58 Vineyard Culture. 



of consumers, being unable to buy anything but com- 

 mon wines, producers of fine wines could no longer 

 find a market. Therefore, it would not be advisable to 

 be too positive as to the choice of vines, as regards 

 quantity or quality. Quality, exclusively, must not be 

 thought of, except in those favored localities where the 

 high price of the product will compensate for the small- 

 ness of the yield ; everywhere else quantity must have 

 the preference. 



2d. If wines of medium quality are to be obtained, 

 the finer descriptions, generally very rich in alcoHbl, 

 must be mixed with the more abundant but much weak- 

 er ones. It is thus that in the second class vineyards 

 of Burgundy, the " Pinots," which produce a fine wine, 

 but in small quantity, are mixed with the " Gamais," 

 which is of inferior quality but produces largely. In 

 the Gironde district, the " Verdal," the " Merlot," the 

 big " Merille," are mixed with the " Carmenet." On 

 the banks of the Rhone the '' Pique-Poule," yielding 

 little, but excellent wine, is mixed with a small quan- 

 tity of " Grenache," producing very strong wine, and 

 with the " Terret," a large yielder of wine, but weak 

 in alcoholic principle. The vine of I'Ermitage is com- 

 posed exclusively of the " Big Sirah," which is very 

 productive, but not so fine as the " Little Sirah," with 

 which it is sometimes mixed. 



3d. It is enough that ordinary wines contain a suf- 

 ficient proportion of alcohol : that is, O.08 at least ; 

 when weaker than that they are difficult of sale. — 

 Therefore, the vines which will most readily give this 

 result ought to be selected. Thus, as the " Gamais," 



