State Agricultural Society. 507 



CHOICE OF VINES FOE WINE MAKING. 



These remarks "will be confined to the consideration of the best varie- 

 ties of wine grapes. The market demand for table grapes and raisin 

 grapes will readily determine an}' questions that may arise respecting 

 individual merits. It is already known with sufficient accuracy what 

 grapes keep best, look best, and dry best. We know that the Muscat of 

 Alexandria and Flame Tokay arc conspicuous in the category of grapes 

 notable for splendid appearance and safe carriage; that the Muscat is in 

 prominent place for raisin making, and with the White Malaga, exten- 

 sively used for the raisin of commerce. That the Fiher Zagos possesses 

 qualities for raisin grapes in having a delicate skin, but few seed, and a 

 natural tendency to dry early, that has commended it for raisin making, 

 but that the superior size of its competitors has given them the prefer- 

 ence. The Muscats, Tokays, Chasselas, Hamburgs, and other fine varie- 

 ties of table grapes now in successful culture among us, leave nothing to 

 be desired in this department of vine culture. 



But the question as to the best varieties of grapes for wine making 

 presents more difficulties. In choosing vines to grow wine grapes, 

 regard should be had to their adaptability to soil and climate, as well 

 as to the description of wine which it is intended to produce. In Eu- 

 rope this choice is less difficult than in California, where we cannot 

 profit by lessons of long experience. In Europe, however, circum- 

 stances require them to calculate whether the quality of the product 

 is more profitable than quantity. Here we cannot afford to sacrifice 

 quantity to quality. If there are favored sites in California like certain 

 spots on the Ehine, in Burgundy and elsewhere, where two hundred 

 gallons of a choice wine brings more money than one thousand gallons 

 of a wine in less repute, they remain to be discovered. Our object 

 should be to ascertain what varieties of grapes will yield the largest 

 amount of Avine, having berries wdiich contain in suitable proportions 

 the elements best adapted to the manufacture of fine wines. This is the 

 more important, because of the rule that quantity and quality rarely go 

 together. Du Brueil lays it down as an axiom, that quality exclusively 

 should not be thought of except in those favored localities where the 

 high price of the product will compensate for the smallness of the yield; 

 every where else, quantity must have the preference. 



In this early stage of California vine culture we do not require an 

 extensive list of varieties. Our long, dry Summers give a uniformity to 

 our climate unknown in Europe. And there is probably less difference 

 in the quality of such soil as should properly be selected for vineyards 

 or its adaptation for grape growing, as in consequence of their volcanic 

 origin the elements of true nutrition are more constantly present. In 

 France, twelve hundred or more varieties of vines are cultivated. It 

 certainly would simplify our operations if we could designate those to 

 be planted by units instead of thousands. Yet it is not probable we 

 shall ever find a grape to unite with productiveness all the requisites of 

 a desirable wine grape, if we aim to manufacture a wine above the ordi- 

 nary kind. We require varieties to mix with each other. The wine of 

 our Mission is improved by mixing with almost any variety having less 

 sugar and more tartaric acid; nor are our best varieties so perfect that 

 they may not be made better with its must commingled with the must 

 of other varieties having constituent qualities adapted to such a union. 

 The quality of the wine is not only improved, but the success of manu- 



