GRAPE PRODUCTS 255 



good wine the grapes must be carefully harvested, transported 

 with as little injury as possible and must be protected from dirt, 

 mold and fermentation before reaching the winery. European 

 vintagers maintain that grapes picked at sunrise produce the 

 lightest and most limped wines and yield more juice. They 

 say, also, that the grapes should not be gathered in the heat of 

 the day because fermentation sets in at once. These niceties 

 are not observed in America. 



Prices paid for ivine grapes. 



Supply and demand regulate the price paid for wine grapes. 

 There is always demand for good wine grapes, although a poor 

 product often goes begging for market. In the East, the highest 

 prices are paid for the grapes used in making champagne. The 

 champagne region of the East is confined to a few localities 

 along Lake Erie and to western New York about Keuka Lake, 

 where the industry is most largely developed. The varieties 

 used in champagne-making in the East are Delaware, Catawba, 

 Elvira, Dutchess, lona. Diamond and a few other sorts. Prices 

 differ with the many conditions afTecting the grape and cham- 

 pagne industries, perhaps the average price for Catawba, the 

 grape chiefly used in making champagne in this region, being 

 from S40 to $50 a ton. Choicer grapes, as Delaware, lona 

 and Dutchess, often sell from $75 to $100 a ton. Concords are 

 sometimes utilized in making dry wines in the eastern states, 

 $30 or $40 a ton being the average price. Ives and Norton 

 are much used for red wines and sell for top prices. 



Wine-makers in the East are at a disadvantage in producing 

 wines other than champagne, since the price paid on the Pacific 

 slope for wine grapes is much lower. Grapes for sweet wine in 

 California often sell as low as $6 or $7 a ton, the average price 

 being $10 or $12. Grapes for dry wines, such as Zinfandel and 

 Burger, bring on the Pacific coast from $10 to $1 2 a ton. Choice 

 varieties of grapes in this region, such as Cabernet, Sauvignon, 



