The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1933-11-01


better known types OF wines
which will be available In Amer.
lea after the repeal Of Prohibi-
ton.
New York-In a few weeks the
moist sections of the United States
are due for bewildering deluge
from homes and abroad of millions
Of gaudily labeled bottles.
The housewife planning her
first formal post prohibition din
ner will find herself in Wineshop
maze of such names as Medoc,
Pomerol, Margaux, Chateau
Yquem, Pommard, Chablis, Cham
bolle- Musigny, and scores of
others.
The amateur diner in O fine res
taurant will scan askance q long
wine card with the headings: Wins
en- Carafes, Bordeaux Rouges,
Bourgognes Rouges, Bordeaux
Blancs, Bourgognes Blancs, Cotes
du Rohne, Anjou, Alsace ct Rhin,
and so on.
The night club patron, who used
to pay ten dollars for a bottle of
carbonated hard cider labeled
Champagne, now must choose
from brands and vintages and de-
grees of dryness of the genuine
article.
CLASSIFYING WINES
Experts of the American import
ing companies declare, however,
that selection of wines need not
be a difficult or terrifying chore,
even for a younger generation
which now may have only q sip.
ping acquaintance with the fer
ment of the domestic dandelion.
After all, there are only a few
distinct types Of wines, however,
numerous may be their brands,
and the years from which they
sprang. And each type has GER
tain definite characteristics which
determine its best uses.
For instance, practically every
thing from France, the vineyard
Of the world, can be classified as
Bordeaux, Burgundy or Cmam-
button will be sherry. Port wine
from the islands of that name.
{ Nianti and Yarmouth are best
with q wine base containing an
infusion Of aromatic herbs. Rhine
and Moselle wines como from Ger
many, and Tokay from Hungary.
Now, following the patient ex-
plantations of the wins experts, the
subject becomes q little more COM
plicated. A Bordeaux wine any
one made in that region in France
may be either red or white. Bor-
deaux Rouge Is what pre.prohibi.
ton America knew as claret. Price
Is probably the best index Of It's
for In cheaper clarets
the grapes and stems have been
pressed together. and good deal
OF astringont tannin has gotten
into the wine.
AMERICAN FAVORITES
The most popular Bordeaux
white wines are Graves, which In
general Is pretty dry, Barsac, in
termcdiate, and Sautcrnes, sweet.
Barsac always has been popular
with American tourists abroad, be-
ing Of @ medium price und u me-
dunn dryness that permits 1t to be
drunk throughout Il meal, instead
of changing with each course. But
Judging from advance orders on
importing houses, America IL GO
Ing to drink a. lot of Sautornes,
though before the war few cpl
cures would grant tho sweet,
heavy wine q place on any dinner
menu. Officials of wine houses
say that women are responsible
for its greatly increased popular
ity In recent years.
In general, they explain, white
wines are more expensive than rcd
because OF the greater caro- nee
essary In handling and In romov-
ing sediment and particles which
would not DO visible In "a red vari-
ETY.. Aso, some white wines arc
made from purple grapes, the pig
ment being present only In the
skins. Thus, II only the juice,
without skins, Is put into ferment-
ing watts, the resulting wine will
be q clear, light yellow.
Great or small differences in the
hundreds of varieties OF French
wines arc determined mostly by
the natural factors OF climate and
soil, and partly In processes OF
preparation. F0 example, Sau-
ternes Is made from white grapes
which are allowed to become
slightly Over-ripe and sugary In
the vines.
WINES OF AUTHORITY
Burgundies are tho wines Of au-
thority, being stronger In flavor
and alcohol than Bordeaux. Cham
bertin, Corton, Pommard and Vol
nay are the best known, but there
are other kinds, each named for
some small part Of tho Cote dor
section Of France. For instance,
true Chambertin must come from
one famous vineyard which Is only
81 acres in extent; but neighbour
Ing vineyards are permitted to la
bel their wines "Gevry- Chamber
tim" There are only few we'll
known Burgundies, but they are
famous indeed - Chablis, Pouilly
and Montrechet.
Some of the Rhone wines close
ly resemble Burgundies, but Amer
lea will not receive many of these.
From the Loire valley come a
number of varieties, Anjou and
Vouvrey being the most common
ly exported to this country. The
former is light and fairly sweet,
while Vouvrey Is richer and
stronger. In Germany the Rhine
and Moselle valleys yield wines OF
different character, the Rhines be-
ing, in general, full-bodied and
rich in alcohol (prehaps 10 per
cent?, and the Moselles lighter,
with a fiower-like bouquet, and
containing only . or per cent al
cohol.
1t is said that even under the
most ideal conditions wine cannot
develop more than a small frac-
ton over IT per cent alcohol, that
being the point at which alcohol
kills the fermenting organisms, or
at least makes them dormant. Port
and sherry wines, though, are
fortified" to considerably moro