55 



1)ut -we also confer a moral boon on the community by substt- 

 toting milder wines for the fiery ports and sherries imported, and 

 in our light wines giving them a beverage on which it is difiicult 

 to get drunk, since long before this " happy condition " is attained 

 -the wine becomes insipid and is discontinued. Such at least is 

 the experience in the wine countries of Europe, where little if 

 .any drunkenness exists. 



Strange to relate, and f uruishing another instance of antipodean 

 paradoxy,* the very opposite demand is made on the Australian 

 ■wine-grower by the firms who are now carrying on the great bulk 

 of OUF export trade. They buy nothing but dry red wines, but 

 not such as are usually drank in Europe. What they require is 

 best described as essence of wine (analogous to the essence of 

 ■coffee), wines highly alcoholic and inky, into which as much 

 alcohol and colouring matter have been crammed as our rich 

 grapes will yield. It would be absurd to suppose that these 

 wines, absolutely nauseous to a cultivated palate, are placed on 

 the table of the British consumer as they leave our shores. Some 

 ,great metamorphosis is evidently effected in Mr. Burgoyne's 

 hospital that renders them acceptable to that somewhat fastidious 

 individual known as John Bull. What it consists in is Mr. 

 Burgoyne's business, and no doubt a lucrative one to him. This 

 Australian essence goes a long way in making first-class clarets 

 out of vins ordinaires that can be bought at the London docks at 

 .6d,' a gallon. As Mr. Burgoyne's wines are sold as Australian 

 products, the Australian grower should be the last to quarrel with 

 this gentleman, who at the present juncture no doubt renders most 

 valuable services to our industry, as he not only takes much of our 

 surplus stock, but actually renders a lot of nondescript wines 

 saleable that would not be so without him or some other person 

 Kloing his work. But, Mr. Chairman, the very important question 

 must necessarily suggest itself here, shall we always content our- 

 ■.selves with employing the abundance de richesse of our strong 

 musts in furnishing for export these essences of wine, for which 

 the demand can oilly be a limited one, or had we not better resort 

 to methods that will enable us to satisfy |he cultivated tastes of 

 European wine drinkers by placing on the markets of Euroipe 

 Tvines of a uniform character and strength, exactly similar and, if 

 possible, superior to those European wines, by which for centuries 

 past a special taste has been formed in Europe? It is manifestly 

 foolish on our part to attempt, with our limited supplies and crude 

 methods, to create a taste for our wines in Europe ; for a few 

 generations would be required to experiment oil, and the Australian 

 bullocks would starve whilst the grass in Europe to feed .them on 

 would be growing. But I have no hesitation to say that this 

 grass would never grow. A wave of sobriety is passing now over 

 *he civilized world. The coming race will drink wine but escheiy 



