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Wines, Varieties Of

There are many varieties of wines, but all may be roughly divided into two classes--viz. table wines and fine wines. By the first we mean those that are intended for ordinary use at luncheon and dinner, and by the latter those that are reserved for festive occasions. The most obvious distinction between those two classes is their relative prices. Table wines, for use as beverages, may fairly include all wines that are sold at prices not exceeding thirty shillings per dozen, while fine wines may range from that figure up to sixty shillings. Wines at above this latter figure are called cabinet wines, and are, of course, only used by wealthy people, or on exceptional occasions. It is quite unnecessary to give a high price for a good wine, as among the varieties of table wines there are many that are wholesome and excellent, fulfilling every condition by which good wine can be judged. Connoisseurs of wine often pay fancy prices for particular vintages, but this is seldom a criterion of their real value, as other vintages at half the price may be equally good. The great bulk of the wines of France, Spain, Italy, and the Rhine are comparatively cheap wines. The really rare and expensive wines seldom come into the market, being reserved for certain royal and illustrious patrons. Most sherry is exported from the country of its origin at pound 15 per butt of 126 gallons, and, taking one quality with another, the average price is only pound 28 per butt. The great bulk of port wine is exported at between pound 22 and pound 25 per pipe, and there is but an insignificant quantity of finer qualities exported at from pound 50 to pound 80. The great bulk of wines may be called cheap wines, and if any wine merchant says that he does not deal in cheap wines he is not to be believed. He may sell them at a high price, but they are cheap wines nevertheless. Before the duty on light wines was reduced in 1869, wine was the drink only of the upper classes, but now that a bottle of sound claret or Sauterne may be had for a shilling or fifteen pence, wine has become a popular dinner beverage, which is gaining in public appreciation every year. This is a change which the social reformer cannot but view with pleasure, as it is in every way in the interests of true temperance, and the public benefit resulting therefrom is great. In attempting to make a classification of wines we are met by the difficulty that we are apt to rely too exclusively upon our sense of taste instead of forming a just valuation from all the elements whereby our judgement should be governed. Although we have taken price as forming the most obvious distinction between different kinds of wines, we do not mean it to be inferred that it forms an exact or even sufficient classification, for prices are often capricious, and are frequently governed by a name or a reputation instead of quality. Champagne, for instance, that is not intrinsically worth more than three shillings a bottle may be so largely advertised and "boomed" that it may fetch anything between 84s. and 120s. per dozen, and be retailed at restaurants at fifteen shillings a bottle, but its quality is not increased thereby. To make an exact classification of every kind of wine would be impossible, because all vintages are subject to great variations, and the wines from a particular district may rank in the first class one year and in the sixth or seventh class the following year. A classification, therefore, that might be true and correct of the wines of one year might not apply to the wines of the next year. It would be impossible even to construct a general average that would not be misleading.

By general consent sherry stands at the head of all wines; or perhaps it would be more correct to say that it would do so were it not deteriorated with plaster, colouring, sweetening, and brandy. The wines that come under the designation of sherry are many, and they differ in strength, flavour, colour, and sweetness. Of the pale dry varieties Amontillado is the most delicate and costly. Manzanillas are delicate high-class wines, light, and with little more alcohol than the finer vintages of hock. The aromatic flavour is supposed to be due to the soil on which the grape is grown. The golden and brown sherries supply the demand for a sweeter wine, as the unblended wines are too dry for many palates. Good sherry will keep for almost an indefinite time in the wood, but it must be pure and good to start with.

Port wine is, strictly speaking, the product of the sunny vineyards of Portugal, but the term now embraces Spanish wines from the districts of Tarragona and Reus. There is about these latter wines a certain roughness, but they are for the most part sound and reliable, and their price is moderate. Then there is French mountain port, which possesses a distinctive character, and is considered light and digestible. Crusted ports, which have been some years in bottle, require considerable care in decanting. They should never be decanted as soon as delivered by the wine merchant, as after a journey they require a rest of a few weeks to regain their brilliancy. Unfortunately, no wine has been more systematically doctored and fortified than port. When port is ordered for convalescents and invalids, it should be chosen with regard rather to soundness and genuine character than price. The wines of the Gironde are inferior to sherry and port in body, but superior by the comparative absence of adulteration. In this rank we may include the better class of champagnes, white Burgundies, and Rhine wines. According to Dr. Thudichum's classification, "then follow the red wines of Burgundy, Macon and Beaujolais; then the white wines of the Palatinate. Now follow Greek, Austrian, and Hungarian wines, Tokay excepted, of which the sweet, thick varieties take a place by themselves, as not being wines in the sense here defined; but the czamordnies are comparable, and take a place after those previously mentioned. Any rating of wines has to be based upon the absolute qualities, total quantities of product, prices, average success in years, absence of variability, and of faults--in short, upon the average result of a consideration of all the factors which make a wine of the greatest use to the greatest number at the least cost."

Of our own colonies, Australia is the first in the race in the production of wines, although second in time to the Cape of Good Hope. The Americans have for some years been celebrated for the Catawba wine, which is produced on the banks of the Ohio; and for their Californian wines, which have gained considerable favour with the British public.