224 ORANGE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



it, but it is a peculiarity which belongs to the Mission grape and 

 may be called its aroma, if a disagreeable smell can be called 

 an aroma. Why this is so, whether it is because the wine car- 

 ries so little tartaric acid, or for some other reason, I know not. 

 It is a fact, however, that every variety of grape has some pecu- 

 liar aroma of its own, in some cases a very pleasant one, and 

 it would seem, in some otherwise. 



Now, in making sweet wine there is very little, and often no 

 fermentation at all. Fermentation is stopped, and then we have 

 no earthy taste, and this is why the Mission sweet wine is good. 

 The degree of fermentation can be told with certainty by the 

 presence of more or less of this peculiar smell. All this goes 

 to show that the Mission grape is not adapted to the making of 

 fine light dry wines. 



That we can make a fine light dry wine, the equal of that of 

 Sonoma or any other place, is to me a certainty, for I have sold 

 it side by side with their products. I have had critical compari- 

 sons with theirs among themselves, and came off, by their own 

 admission, with honors even. 



It is with much hesitation that I write this letter. In fact, 

 the oftener I put it off the less positive I become of my facts. 

 It will always be well for the reader to remember that what I 

 have said, and what follows, is true and proven only in this lo- 

 cality; and grapes that would be of the best quality for wine- 

 making and healthfulness on the dry uplands, like those of my 

 locality, may be entirely different, rot and mildew in low and 

 wet localities. With the present demand and short supply, finer 

 qualities will not be appreciated nor paid for, and the Mission 

 grape is well known and tried in all kinds of locations. For me 

 it has less value than other kinds, and I will not plant any more. 

 Yet I do not wish to influence others who have different lands. 

 I give you my experience of nineteen years. These years should 

 teach something for the general good ; and could I begin these 

 years again, with my present knowledge, it would be worth sev- 

 eral hundred thousand dollars to me. The present outlook for 

 the wine and grape interest is very bright, brighter than at any 

 other period of California's history. Our wines are being recog- 

 nized as equal to the favored pure productions of any country, 

 and we have a country where much of the land is better adapted 

 to grapes than any other purpose, with a new and virgin soil to 

 begin with ; whereas France and Spain, and even Germany are 

 on the decline in production, through the greatest of all pests, 

 the phylloxera, which threatens to exterminate the whole in- 

 dustry, while we are getting ready to take their places. Right 

 here 1 would most urgently caution all parties from importing 

 grape cuttings from Sonoma or Napa, for the disease is there, 

 and if introduced here it would be the greatest calamity that 



