SOUTH AMERICAN WINES 89 



(arrope), something like, apparently, the thick wines 

 of the Mediterranean in former times. At other times 

 the must was cooked without thickening it, to prevent 

 immediate fermentation, as is done with the chicha 

 in Chile to-day ; or sour wines were mixed with boiled 

 must and ashes of the shoots, which masked the acidity. 



These traditions are now lost, but it is curious to 

 see the bodegueros still endeavouring to meet the taste 

 of the Creole population of the north-west, which has 

 retained the preference for sweet and fruity wines. San 

 Juan, which caters to these customers, manufactures 

 mistelas — fresh boiled must with an addition of alcohol 

 — which are mixed with mature wines in order the imitate 

 the imperfect fermentation of earlier days. Perhaps 

 there is no part of the world where the art of wine- 

 making has been pushed so far as in the bodegas of 

 Mendoza. The correction of the must, and the analysis 

 and treatment of diseased wines, follow the most modern 

 of methods. The bodegas produce a very steady wine, 

 which is guaranteed by their trade marks. The wine 

 of the Mendoza type, which they endeavour to produce, 

 is a strong red wine, of heavy colour, with twelve or 

 thirteen per cent, of alcohol. It may euphemistically 

 be called a blended wine, but is in reality diluted wine. 

 Argentina does not produce very light wines, and has 

 no use for diluted wine. 



The number of wine-making cellars in 1913 was 

 997 at Mendoza and 336 at San Juan. But they differ 

 very much from each other in size. Most of them have 

 only a small equipment and modest capital. Some, 

 on the other hand, are large enterprizes which could 

 produce enough to supply a city : vast constructions 

 of brick or adobe, with light roofs as a precaution 

 against earthquakes. 



The owners of the cellars almost always have their 

 own vineyards, but they also buy the harvests of culti- 

 vators who have not cellars. In 1908 it was calculated 

 that 140,000 tons of grapes were sent to the press 



