390 Journal of Agriculture. [lo June, 1909. 



affinity is not perfect, and iit is notewortln that the former of the above 

 varieties is the more " difficult " scion. Stiff clay soils appear to Ije 

 those in which vines are most liable to suffer from apoplexy. 



Pruning was in progress at the time of my visit. I noted, in the 

 lower levels, where spring frosts are feared, the application of the precau- 

 tionary "preliminary pruning" which 1 had already seen in other parts 

 of Spain liable to similar trouble. The average yield of grapes in the 

 district, according to Don Ramon, is about 40 cargas (each 120 kilos) to the 

 hectare, or nearly 2 tons to the acre on the lower land. The yield on 

 the hillsides is about one-half this quantity. 



WiNEMAKING. 



Wine-making methods vary a good deal, but crushing without removal 

 of the stalks is the rule. Some wines are fermented for a long time on the 

 marc and are, in consequence, of deep colour when young. Others, again, 

 are separated immediateh from the crushed grapes and the juice fer- 

 mented separately, as for white wine. Much of the Rancio wine is made 

 in this way, the colour of the juice extracted by hard pressure being suffi- 

 cient to colour the whole, for Rancio wines are often very pale ; more 

 intense colour can easilv be obtained l)\ blending with a small proportion 

 of wine fermented on the skins. 



Rancio wines are almost always fortified. The addition of the neces- 

 sary spirit prior to fermentation is very usual, even when fermentation 

 takes place in contact with the marc. Much variability exists as to the 

 type of wine made, from vintage to vintage. Some years, most wine is 

 made dry, whilst in others it is all sweet. In a good year the hillsides 

 yield musts of a gravity of 16 deg. and 17 deg. Baume {e.g. 1-125 and 

 1. 1 33). Heavy rains fell before the 1907 vintage, with the result that 

 most of the wine was made dry. 



In Don Ramon's bodegas I tasted .several different wines and was par- 

 ticularly interested in the Rancios. These varied in colour, but when over 

 2 years old were all distinctly tawny and possessed of the characteristic 

 taste peculiar to the type, which commences to develop during the second 

 year. The influence of the cask is considerable, though no special 

 organism seems to be instrumental in bringing about the change, as is the 

 case with Sherry, nor are the casks ullaged. The same casks — usually 

 hogshead.s — are kept for many years, sjKM^ially for the maturation of Rancio 

 wines. 



Some of these wines were very fuie. They were clean and delicate not- 

 withstanding the fairly high percentage of alcohol, usually fruity, if not 

 quite sweet, and with the characteristic bouquet and taste strongly 

 developed. 



The Llansa vineyards have an additional interest in that they are re- 

 markably similar to tho.se which, in France, yield the wine .known as 

 Banyuls^ the nearest approach to a port, and one of the few fortified 

 sweet red wines made in France. In these, the soil is the same decom- 

 po.sed primary schist, the arrangement of the vineyards on terraced hill- 

 sides is practically identical, the Grenache is the variety almost exclusively 

 cultivated and wine making methods are \<m\ similar. Banyuls, Collioure 

 and Port-Vendres are the three viticultural centres in this small but 

 interestinfT district which is only distant from Llansa some 20 miles though 

 the Franco- Spanish frontier intervenes. They will be referred to later. 

 It is here only necessary to point out the great similarity with Llansa, 

 both as regards the vineyards themsehes ;ind their products. 



