If it is found that in the northern and central portions of France it is insisted that the casks be always kept full, and that in Spain they are left with a vacant space, it will also be found that this practice depends upon the alcoholic strength and robustness of the wine. When the grapes of the more northern regions are artificially matured till their saccharine strength approaches that of grapes of more southern climes, then the wine made from their must may safely be treated according to methods prevailing in the latter regions. If, on the other hand, the grapes of hot countries are gathered as soon as their must indicates a density of 20 to 24 per cent., the wine made from them would be absolutely ruined, if treated as the wine from overripe grapes, and it must be cared for as the weaker wines of the northern climes.
The essentials, then, of good wine making, which include the treatment in the cellar, are everywhere the same, and they only vary with the varieties of wine that are to be produced.
The general climate of California corresponds in many respects with that of the more southern wine-producing regions of Europe; and the percentage of sugar carried in the grapes grown in the southern and interior portions of our State is about the same as that of the musts of those regions. The musts produced in the central coast counties and the bay counties of the State, in average seasons, equal, if they do not exceed, in density the musts of the central and northern portions of France in their very best seasons.
The following tables will afford the figures necessary for a comparison between our wines and those of other countries, as to alcoholic strength and acidity. The first table is useful as illustrating an advance in wine making in this State. The earlier wine makers, guided by the experience derived from residence in the northern viticultural regions of Europe, or by the information from writers of those countries, allowed their grapes to arrive at an advanced state of maturity without considering the different conditions of climate. Musts, therefore, that were fit only for sweet wines, were treated according to dry wine methods, and no wonder they were found heady, used as table wines, with so high a percentage of alcohol.
The second table shows that we have learned to produce lighter wines, which means, not only that we are growing grapes that carry less sugar than the Mission, but chiefly that we do not allow the berries to become overripe, dried up, under the ardent rays of our constant sun.
The first figures are from a paper read by the late Major Snyder before the Napa Wine Growers’ Association, and published in the Rural Press, August 3, 1871, Vol. IV, p. 66.
| Color. | Name of Maker. | Year. | Vol. per cent. of Alcohol. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | Craig | 1867 | Foreign grapes | 14.4 |
| “ | “ | 1870 | Mission | 13.4 |
| “ | Dresel & Gundlach | 1861 | 14.4 | |
| “ | “ | 1870 | 13.3 | |
| “ | “ | 1862 | 12.5 | |
| “ | “ | 1867 | 13.6 | |
| “ | J. R. Snyder | 1865 | Mission | 12.5 |
| “ | “ | 1860 | 12.6 | |
| “ | “ | 1867 | 13.3 | |
| “ | “ | 1868 | 12.8 | |
| “ | A. F. Haraszthy | 1871 | Foreign | 11.5 |
| “ | “ | 1870 | “ | 12.6 |
| Red | Buena Vista Ass’n | 1866 | 16.5 | |
| White | ““ | 1871 | 11.5 | |
| Red | ““ | 1871 | 12.6 | |
| White | H. Winkle | 1869 | Mission | 13.2 |
| “ | “ | 1871 | “ | 12.5 |
| “ | “ | 1871 | Zinfandel | 12.8 |
The following figures are from the Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture of the United States, for 1880, report of the Chemist. It will be observed that where the name is followed by a †, it is that of the Eastern dealer, and not that of the maker.
