356 Notes and Gleanings. 



different from what I have observed as usual in Europe ; the vines not being 

 staked, but cut very low, and permitted to run on the ground. Grapes are grown 

 for the making of wine, and for use as fruit. Near Malaga, along the shore of 

 the Mediterranean, is a long extent of rounded or perhaps cone-shaped high 

 hills, of a reddish-colored gravelly loam : these hills are covered with vineyards, 

 and from the grapes there grown are made what is widely known in commerce 

 as Malaga raisins, as well as a large quantity of wine both sweet and dry. To 

 tlie west of Malaga, near the Atlantic coast at Jerez, in what is one of the hot- 

 test parts of Spain, are grown the grapes from which is made what is known as 

 Sherry wine. The vines cultivated about Jerez are of several varieties ; and the 

 wine made from them is of two sorts, — sweet and dry ; both these also being of 

 two or three different varieties. The sweet Jerez wine is of a rich brown color, 

 of a rich, luscious sweetness, with a good deal of flavor : the dry is of a pale 

 straw-color, with a strong aroma ; some varieties having a decided almond flavor, 

 from which others are wholly free. None of these wines are used until four or 

 five years old ; and then by mixing together the different kinds, sv/eet and dry, 

 and those of different ages (some very old wine being always kept for the pur- 

 pose), with the addition of a small quantity of brandy, is prepared the Sherry 

 wine of commerce. I suspect very little Sherry wine is consumed in Spain ; it 

 is all prepared for the English market : and the manufacturers, by the use of a 

 greater or less quantity of some particular kind of wine in the preparation, are able 

 to adapt it to the taste of their customers. In this part of Spain, too, are made the 

 Manzanilla and Montilla, both light-colored, dry, high-flavored wines, somewhat 

 of the same character as some of those made at Jerez. In Spain, the common 

 wines of the country, the vm ordinaire, seemed to me especially good, particularly 

 the common red wine of Catalonia and Aragon. South of Madrid, there is made 

 a wine called — probably from the name of the town, where there are large vine- 

 yards that produce it — the Valdepenas, that is most generally used and esteemed. 

 The Valdepenas wine is of two kinds, — red and white : they are both good, full- 

 bodied, high-flavored Vv'ines, to my taste having a good deal of resemblance to 

 some of the Burgundy wines, especially the white, that seemed to me very like 

 Chablis. If it be true, as has been stated, that the vines from which they are 

 made came originally from Burgundy, it accounts for the resemblance. Some 

 of the principal characteristics of the Spanish wines are fulness of body, high 

 flavor, no acidity, and apparently a good deal of spirit ; all perhaps caused by 

 the hot climate and great heat of the sun, bringing the fruit to perfect maturity: 

 their strength, perhaps, may make some of them objectionable as table-wines. 

 The common wines of the country seemed to me to be so good, that I cannot 

 but think that if there were the same science and skill in their manufacture, 

 the same care in selecting and sorting the grapes, as are practised in France, 

 some of the Spanish wines would be brought into competition with the fine 

 wines of Burgundy and Bordeaux. Oranges and lemons are largely cultivated 

 along the Mediterranean coast : they are very fine. Seville oranges have a wide 

 renown : the trees attain a great age. Some were pointed out to me as being 

 more than six hundred years old ; their origin dating back to the time of the 

 Moors. Another very important cultivation is that of the olive, of which there 



