State Agricultural Society. 497 



I need hardly assure you that I am with you most heartily in all that 

 may be done to encourage the growth of the grape, to ascertain and 

 encourage the selection of the best varieties of the same, and to facilitate 

 the diffusion of all kinds of knowledge that may improve the quality of 

 the wine and brandy produced. With this purpose I have hastily thrown 

 together the following suggestions, knowing that you will credit me 

 with good purpose, if you shall find nothing new in all that I may com- 

 municate. 



One of the greatest interests in France, which is fostered by that 

 Government in eveiy possible manner, comes from the culture of the 

 grape, and the manufacture of wine and brandy from it. The sale from 

 this industry amounts to one hundred and eighty million dollars per 

 year; a sum larger than the yield of the cotton crop of the entire 

 United States at the exorbitant prices of the present time. Foreigners 

 familiar with the subject, who have introduced the vine from Europe, 

 invariably assure me that the vine and grape improve by transplant- 

 ing into California; that the soil and climate of this State cannot 

 be surpassed for that purpose; and that the fruit being superior, we only 

 require time to know how to use it, when we must produce the finest 

 wines and brandy in the world. The great difficult}^ that we encounter 

 will be to get rid of old mistakes and old prejudices, and to convince 

 others, after we have convinced ourselves, that the Mission grape, with 

 the exception of some few favored locations, is inferior to many other 

 of the European varieties; and that in planting, hereafter, it is of the 

 utmost importance that the proper selections of the vine shall be made. 

 It is unnecessary to refer to the varieties grown for wine purposes east 

 of the Sierras, it being determined that they are inferior to the foreign 

 grape. A great difficulty with the foreigner familiar with the subject 

 comes from the great change in the character of the vine and grape in 

 transplanting here, rendering all of his former experience of no avail. 

 Again, he is required to await say four years to produce the grape; then 

 he must wait from tw T o to ten years to mature the wine; thus requiring 

 from seven to twelve years to ascertain the result. 



I have attempted to arrive at a result in less time, and test the pecu- 

 liarities of the grape by converting the wine made of it into brandy. I 

 find, by a careful distillation, that the especial bouquet and flavor of the 

 grape may be fully developed in the brandy — the aroma appearing soon 

 after distillation, and the flavor rapidly after two years. By these means 

 I have found a marked difference between the brandy of the Mission 

 grape and that made of the La Folle (Cognac grape), the Eeisling (Bhine 

 grape), the Bosa de Feru, the Finaud or Burgundy grapes, and the 

 Catawba; and of these the brandy is inferior to all except the Catawba, 

 which, although in aroma is rather agreeable, the flavor is harsh, and 

 improves very little with age. In Cognac, I was advised not to depend 

 upon a complicated form of distillery. Henesy assured me that he pre- 

 ferred the primitive vessel and worm to any other form of distillery; 

 that rectification was entirely unnecessary, and that charcoal was never 

 used. Fie constantly impressed me with the importance of making white, 

 not red wine, and that the character of the brandy would depend almost 

 entirely upon the quality of the wine distilled. 



I visited many brandy distilleries at the vineyards near Cognac, and 

 found them, with few exceptions, of the most simple form — the fire 

 being applied directly under the copper boiler that held the wine. Upper 

 and Lower Charante is the most sterile of all the grape country in 

 France; and the only grape growing there is the La Folle Blanche, 



