ni 



VITICULTUEE 



GOOD wine, we are told, needs no bush, but Cali- 

 fornian wine is sold in England under a brand 

 advertised extensively as the '^Big Tree." Without in 

 any sense depreciating this brand, it is proper to say that 

 the best Californian wine is not sold in England at all. 

 And it is not easy to obtain it in California. A friend of 

 mine has in his cellars a certain Rhine wine some twenty 

 years old, which he pronounces justly " a perfect dream ; " 

 but of this, I understand, there is hardly any left. Of 

 the wines on the market, the best Burgundy of the Swiss- 

 Italian colony, the sauternes of Livermore name, and 

 the clarets made from the Lafite grapes (the Cabernet 

 and Cabernet Franc) may be highly commended ; while 

 ports and sherries and other sweet wines made in South- 

 ern California find a fair market. So far the champagnes 

 of the Pacific Slope have lacked the quality that distin- 

 guishes the French wine, but Mr. Paul Masson, of San Jos^, 

 is selling an article of uncommon merit ; and he is enthu- 

 siastically of the opinion that champagne of the finest 

 flavour, sparkle, and purity will in time be produced in 

 his cellars. 



Viticulture in California has steadily prospered in spite 

 of disappointment, disease, and litigation. In early days 

 a rough wine, " tinto," was expressed from the Mission 

 grape by the Padres, and vines can still be found about 

 the old adobe Missions more than a hundred years old, 

 which still bear heavily. Mr. Nutting, writing on this 

 subject, says ; — 



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