Journal of Agriculture. L^° May, 1909. 



Malaga Scco. — A white wine of light golden colour, of the same 

 strength as the Priorato de Mesa, and therefore less alcoholic than the 

 wine of Andalucia it is called after; the use of the name of which is. b\ 

 the way, contrary to Madrid Convention rules. This was a nice, rather 

 neutral wine, not unlike some of our so-called Australian sherries, but less 

 alcoholic and with less distinctive character. Like the previous wine, it 

 is largely sun ripened and slightly sweetened with mistela ; its gravity was 

 also 0° Baume. 



These two types constitute the bulk of shipments to South America. 

 It is strange that their alcoholic strength should be so similar to that of 

 our own export wdne. The red differs widely from ours, howe\er, in 

 colour and body being paler and thinner. 



Priorato Dulce (sweet) a dark red wine with a rather purplish tint, 

 sweeter and more alcoholic than the Priorato de Mesa. 



Malaga Dulce. — This is like the Malaga Seco, but sweeter and more 

 alcoholic — a somewhat neutral, clean s\\eet white. 



In addition to these main types, other intermediate ones are made up 

 according to customers' requirements. 



In one of the cellar laboratories I was in, there were framed formuloe 

 on the w\all for wines of different type to any of the above — wines of which 

 the alcoholic strength would go up to 32 per cent, and even 37 per cent, 

 (proof) with acidities between 2.2 and 2.6 per cent, of sulphuric acid and a 

 .sugar strength of about 5 per cent. Such wines used formerly to go exten- 

 sively to Brazil but that country is now chiefly supplied from Portugal. 



I have not yet referred to the Tarragona Ports, .so largely shijjped to 

 England. These wines, which are handled at Reus and Tarragona and 

 r.ot at Barcelona, can more conveniently be described later. 



Such is a brief description of what I was able to see of the Barcelona 

 wine trade. Of the South American shipments, I knew practically noth- 

 ing, nor do I think its importance is realized in English speaking countries. 

 Victoria is admirably suited for the production of wines of similar type — 

 our schistose hills will, if planted with the right variety of vine, produce 

 Rancios of pronounced type. The area of land suitable for producing this 

 class of wdne in France and Spain is limited. The jiossibility of our find- 

 ing a market for such wine among our Spanish neighbours across the 

 Pacific is at any rate worth consideration. Perhaps not in Argentina or 

 Chili, where wine production is increasing steadily, but in the more 

 tropical republics of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Columbia business might 

 be done. These countries are much nearer to us than to S])ain. 



The Priorato District— Tarragona Port. 



In the preceding pages the word Priorato has been employed to desig- 

 nate a type of wine. It really is the name of a well defined district in 

 the province of Tarragona. 



The railway line from Zaragoza to Barcelona crosses the Ebro at Mora 

 la Nueva after a most intere.sting though tortuous route on the right bank 

 of that great river, the cour.se of which, about here, is in very rugged 

 country. The picturesque ruins, villages, and churches near Flix and Asco 

 leave a vivid imjjression on the memory. .\ couple of stations past Mora, 

 the traveller finds himself in tiie heart of the Priorato district. Vineyards 

 once more become a feature of the landscape and \ery picturesque they 

 are, climbing up the hillsides in terraces similar to those of the Alto Douro 

 nnd the Rhiii^'. 'i"he\ are, however, less luiiiierous than thev were some 



