WINES OF THE WORLD.
France.
Even a bird’s-eye glance at the wines of the world, might easily fill a volume. There are the superb French wines of Burgundy and Champagne, which ancient Provinces are now almost one splendid, continuous vineyard; and the Clarets, Sauternes, etc. of Bordeaux and Languedoc. Medoc and Haut Medoc are known to wine lovers everywhere, for here are the famous vineyards of the Chateau Lafitte, owned by Baron Rothschild; the Chateaux Margaux, Latour, and many others.
The Wines of Germany.
The principal wine districts of Germany are the valleys of the Rhine and Moselle and their tributaries, whence come the well known Hock and the red and white wines, which, though sometimes rather thin and deficient in flavor, are never colored, plastered, boiled, or have spirits added to them, and are therefore natural and wholesome. Here also is the renowned Johannisberg Castle vineyard, owned by the family of Prince Meternich. Every bottle of this wine bears his family arms, and it is the beverage of Emperors and Kings. By reason of its exquisite “Bouquet” it is pronounced “The finest and costliest drink on earth.”
Wines of Hungary, Italy, Spain, etc.
Hungary sends forth her “Imperial” opal-tinted Tokay wines, made of overripe grapes, from which the juices are never squeezed but allowed to drop; other Hungarian wines are as dry as those of France, as mellow as those of Germany, and more fragrant than the choicest of Spain. Italy, Spain and Portugal produce wines of much repute, but neither of the latter two countries make sparkling wines; they supply Sherry and Port which generally have spirits added to them.
American Wines.
The wines of California and other sections of the United States are rapidly rising in popular estimation, and the time is probably not far distant when they will rival those of any part of the world. The consumption of domestic vintages increases with the constant improvement in their quality, which follows the slowly acquired knowledge, as to the best methods of turning the luscious juices of our own abundant grapes into wine.
Champagne.
The French make four varieties of champagne, viz.: Non-Mousseux, Cremant, Mousseux, and Grand-Mousseux. The first is fully fermented wine, fined, drawn into bottles, and allowed to rest a long time. Cremant is moderately sparkling. Mousseux throws out its cork with an audible report and begins gently to overflow. Grand-Mousseux pops out the cork with a loud noise and overflows with much foam, as it has the pressure of five atmospheres. A sound, rather dry champagne is said to be one of the best of remedies for impaired digestion.
Good and Poor Champagne.
Good champagne throws up for a long time after being opened a continuous stream of small, sparkling bubbles of gas:
“Each sunset ray, that mixed by chance
With the wine’s diamond, showed
How sunbeams may be taught to dance.”
Even after hours of exposure, when it has lost all its excess of carbonic acid, good champagne still retains the characteristic flavor of true wine, while an inferior sparkling wine becomes, after exposure, almost as insipid as a mixture of sugar and water. The best are made from the first pressings of the grape. Those made from a third, fourth or fifth pressing require the addition of sugar and are cloying and far inferior in flavor. Imitation champagnes are made by sweetening any ordinary still wines or cider and charging them with carbonic acid gas.