203 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING 



are, uneven ripening, some of the berries drying up long 

 before the others are ripe, which makes fermentation 

 very difficult ; liability to sunscald of foliage and fruit ; 

 liability to frost and over-productiveness. It is not sat- 

 isfied with producing one crop, but will sometimes pro- 

 duce two or three more from the laterals on the bearing 

 shoots. ^^With all its faults, we love it still," and a 

 Zinfandel claret from locations best adapted to it, care- 

 fully made, is good enough for any one. Unfortunately 

 there is much made not up to these standards, hence 

 the many complaints about inferior red wines. The 

 three following are very productive and make very fair 

 wines : 



Mondeuse, or Gros Syrah, Mataro, and Charbonneau. 

 The last makes a wine of very deep color, but of very 

 rough character, and the color fades with age. Grenache 

 may also be classified with these, being very productive, 

 even on poor soil, and makes a fair wine. Of course there 

 are other varieties which have their merits, for instance 

 Grosse Blaue or Koelner, Blauer Portugieser, and a host 

 of others, but not all have been sufficiently tried, and it 

 is not well to cultivate too many varieties. The above 

 are some of the best, and comprise both quality and 

 quantity. 



Among the varieties which make the finest port, but 

 which are rather unproductive, is the Trousseau or 

 Trussieux. 



GRAPES FOR WHITE WINE. 



Owing to the importation of many of the best types of 

 vines from the Rhine and from France, the white wines 

 of California won a reputation at an earlier date than 

 did tha red wines, a better grade being produced. Hock 

 from the Mission grape, and the white wine made from 

 the first run of the so-called Black Malvasia, were not 

 calculated to raise their reputation. They were too fiery, 

 and lacked the delicacy of flavor and the smoothness of 



