine. At Chinon, a savory lunch.
con OF hare patty and omelet with mush-
rooms, accompanied by carefully chosen
wines, was eaten in honor of Rabelais
"a true son Of the vine." who was born
nearby. In Anjou, home of the rare
AngeVin wines, which seldom or never
figure upon the wine cards of big no.
tells and restaurants, being reserved, fol
the most part, for the delectation of the
elite OF wine lovers" they visited the
fne vineyards Of the Chateau d'Epire
where the vines are clipped with great
care and precision and rooted in argil.
laceouS shale or schistic rocks, that
heated by the sun, constantly radiate q
gentle warmth upon the clusters OF
grapes that are trained to grow very
close to the ground" Afterward the
owner of the chateau, descendant of q
duke Of Napoleons time, opened fcr
them a carefully chosen bottle OF
Chateau d'Epire, 1869, from his cellar
which was never disturbed for money
only for the call Of friendship OF
courtesy" Many Of the Angevin vine
yards were originally planted by the
monks, who were expert in selecting
sites best suited for growing. Du-
mas made his Three Musketeers drink
quantities of Angevin wines to enliyen
them for their exploits.
The Bordeaux wine provinces came
next on the pilgrimage, the most IA
nous wine district of France, perhaps
OF the world. From that part OF France
come Medoc, Saint Emilion, Pomerol,
Graves and Sauternes. The Bacchic
enthusiasts decided to remain several
days at Bordeaux and to sample its
noted cuisine as well as its wines.
Without doubt, Bordeaux Is one of the
gaStronomic capitals Of France. It
boasts Of several well known restau-
rants where the cuisine is a pious cult,
based on the very best traditions. y
A trip to Chateau Margaux brought
them into the midst of the picking and
pressing Of the grapes. The master of
the picking keeps a watchful eye to
see that only ripe grapes are picked,
that no punches are forgotten, and that
no leaves mingle with the fruit in the
baskets. At the press. grapes are emp
tied from baskets and wagons into bins
and then are raked by bare-footed men
into the presses. The romantic picture
is somewhat marred by the fact that
the pressing Is done by electricity. The
Juice Is drained into receptacles. carried
to huge vats, and after several days
until 1t reaches "bottle-age." The story
is told that the secret Of making the
Sauternes was discovered by accident.
"A certain wine-grower. inspecting his
vines, found a section Of them in which
the picking had been overlooked, and
the grapes had rotted. Highly incensed.
he called his yine-dreSser and berated
him. declaring that it was a shame to
waste such precious grapes and that, in
spite Of everything. they should be
picked and pressed. When this had
been done. the result was so marvellous
that the grapes have been picked over
ripe ever since" Visits to the Burgundy
region, the Rhone Valley and the
Champagne country completed the pill
grtmage, "an too short and incomplete. T"
\ X X
Though Sir Philip Sidneys literary
work, his pastoral romance Arcadia, -
his critical essay Defense OF Poesie"
and his "Astrophel and Stella" sonnets,
are not much read today except by stu
dents, his life was probably far more
interesting than that of the greater
Elizabethan, Shakespeare. The biogra-
ply Sir Philip Sidney" by Mona Will
son. shows him as a favorite at the
court Of Elizabeth, yet too honest to
be on the inside of most court intrigues
He was Of high birth; his father was
Sir Henry Sidney. lord deputy Of Ire
iand; nne,;aa and his his mother was sister OF the
dudley who afterward became Earl
Of Leicester, the favorite Of Queen Eliza
beth. Sir Philip represented the Queen
on several missions of import and would
probably have risen high if he had not
met death on the field of battle when
he was only 80. He was fatally wound
ed while fighting against Philip II of
Spain. The "Astrophel and Stella"
sonnets were probably written to Pene-
lope Devereux, daughter of the Earl OF
Essex. They constitute his claim to a
foremost place among Elizabthan poets.
T1oWclulS WuucTleSS, Dy JOilll Gdlo-
worthy. is a sequel to Maid in Wait
ing" which appeared year ago. At its
close Dinny Cherrell is still waiting for
the right husband The opinion of some
readers is confirmed that she should
have marrie1 the American explorer,
Hallorsen. The theme, the forced con-
version to lIoslemism of the poet Will
frid Desert, lover Of Dinny, and his con-
sequent ostracism from London So
ciety, seems as trivial as Fleur Forsyte's
libel suit. which furnished almost the
entire plot of 1.-THE Silver Spoon"
Though we become very tired of the
subtleties Of Dinny and Wilfrid, we are
glad to meet again Dinny's two delight
full uncles, Adrian and Hilary Cherrell,
and to make another visit to Condaford
Grange in Oxfordshire, the home of
Dinny's father, where in apple blossom
time "the whole world seemed mirac-
ulous."
Il r
A popular, informal life Of the Vice
President of the Confederacy Is Little
Aleck: A Life Of Alexander H. Steph-
one - Hu Dopocor, Dioho rGcon