66 Wine-making. 



BUSHBERG CATALOGUE. 



Wine-making. 



Some, however, say that American wines are very 

 inferior, " scarcely fit to drink" ! This was the precon- 

 ceived opinion of foreigners and of a great many Amer- 

 icans too; also, most American hotels and restaurants 

 keep none but foreign wines or else native wines under 

 foreign names and labels; and we are often asked 

 whether we hoped ever to produce as good wines here 

 as in Europe? How, while we are far from presum- 

 ing that "we can make wines which will rival and sur- 

 pass the best wines of France, Germany, and Spain,"* 

 we do claim that we are producing some very good 

 wines, and shall before many years, by planting our 

 best varieties and by progressing in the art of wine- 

 making, fully equal the average production of the wine- 

 countries of Europe. This is no idle boast, no mere 

 opinion of our own. The good qualities of American 

 wines are now appreciated by the best and most impar- 

 tial judges. Prof. St. Pierre, the late celebrated Director 

 of the Agricultural School of Montpellier.f says in his 

 "Memoir" (Extract from his Rapport) : 



" The study of wines furnished by American varieties 



has engaged my whole attention since 1875 



The musts of the following varieties Jacquez, Rulander, 

 Cynthiana, Black July, Elvira, and many others, are found 

 to be sweeter and richer than the musts of our best 



southern varieties The fine mountain wines of 



the south of France find their equivalents in the Black 

 July, Jacquez, Norton., and Cynthiana; color, alcohol, sa- 

 vor, body, and keeping qualities, none are missing, and 

 their products are equal to the good wines of the Pro- 

 vence or of Roussillon Trade will also find Ameri- 

 can wines for blending, similar to those of the Narbonne; 

 the color and richness of the Jacquez, Norton, Clinton, 

 &c., do not yield in the least to the deep-color wines of 

 France. Of those named, none except the Clinton wines 

 have a disagreeable taste ; and even of the Clinton we 

 shall obtain, by blending, age, clarification, &c., a wine 

 that is fit to enter into general consumption. 



In the category of white wines, some American varie- 

 ties offer equally valuable types. The wines of Diana 

 and Elvira remind us of our good Piquepouls; the Cun- 

 ningham, made as a white wine, presents characteristics 



approaching our Grenache wine It is thus evident 



that besides grafting, which enables us to obtain our 

 French wines on American stocks, the direct cultivation 

 of many American varieties can give us wines of true 



value I hope that the prejudice against these 



wines by persons who never tasted any others than 

 Concord and Isabella wine, will finally fall before the evi- 

 dence of experience." 



May we not hope that the prejudice of our own Amer- 

 ican people will finally yield, and will rather trust to 

 their own palates than to foreign labels and high prices? 



But we are aware that there exists still another pre- 

 judice one which condemns all wines, both native and 

 foreign, from fear of their intoxicating effects. And we 

 cannot close this chapter without a few words on 



* Am. Wine and Fruit Grower, August, 1882, page 75, 

 t He died December, 1881. 



THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION. 



Wine is itself an apostle of temperance. The best 

 medical authorities, such as Dr. Lunier, Medical Inspec- 

 tor of the Insane Asylums and Prisons of France, and at 

 the same time Secretary of the Temperance Society, has 

 shown by able researches and reliable statistics that the 

 ratio of percentages of disease and crime, attributable to 

 alcoholic excesses, DECREASED in proportion as in each 

 district the consumption of wine and beer increases ; 

 that the evils of intemperance are worse in the districts 

 where wine and beer are scarce; that natural wine and 

 beer cures the thirst for distilled spirits instead of 

 exciting it. The French Temperance Society aims to 

 repress entirely the circulation and sale of bad spirits 

 discovering modes of detecting them, punishing adul- 

 terations, and encouraging the use of pure, cheap wine, 

 beer, tea, and coffee, as the best means of curing the 

 thirst for distilled alcohol. 



American travellers, returning from Southern Europe, 

 who were strong opponents of wine before they visited 

 those countries, now testify that where wine is most 

 abundant, cheap, and generally used by the people, 

 drunkenness does not exist. The French Temperance 

 Society receives the hearty support of all the leading 

 physicians, scientists, legislators, and of all intelligent 

 men. Such a Society in America, if properly organized, 

 would receive similar support from all intelligent citi- 

 zens of our country ; but our Temperance Societies here, 

 aiming after absolute prohibition, regardless of the 

 principles of personal liberty, injure the very cause 

 which they advocate with more zeal than wisdom. 



From time immemorial the art of making wine and 

 its uses have existed all over the world; and whereso- 

 ever the attempt has been made to suppress it (as in 

 China) , the use of enervating opiates has taken the place 

 of invigorating wine. Let wine and beer drinking be 

 prohibited, and the use of opium, the secret tippling of 

 strong drinks, the increase of vice and intemperance, 

 would be the consequence. In all civilized countries 

 there is scarce a festive board Avithout wine. The church 

 uses it in her sacred service as the symbol of God's 

 choicest gifts; the physician prescribes it as a health- 

 restoring tonic to the sick and convalescing. We do 

 not deny that wine is intoxicating if used to exces ; but 

 " good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well 

 used." 



Grape culture extends over hundreds of thousands of 

 acres, the annual production of wine has reached hun- 

 dreds of millions of gallons; a mere insignificant pro- 

 portion of the grape production can be utilized for the 

 table and culinary purposes ; none of our American va- 

 rieties are adapted for making raisins: thus, grape cul- 

 ture is and will ever remain inseparable from making 

 WINE "that makes glad the heart of man." Ps. civ. 15. 



