484 
On Wine . 
But enough of the ancients ; let us follow Horace’s model of a 
good epic poet, In medias res semfier festinat : shew me at once 
the way to your cellar ; if it be not as well furnished as Mr. Pay- 
master Rigby’s or old Q’s,* we will suppose it to be so. 
What is this ? Malmsey : good. , 
“ Come broach me a bottle of rich Malvoisie,;! 
u Tis the boast of the Marmion tavern.’* 
But this, like the Constantia, (the cape wine), Tokay, 8cc. is 
good only as a cordial or to give flavour to other wines, particular- 
ly the north side Madeira. It does not equally improve the south 
side wine. I think it is better kept in bottles than in casks. 
When a wine is kept in a cask, three things are to be consi- 
dered : what is the wine : what is the cask : where is it kept ? 
The effect produced by age on cask wine is this : the cask is 
porous, and there is a constant and gradual, though slotv evapo- 
ration from the wine through the pores of the cask : the strong 
rich wines become concentrated, mellowed and improved in all 
respects ; except that, if the wine be remarkable for any fine or 
peculiar flavour, that flavour will gradually be weakened, though 
the fullness, richness, and mellowness of the wine, will be improv- 
ed. Hence, Tokay, Cape wine, Malmsey, the padre Ximenes, and 
Pachioretti Sherry, and the first qualities of Calcavella, are best in 
bottles after they have remained four or five years in the cask. 
These are the cordial wines ; the wines to drink a glass of, after 
the course of sweet-meats, bon-bons, 8cc. and are certainly finer 
cordials than Noyau, Msiscarille, Eau de Garuce and that class of 
spirituous impregnations. 
Another consideration is, what is your cask ? New oak gives 
an astringency to wine, in consequence of the gallic acid and the 
tannin of the wood being dissolved, which to me is extremely 
disagreeable except in port wine : and even that is better without 
it. New oak, is excellent for new rum and new gin; because 
* The duke of Queensbury, lately deceased. 
f Malvoisie. This is a name given to three different kinds of wine. 1st* 
It is the wine of Malvasia, the ancient Epidaurus ; but better made in the 
island of Candia. 2dly, It is a Muscat wine from a grape grown in Provence. 
3dly, It is the Malmsey of the island of Madeira. Malvasy, Malvisy, Malm- 
sey, are names synonimous. There is a French Muscat grape also, called 
Malvoisie, a table fruit, of which wine is not usually made. It is not uncom- 
mon in the hot-house vineries of England, The Malmsey-Madeira, is the 
wine to which the name of Malmsey ought to be confined. 
