WINE AND THE ART OF WINE TASTING. 15 



wines; or else they can be cut with other wines, or be given the treat- 

 ment usual in Tuscany, known as the " governo." 



When these wines are sound they do very well for cutting with other 

 wines, thus making a blend which can be classed with the common 

 wines, or even sometimes with the third class, or fine common wines. 



2. Dessert or Alcoholic Wines. 



This class includes all those wines which the French call " vins de 

 luxe," and therefore champagnes and other sparkling wines, which, how- 

 ever, are, unlike most of this class, of relatively low alcoholic strength. 



Sparkling wines are placed here because, as a rule, they are of high 

 cost, and therefore " vins de luxe." However, we are now producing 

 natural wines which are 1 afterwards artificially made sparkling, at a 

 much less cost; and this industry is assuming such proportions that it 

 cannot well be overlooked. 



Apparatus of different kinds for the production of sparkling wines 

 have been known and used for a long time in France, Germany, and 

 Austria. 



Latterly the practice of artificially making champagne from natural 

 dry wines has been extensively followed in Italy; this is due to the in- 

 vention of the apparatus of Carpene, which possesses above all previous 

 systems the advantages of simplicity and cheapness. This system has 

 rendered possible the production of good sparkling wines at a moderate 

 cost. 



With this explanation regarding champagne, and the reason for plac- 

 ing it in this class, I pass to those wines more properly belonging to it, 

 and here give Polacci's definition of " vini di lusso." 



These wines are nearly always alcoholic, more or less aromatic, and 

 are drunk, as a rule, aft&r dinner, on which account they are called by 

 foreigners dessert or after-dinner wines. They are, so to speak, concen- 

 trated, and are sipped from small glasses like cordials, for which reason 

 the French know them as " vins de liqueurs." We know them as " vini 

 di lusso," because they are certainly not necessary beverages, and from 

 their high cost are usually reserved for the tables of the rich. 



The many and diverse wines of this class can be divided, or rather 

 united, under the following heads: Sweet Wines; Alcoholic Wines; Spark- 

 ling Wines. 



In this class are wines so well known, and of such special character, 

 that it is difficult to class them together, and each is usually spoken of 

 by itself as almost forming a class apart; as with the wines in the first 

 class, the "grand vins," their qualities and peculiarities are so well 

 known that their names alone is a sufficient description; such wines are 

 Marsala, Lacrima Christi, Vernaccia di Sardegna, Malvasia di Lipari, etc. 



3. Cutting Wines. 



These wines are rich in alcohol, coloring matter, and body, but often 

 deficient in acid; they cannot be drunk alone, and the only reason for 

 producing them is that there are localities which produce wines which 

 are thin, poor in color, weak in alcohol, and generally lacking in those 

 qualities which wines of this class have in excess. A mixture of these 

 two kinds of wine, each of which alone is of little value, produce a wine 

 which is sustaining and nutritious, and especially suited to the needs 



