56 



The Grape Culturist. 



of just that peculiar aromatic stuff, 

 (too condensed to be agreeable) from 

 wliicb a very pleasant flavor may be 

 develo^Ded, making a wine of a straw 

 or light purple color, which in its Vt^ay 

 is an excellent article, and can be 

 sold at such prices as to bring wine 

 drinking into general use. 



There is jet another way of mak- 

 ing the ^^pure" juice of the Concord 

 grape drinkable : Press in the ordi- 

 nary waj^, let the must ferment, keep 

 your M'iue with the necessary care 

 three years in a very good cellar, and 

 then the slow operation of time will 

 have effected what might have been 

 done in a moment by gome harmless 

 artificial procedure, I mean, the sur- 

 plus aroma will have been volatilized, 

 and the original harshness mitigated. 



But in so doing, can we compete 

 Avith California vintagers, whose pro- 

 duct, certainly not inferior to our very 

 best Concord wines, is now sold in 

 St. Louis at one dollar a gallon ? — 

 For my own part I am not exten- 

 sively engaged in the gi'owing of Con- 

 cord wine, preferring to raise a stuff- 

 though requiring much greater care 

 and more labor— that has nothing to 

 fear from importation, either from 

 California or the old world. 



The aromatic stuffs in the various 

 kinds of fruit, floAvers, roots, spices, 

 &c., are chemical compounds, and 

 rsimilar aromas may occur in very 

 different vegetable bodies. Thus 

 the peculiar bouquets of wines may 

 very appropriately be compared to the 

 odor of the rose, violet, mignonette 

 &e., and their flavor to that of the 

 straAvberry, raspberry, nutmeg . &c. 

 The peculiar aromatic stuff of the 

 Concord is indeed the highly con- 



densed, and therefore repugnant 

 strawberry aroma. Is there any 

 thing incomprehensible in this? It 

 is pei'haps unknoAvn to you that out 

 of that most nauseous stuff called 

 "fusel" by proper dilution an enchan- 

 ting perfume can be gained, nay that 

 such perfumes are noAV Avorked out of 

 coal tar ? — Perhaps one drop of the 

 straAvberry ether is just enough for a 

 AA'hole gallon of wine to give it a 

 pleasant taste and flaA'or; Avhat Avill 

 you do Avhen your must contains three 

 and four times that quantity ? 



Nature has furnished the elements, 

 and constantly brings about num- 

 berless combinations to serve her 

 ends. But man also, led by science 

 and experience, combines, dissolves 

 and changes according to his aims 

 and objects. The gi'ape, tne peach, 

 the grains of Avheat and corn were 

 by nature designed for propagation ; 

 man claims a riglit to interfere and 

 use all natural productions the best 

 he can, even to change nature's origi- 

 nal course into Avhat suits best his 

 ovv^n ends. The gallizing process is 

 no more to be blamed than the mak- 

 ing of bread and cakes out of wheat 

 grains, and the only reasonable query 

 is : Is your product valuable, pala- 

 table and Avholesome, and is the AA^hole 

 community not injured thereby ? — I 

 do not giA^e a straAv for the assertion 

 of the one or the other that his wine 

 is ^'pure and unmixed"; I taste the 

 Avine and ask no questions. 



I Avould like to taste your Concord 

 Avine, I Avould like better to haA^e you 

 taste mine. I am old ; can't you af- 

 ford to give me the pleasure of jouv 

 company at my rural homestead ? 



Yn. MuENcn 



