82 ECHOES CF OLD COUNTY LIFE. 



grand dinner of the Syndicate of Bordeaux, which is 

 considered one of the most important and finest dinners 

 of the kind in France. A special wine is provided with 

 each course, to gradually educate the palate until the 

 acme of perfection in taste is attained. At their last 

 dinner, the wine for which the highest position had been 

 assigned was " Pontet Canet " of 1858, which in that 

 year, although a fifth growth, took precedence of 

 " Lafitte " and all other wines. The seasons have a 

 marked effect on some estates; in the year 1867 the 

 '* Chateaux ]\Iargaux " was sold at (^d. per bottle ! We 

 were shown the " Caves " of this noted Johnstone firm, in 

 which were stored over 20,000 hhds. of c'aret, and over 

 LOOO,000 bottles, many of them of the choicest vintages. 

 I had always been a considerable purchaser of claret, 

 and air. Harry Johnstone showed mc the wines of 1865 

 reserved for me, which I had bought in the year 1867, 

 and I think I never drank anything better flavoured. 

 They were "Lafitte," "Latour," "Mouton Rothschild," 

 " Cos Destourncl," and " La Rose." They were in the 

 highest cond'tion, and were sent over to me for bottling 

 in the spring of 1869, and I, who ought not to, may say 

 that they exceptionally did honour to their selection. I 

 have some of the first-named still left, and certainly it 

 is a grand wine. 



I remember that the general election for the Chamber 

 of Deputies was going on whilst we were in Bordeaux, 

 and Mr. Nathaniel Johnstone, junr., was a candidate for 

 the district. Ke was an Imperialist, and the house of 

 which he was a member took the greatest interest in 

 his success. He was fortunate in getting elected by a 



