The Art of Entertaining

by M. E. W. Sherwood

"The tradesmen who in liquor deal,

Of our Canal good use can make;

And when they mean their casks to fill,

They oft its water freely take.

By this device they render less

The ills that spring from drunkenness;

For harmless is the wine, you'll own,

From vines that in canals is grown."

A large proportion of the so-called foreign wines sold in America are of American manufacture. The medium grade clarets and so-called Sauternes are made in California, in great quantities. Our Senator, Leland Stanford, makes excellent wines. On the islands of Lake Erie, the lake region of Central New York, and along the banks of the Ohio and Missouri Rivers, are vineyards producing excellent wines. An honest American wine is an excellent thing to drink; and yet it disgusted Commodore McVicker, who was entertained in London as President of our Yacht Club, to be asked to drink American wines. Yet the Catawbas, "dulcet, delicious and creamy," are not to be despised; neither are the sweet and dry California growths.