290 Recreations of a Sportsman 



old Chinaman, or the Swiss, French, or Italian 

 expert is a delight. He has many secrets of 

 the trade that rivals would give all they possess 

 to filch. With what pride he holds up to the 

 light this Burgundy ! rubies have stolen its color, 

 surely, at least it is seen nowhere else. Then 

 you must try this white wine, and the port of 

 '73 a famous year; just a taste, of course, to 

 get the bouquet. Then the sherries liquid 

 amber, and of a flavor unsurpassed. Then speak- 

 ing of Zinfandel, look on this and this, drawing 

 from a tun that would have floated a small 

 yacht. Then the Tokay, not to speak of the 

 brandy. Ah! how seductive it all is, and what 

 with simply testing, smelling, many a tenderfoot 

 has come out of the winery an exhilarated con- 

 vert to the bouquet of the wines of that partic- 

 ular region. 



Biding down the long lines of vines from the 

 winery, seeing hundreds of tons of grapes breath- 

 ing an air of wine, an atmosphere of their own, 

 seeing thousands of gallons of liquid, ruby or 

 topaz all this does not convey an idea of the 

 vastness of the production ; but when the stroller 

 through the California vineyards reaches Asti, 

 in northern California along the Sierra Nevada, 

 he finds literally a sea of wine. 



The depository for the Italian-Swiss wine 

 makers here is an underground cistern eighty- 

 four feet in length, thirty-four feet in width, and 



