30 Dec, 1908.] Viticulture in Europe. 



709 



from the Yarra to the Murray. That we have reached a higher stan- 

 -dard of excellence with our white than with our red wines is a fact 

 which is_ patent to all wine judges. It is one which should cause us 

 .to experiment with other red sorts and amongst these the choice red 

 varieties of La Rioja are perhaps the most interesting ones which I met 

 with in Spain. 



The winery system is very prevalent in La Rioja, growers usualK 

 selling their grapes to the Avinery which is generally a large companv. 

 Several of these are to be found in the towns of Logroiio and Haro. 

 'They make, mature and bottle the wine under their own name and not 

 under that of the vineyard on which the grapes were grown. The 

 price usually paid for grapes varies between 16 and 20 pesetas per 100 

 kilos {,Q6 8s. to ^8 per ton reckoning the peseta at par) but growers 

 are fairly independent. The winery svstem being of comparatively 

 recent introduction, they still nearlv all 'liave their own crushing and 

 fermenting plants. If the price offered for graix-s falls below £6 p^r 

 ion they prefer to make their own wine. 



LOGRONO. 



I arrived at Logrono, the chief centre of La Rioja Baja and capital 

 ■of the province, in company with Don Nicolas de Los Salmnnes by the 

 evening train on 3rd January, 1908. We spent next morning in \isiting 

 ihe line T'odega Franco Espanola just over the river from the town. 

 This fine winery is the largest in Logroiio. As everything is conducted 

 on practically the same lines as in Bordeaux cellars, detailed description 

 is unnecessary. A large trade in wine appears to be done with the 

 South American republics, judging from the number of casks I saw ready 

 to leave for Buenos Ayres, Colon, and Panama. Those for the last 

 two places were painted outside with green arsenical paint, this treatment 

 being necessary to guard against perforation by a borer which abounds 

 ■on the Isthmus. The red wines which were very nice light dry table 

 wines were made from Tempranillo 50 per cent, and Grenache and 

 Graciano 25 per cent. each. The wine is usually kept two to three years 

 before it is bottled during which time it is frequently racked. The hogs- 

 heads are always stored " bonde de cote" (bung on one side) exactlv 

 as in the Bordeaux cellars, and the wine is seldom allowed to rem.ain more 

 than four months Avithout racking. This frequent handling no doubt 

 iDrings it on rapidly but Don Nicolas seems to think they have gone to 

 the extreme of handling rather too much and that the wines of this 

 part would be better if less frequently exposed to the air. Some very 

 good white wines were also shown to me chiefly of the Chablis and 

 Sauternes tvpes made from the white varieties referred to above. 



In ccnjunction with the Bodega a large nursery is run, in which many 

 thousand bench grafted cuttings are struck. The grafting is done with a 

 Rov machine, the shouldered cleft being preferred to the mitre graft. 

 The earlier grafts are callused in sand but the later ones are planted 

 •direct from the machine. 



Hard. 

 On the 4th January I reached Haro, the chief town in La Rioja Alta 

 and the most important wine centre in the region, the wines made in its 

 neighbourhood being somewhat lighter than those of Loeroiio which tend 

 Tather more in the direction of the big blending wines of Aragon. Though 

 •quite a small town, the population not exceeding 6,000, it is prosperous: 

 well built and verv picturesque (see photograph). Its prosperitv is entirely 



