360 GRAPE CULTURE AND 



CHAPTER XVI. 



WINE AS AN ARTICLE OF COMMERCE. 



I was very reluctant to say anything about this subject, and 

 hoped to obtain an article from a gentleman in the trade, who 

 is more versed than I can be. As he is prevented however, 

 from contributing, I am compelled to do the best I can from 

 what information I have been able to gather from the trade. 

 I shall quote from such sources available to me, and take 

 pleasure in presenting an extract from a circular of Messrs. 

 J. Gundlach & Co., one of the oldest and fairest firms in the 

 trade, regarding last season's vintage. They say, Nov. 1886, 

 '* one of the most successful vintages recorded in the annals 

 of the California wine industry has just been terminated and 

 we take great pleasure in submitting to our friends our views 

 of the result, and a condensed report of the present and pros- 

 pective condition of our wine market. 



"The weather, during the entire season, proved as favorable 

 as could be wished for. No early or late frosts ; no damaging 

 winds, coulure, grasshoppers or other unforeseen mishaps re- 

 tarded the development of the grapes, and our vintners en- 

 joyed al) the advantages of picking, crushing and fermenting 

 under the most beneficial atmospheric conditions. Our 

 "musts" indicated from 23 to 26 per cent of sugar, with 

 well-proportioned amounts of acid, and give promise, there- 

 fore, of speedy development into elegant wines. 



"The Burgundies, Zinfandels and other Clarets, show fine 

 color, (being in some localities probably not as intensely dark 

 as last year), but they are faultless in fermentation and in 

 every other respect. This observation can be made in all 

 wine districts from North to South. California's cellars never 



