In 1876 the Mission grape sold in California for from $7.50 to $10 per ton, and foreign varieties for from $14 to $18 per ton, and consequently many vineyardists in districts remote from the market turned their hogs into the vineyard to gather the fruit. At this time farmers concluded that it would not pay to grow grapes, and the vines were rooted out of many vineyards, and the land devoted to the production of more profitable crops. In 1878, however, the prices were better, and the Mission grape brought from $12 to $14 per ton, and the foreign varieties from $22 to $26, and under a growing demand for California wines, the wine makers in the counties of Sonoma and Napa have paid during the past three seasons of 1880, 1881, and 1882, prices ranging from $16 to $22 per ton for Mission, and from $22 to $35 for other foreign varieties, and in some cases even as high as $40 per ton for wine grapes of the best varieties; the extremes in prices depending upon the activity of the competition in the different localities. Although in California we are accustomed to speak of the “Mission grape” and the “foreign varieties” in contradistinction, it may not be amiss to state for the benefit of other than California readers, that the “Mission” is undoubtedly a grape of European origin, and was cultivated by the Spanish priests at the missions existing in the country at the advent of the Americans, and hence the name. And notwithstanding the existence of our grape, Vitis Californica, the names “native” and “California grape” have been applied to the Mission, but the word “foreign” is never used in describing it.
The increase in the price of grapes has followed closely upon the increase in the demand for our wines, and the production has kept pace with the demand.
The annual shipments of wine and brandy from California, commencing with 1875, according to the reports published from time to time, are as follows, in gallons:
| Year. | Wine. | Brandy. |
|---|---|---|
| 1875 | 1,031,507 | 42,318 |
| 1876 | 1,115,045 | 59,993 |
| 1877 | 1,462,792 | 138,992 |
| 1878 | 1,812,159 | 129,119 |
| 1879 | 2,155,944 | 163,892 |
| 1880 | 2,487,353 | 189,098 |
| 1881 | 2,845,365 | 209,677 |
The figures for 1882, as published, are larger than those for 1881, but the figures furnished by Mr. Stone, the statistician of the Merchants Exchange, give wine 2,721,428, brandy, 218,792; from which I am led to believe that those for 1881 are too large.
The total production of wine for 1878 has been stated to be from 6,000,000 to 7,000,000 gallons, for 1879, 7,790,000, for 1880, 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 gallons. Notwithstanding the increased acreage of our vineyards, the product in 1881 fell off one or two million gallons, and in the second annual report of the State Viticultural Commission, just published, the loss is estimated at one-third of the crop, making the product 9,000,000 gallons, or a little less. That of 1882 is about 10,000,000 gallons.
In 1880 we had about 60,000 acres of vineyards in the State, and according to Mr. Haraszthy’s report as President of the Viticultural Commission, contained in the report of the commission last mentioned, the increase during the first two years after the first organization of the commission in 1880, amounts to 40,000 acres. Since the date of his report, April 19, 1882, the acreage must have been largely increased, and making a liberal allowance for errors, we must have at least 100,000 acres in vineyards in the State at the present time, which ought to produce, at a small estimate, 20,000,000 gallons of wine in five years from now, and in five years more, with the increased product from the greater age of the vines, and from those planted in the meantime, the yield ought to be doubled.
Among those who are now planting vineyards are many who have had no experience in wine making; and in order that such may have the advantage of the experience of those of other countries who have spent their whole lives in perfecting the art, and have had the benefit of the knowledge derived from generations before them, the author has prepared the following work, in which he has attempted to lay before the reader an account of the methods followed in those portions of Europe, especially France, where the finest wines of the world are produced.
What is here given is the result of research on the part of the author chiefly for his own benefit; and in going over the literature of the subject of wine making, he failed to find a work in the English language which is adequate to the needs of the practical wine maker, or one who intends to become such. There are many good books in the French language, and, in fact, the principal works on the subject are to be found in that language. But the authors of many of them have hobbies, and the practice indicated in a certain connection by one often differs from that pointed out by another. It, therefore, became necessary to compare the writings of various authors, and where they differed in points of practice, to try and find out the reason therefor. This was not always an easy task; but the author confidently hopes that the beginner will always find a safe course pointed out to him in the following pages, and that the experienced viniculturist will have brought to his mind many things forgotten in the multitude of affairs, and the experimentalist, to whom we all are looking for further light, will here find many hints which may assist him in finding out what are the best methods under the conditions in which we find ourselves in the infancy of this absorbing industry.
What forcibly strikes one in reading the works of different authors on the subject of vinification is, that, notwithstanding the variations in the methods, there are but few material differences in the practices in different localities in making a given kind of wine. It is true that one method makes a red wine, a different one makes a white wine, that grapes of one degree of ripeness and the corresponding practice in vinification produces a sweet wine, and another a dry wine, but the author is convinced that the method and practice which will produce the best result in a given case in one locality will also produce the best result in any other.