442 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



Old mountain, or Malaga sweet wine, which was 

 tbrmerly bo much in demand, is now almost out of 

 fashion throughout the world, and is very litile 

 made. It was Ibrmerly the chieC export from 

 iV'Ialaofa. 



Friday, '2Sth October. — Havini? been introduced 

 to Mr. Bryan, a gentleman of Irish extraction, and 

 brother-in-law to Mr. Ileredia, one oCthe princi- 

 pal merchants in Malaga, I went with him to 

 visit the cellars of the latter. There is no such 

 wine as Malvasia, which is said, in the Topngra- 

 phie des Fignobles, to be produced at Malaga. 

 The Muscat wine is very scarce, the raisins being 

 so nmch more prohtable. They make a white 

 pweet wine with the Pedro Ximencs, and a small 

 portion of the Muscat wine added to it, to trive it 

 ilie Havor of Muscat wine. The sole diflerence 

 between this wine and the Mountain, is that the 

 latter is mixed with a portion of must, which has 

 been boiled down to one third; this also eives it 

 the brown color. Mr. Bryan says, that within the 

 last two years there has been a great demand for 

 sweet wines from the United States. Most of the 

 wines this year were, therefore made sweet, and 

 the farmers are getting a better price. The new 

 wine is this year worth to the grower twelve rials 

 the arroba. The ditl'erence in the making be- 

 tween the sweet wine and the dry is, that when 

 the grapes are intended for the former they are 

 spread out for lliree or four days in the sun. The 

 new wine, when sweet is wor^h a third more than 

 whfMi dry. An abrado of 1,000 stocks, even in the 

 mountains, Mr. Bryan said, will som-'times yield 

 three or lour butts of wine. Mr. Ileredia has 

 lately purchased a vipeyard of 400 abrados, which 

 they are now improviu!.''. In one or two years 

 more they expect it will yield 1,000 butts of wine 

 annually. Mr. Bryan thinks it may contain 

 600,000 stocks; he says the varieties of vines 

 chiefly cultivated, are the Pedro Ximenes and the 

 Doradillo. Both the dry and the sweet wines are 

 made from them, the diHerence being only in the 

 management. In Mr. lleredia's vineyard, which 

 is situated to the north of Malatja, near the top 

 of the mountain, there are fifteen varieties ol 

 wine; but by tar the greater portion consists of 

 two varieties already meiiiioued. The system of 

 prumntr in the neighborhood of Malaga has hi- 

 tl-.erio, Mr. Bryan says, been very bad, it having 

 bci'.n the universal practice to leave a spur on 

 every shoot, weak or strong, and no care was 

 taken to keep then /rou) the ground. Since their 

 bouse became such extensive pro[)rielors of vines 

 I hey have procured men from A'eresde la Frontera 

 to prune the vines, according to the system pur- 

 sued at the latter place; but they find great dif- 

 ficulty in geitmg their own people to lollow the 

 example set. Mr. Bryan pressed me very much 

 to visit with him their vineyard, which they were 

 now pruning, the leaves having fallen, in conse- 

 (pience of the dilterencc of temperature at that 

 elevation, although near Malaga they were still 

 perlectly fresh ; he promised to send to Mr. Kirk- 

 piilrick an assortment of cuttings of every variety 

 in the vineyard ; and on the other hand he retjuest- 

 ed me to purchase all the publications which have 

 lately appeared in France, on subjects connected 

 with vine growing, and forward any information 

 which ni'O'ht strike me as particulaily valuable to 

 them. This, he says, may tave him the trouble 

 of a trip ol France, which he was conlem[)lating. 



Mr. Bryan disapproves of the system pursued in 

 Xeres, of leaving a void of one filieenih part in 

 each cask, with the bung loose to admit the air. 

 He refers to Dr. lire's Chemisiry as an authority 

 againsi this praclice. It seldom happens, fiowever, 

 that sherry wines thus cxposeil turn sour in conse- 

 quence, alihcugh this would inevitably happen 

 with wines of less body. 



The farmers in the neighborhood of Malaga do 

 not, like those of Xeres, hold their wine twelve 

 months l>elore selling it to the merchant. They 

 have eanhen vats, of the shape of an urn, and 

 someiinies large enough to contain two or three 

 butts. Into ihese vats the must flows as it ia 

 pressed ; and as they become lull, in order to make 

 room lor more, the wine is conveyed from them, 

 more or less fermented, as it may happen, to the 

 stores of the merchant. Their means of convey- 

 ance are mules and asses, the wine being carried 

 in sheep skhis ; these skins, liom being constantly 

 used, do not, however, give any taste to the wine. 

 No difference seems to be made in price in conse- 

 quence of any real or supposed difference in quali- 

 ty ; and the culture of the vine, excepting that of 

 the iMuscaiel for raisins, seems to be a very poor 

 pursuit. 



Messrs. Heredia and Co. sent a quantity of wine 

 to America wiihoul brandy, and it was much liked, 

 and considered to bear a resemblance to Cham- 

 pngne. I a'so tasted wine of a year old, which he 

 said rer^embled what had been sent. It was very 

 deficient in flavor, but promised to be a wine of a 

 good body when older. I also tasted some wine 

 which had been sent to Havana for the voyage, 

 but it seemed to m.e to be exceedingly vapid and 

 flavorless. Mr. Bryan complained ol" the pre- 

 sence of lartaric acid in their wines, which gives it, 

 when new, a harsh taste. It appeared to me that 

 this acid was rather deficient than in excess, and 

 I told him I ihought their wines would have more 

 character if li^rmenled wiih the husks, and, per- 

 haps, even a part of ilie stalks. I ihink their vapid 

 taste, or ybc?e?ir, to use a French expression, is 

 chiefly owing to the must containing only the pu- 

 rest principles of the grape. A more violent fer- 

 mentation, produced by a larger quantity being 

 fermenled in a mass, woulil, on the other hand, 

 make the wine ripen as early as at present, not- 

 withstanding the addition of these other principles. 

 Indeed, there can be little doubt, that by allowing 

 a large portion of tartaric acid to mincrle in the 

 must with the husks and stalks, a perfect fermen- 

 tation wouhl be much earlier effected. 



The best vvjne in Mr. Ileredia's cellars falls fliF 

 short of a good sherry. They have not yet adopt- 

 ed tlie system of bavins soleras, which are never 

 exhausted. But Mr. Bryan says, their attention 

 has been so largely devoted to other pursuits, thai 

 hitherto they have not paiil so much attention ta 

 iheir wines as they will do now thai ihey have 

 embarked so largely in the business. 



In the evening I accepted an invitation from 

 an old Irish merchant, who has been settled in 

 Malajja lor Ibrty years, (Don Juan Langan,) to 

 visit his cellars. He has been in the habit of send- 

 ing choice wines to England and Ireland, and 

 particularly of supplying the cellars of noblemen, 

 and men of great wealth. Although hie stock is 

 not very large, he has dicidedly the best wines I 

 have tasted in Malaga ; that is, dry wines. Some 

 of them, he says are twenty years old and upwards. 