| DRY RED WINES. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name. | Per cent. by vol. of alcohol. | Glucose. | Total acid as tartaric. | Maker. |
| Sonoma Mission, ’79 | 10.03 | None | .722 | Gretsch & Mayer.† |
| “ Zinfandel, ’79 | 9.78 | Trace | .693 | ““ |
| Mission | 9.29 | do | .917 | B. Dreyfus & Co. |
| Zinfandel | 11.35 | do | .768 | ““ |
| Zinfandel, ’78 | 10.30 | do | .825 | Dresel & Co. |
| Zinfandel, ’79 | 11.08 | do | .798 | ““ |
| Zinfandel | 12.31 | do | .814 | Geo. Hamlin & Co.† |
| California Claret | 10.56 | do | .903 | |
| Zinfandel | 13.24 | 0.18 | .726 | |
| DRY WHITE WINES. | ||||
| White Hock | 17.37 | 0.09 | .855 | |
| White Hock | 12.87 | 0.09 | .767 | |
| Muscatel | 13.34 | 0.12 | .767 | |
| Sonoma Hock | 12.05 | 0.13 | .422 | Perkins, Stern & Co.† |
| Riesling | 11.26 | Trace | .846 | Dresel & Co. |
| Hock | 11.35 | do | .785 | ““ |
| Dry Muscat | 11.44 | do | .619 | Dreyfus & Co. |
| Zinfandel | 11.26 | do | .590 | ““ |
| Riesling | 12.05 | do | .696 | ““ |
| Gutedel | 11.70 | do | .756 | ““ |
| Hock | 9.70 | do | .723 | ““ |
| Sonoma Mission, ’78 | 10.56 | do | .619 | Gretsch & Mayer.† |
| “ Riesling, ’77(?) | 13.15 | do | .695 | ““ |
| ““’79 | 13.15 | do | .575 | ““ |
| “ Mission, ’79 | 10.38 | do | .619 | ““ |
| “ Gutedel, ’79 | 11.87 | do | .589 | ““ |
| Dry Muscat ’74(?) | 12.40 | do | .816 | ““ |
| Zinfandel, ’78 | 11.96 | do | .761 | ““ |
| “’79 | 11.00 | do | .740 | ““ |
| SWEET WINES. | ||||
| PORT. | ||||
| California Port | 21.89 | 8.60 | .790 | |
| “ “ | 20.89 | 5.78 | .510 | Kohler & Frohling. |
| “ “ | 18.88 | 4.49 | .755 | Dreyfus & Co. |
| “ “ | 19.87 | 5.88 | .370 | ““ |
| “ “ | 15.49 | 8.60 | .486 | Perkins, Stern & Co. |
| “Sunny Slope“ | 15.12 | 11.57 | .433 | ““ |
| Los Angeles | 16.52 | 11.39 | .508 | Gretsch & Mayer.† |
SHERRY. | ||||
| California Sherry. | 17.96 | .61 | .532 | |
| ““ | 16.15 | 2.45 | .721 | Dreyfus & Co. |
| ““ | 16.80 | 2.20 | .573 | ““ |
CHAMPAGNES. | ||||
| “Grand Prize“ med. dry | 12.49 | 8.21 | .821 | Arpad Haraszthy. |
| “Eclipse,“ extra dry | 11.87 | 6.51 | .885 | ““ |
MISCELLANEOUS. | ||||
| Gerke’s White | 14.74 | 2.21 | .673 | Henry Gerke. |
| Sweet Muscatel | 18.58 | 25.37 | .753 | Perkins, Stern & Co. |
| ““ | 22.36 | 11.59 | .366 | Dreyfus & Co. |
| ““ | 22.46 | 16.94 | .331 | ““ |
| Los Angeles Muscatel | 17.08 | 13.44 | .533 | Gretsch & Mayer.† |
| Angelica | 11.79 | 12.48 | .489 | |
| “ | 13.90 | 13.25 | .347 | Perkins, Stern & Co. |
| “ | 18.14 | 14.81 | .430 | Dreyfus & Co. |
| “ | 18.78 | 16.20 | .466 | Gretsch & Mayer.† |
| California Malaga | 17.70 | 8.59 | .659 | Henry Gerke. |
What is particularly striking in the figures last quoted, is the remarkably high percentage of acid, which far exceeds what we had hitherto supposed the acidity of our wines to be. Yet as a large proportion of the total acids was volatile, it may be that the wines had contracted acidity from improper methods of keeping.