PREFACE. V 



which produced the most, without regard to quality, 

 and a great amount of inferior wines were made from 

 them. These poor wines, of course, obscured the merits 

 of the really fine wines, and brought them into bad 

 repute. For a number of years California wines were al- 

 most unsalable, even at twelve or fifteen cents per gallon. 

 But this state of affairs has changed for the better, and 

 the improvement still continues. The old Mission grape, 

 which was almost the only variety cultivated at first, and 

 which gives a very heady and heavy wine, but of little 

 fineness and delicacy, is generally cast aside for better 

 varieties, of which nearly all the new plantings have, been 

 made. Wines are now beginning to be appreciated ac- 

 cording to their merits, the habits of the choicer varieties 

 of the grape are studied more, and their pruning and treat- 

 ment changed accordingly. Dealers begin to discriminate 

 in their purchases between cellars filled with ordinary 

 wines and those of superior grades; they pay higher prices 

 for the latter, and are reluctant to purchase the former 

 at any price. That this change is as inevitable as it is 

 desirable, must become clear to every one whose judgment 

 is unbiased. It is the "old, old story," which repeats 

 itself in every branch of industry, that only those whose 

 motto is, "Excelsior," who work with brain as well as 

 hand to achieve the best, will eventually win the day. 

 California has wines already, which can take their place 

 with the choicest productions of the Rhine, France, and 

 Burgundy, and we may safely claim for our wines, that 

 a better article can be bought in San Francisco to-day, 

 from some of our leading firms, at from six to nine dollars 

 per case, than can be purchased in St. Louis or New York, 

 of foreign importation, at from fifteen to twenty-four 

 dollars per case. That these wines are often shipped to 

 the East in bulk, and then sold under French and German 

 labels, detracts nothing from their merits ; that this is 

 even done in San Francisco, is indeed to be deplored. But 



