THE BEST WINE GRAPES FOR CALIFORNIA, 



BY F. T. BIOLETTI. 



The question is often asked: "What are the best wine grapes for 

 California?" It is a very difficult question to answer. If we modify 

 it and ask, "What wine grape is it most advisable to plant?" the diffi- 

 culty is lessened but not removed. The answer will depend greatly on 

 the point of view. For the grape-grower it is one thing, for the wine- 

 maker another, for the consumer still another, and for the good of the 

 industry at large a compromise of all three. 



For the grape-grower who sells his grapes for so much a ton what- 

 ever the quality, the question resolves itself into, " Which is the heaviest 

 bearer?" 



For the consumer the question means either "What grape will pro- 

 duce good wine at the minimum cost?" or "What grape will produce 

 the best wine irrespective of cost?" according to the kind of consumer 

 he happens to be. As quantity and quality are to a great extent 

 inversely proportionate, these views are widely divergent. 



For the wine-maker the question is a little more complicated, but 

 may be stated essentially as, "What grape can J handle with the most 

 profit?" This profit will depend on the difference between the price he 

 is forced to pay the grower for grapes and that which he can persuade 

 the consumer to pay him for wine. For one class of consumers he 

 must get cheap grapes, for the other he can afford to pay almost any 

 price, providing they are of the right quality. 



For the good of the industry at large it is desirable that varieties 

 should be planted which will produce as large a crop as is compatible 

 with such quality as will maintain and extend the markets for our wine. 

 These markets are varied in character. For some, cheapness is the 

 essential factor; for others, quality. Cheap wines can be produced with 

 profit only from heavy-bearing varieties grown in rich soil; wines of the 

 highest quality only from fine varieties grown on hillsides or other 

 locations where the crops are necessarily less. It is therefore unwise to 

 plant poor-bearing varieties in the rich valleys where no variety can 

 produce a fine wine. It is equally unwise to plant common varieties on 

 the hill slopes of the Coast Ranges where no variety will produce heavy 

 crops. The vineyards of the San Joaquin, Sacramento, and other 

 valleys can not compete with the vineyards of the Coast Ranges in 

 quality, and the latter can not compete with the former in cheapness. 



Each region has its own special advantages which, if properly used, 

 will make grape-growing profitable in all, and instead of competing each 



