o North America is very different from the Vitis vinifera. In favourable seasons, the vino ripens in the open air in England; and in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, considerable quantities of inferior wine were made from native grapes. Vineyards are now, however, unknown in this country; but the grapes raised in hot-houses, and used in desserts, are excellent.

The vine grows in every sort of soil; but that which is light and gravelly seems best suited for the production of fine wines. It succeeds extremely well in volcanic countries. The best wines of Italy are produced in the neighbourhood of Vesuvius: the famous Tokay wine is also made in a volcanic district, as are several of the best French wines; many parts of the south of France bearing evident marks of extinct volcanoes. Hermitage is grown among the debris of granite rocks. The most favourable situation for a vineyard is upon a rising ground or hill facing the south-east, and the situation should not be too confined;

Bacchus amat colles.

apertos

The art of expressing and fermenting the juice of the grape appears to have been practised from the remotest antiquity. The sacred writings tell us that Noah planted a vineyard soon after the deluge-(Gen. ix. 20.); and a modern Latin poet ingeniously represents the vine as a gift from Heaven, to console mankind for the miseries entailed upon them by that grand catastrophe!

Omnia vastatis ergo quum cerneret arvis.

Desolata Deus, nobis felicia vini

Dona dedit; tristes hominum quo munere fovit
Reliquias, mundi solatus vite ruinam!

Vanierii Præd. Rusticum, lib. xi.

Species of Wine.-There are many varieties of vines; and this circumstance, combined with differences of soil, climate, mode of preparation, &c., occasions an extreme variety in the species of wine. But even between places immediately contiguous to each other, and where a cursory observer would hardly remark any difference, the qualities of the wines, though produced by the same species of grape, and treated in the same way, are often very different. A great deal evidently depends upon the aspect of the vineyard; and it is probable that a good deal depends on peculiarities of soil. But whatever may be the cause, it is certain that there are wines raised in a few limited districts, such as Tokay, Johannisberger, Constantia, the best Burgundy, Champagne, claret, &c., that no art or care hez hitherto succeeded in producing of equal goodness in other places.

ANCIENT WINES.-The wines of Lesbos and Chios among the Greeks, and the Falernian and Cecuban among the Romans, have acquired an immortality of renown Great uncertainty, however, prevails as to the nature of these wines. Dr. Henderson thinks that the most celebrated of them all, the Falernian, approached, in its most essential characters, near to Madeira. In preparing their wines, the ancients often inspissated them till they became of the consistence of honey, or even thicker. These were diluted with water previously to their being drunk; and, indeed, the habit of mixing wine with water seems to have prevailed much more in antiquity than in modern times.

MODERN WINES. The principal wines made use of in this country are port, sherry, claret, Champagne, Madeira, hock, Marsala, Cape, &c.

Port,-the wine most commonly used in England,-is produced in the province of Upper Douro, in Portugal; and is shipped at Oporto, whence its name. When it arrives in this country, it is of a dark purple or inky colour; has a full, rough body, with an astringent bitter-sweet taste, and a strong flavour and odour of brandy. After it has remained some years longer in the wood, the sweetness, roughness, and astringency of the flavour abate; but it is only after it has been kept 10 or 15 years in bottle, that the odour of the brandy is completely subdued, and the genuine aroma of the wine developed. When kept to too gres an age, it becomes tawny, and loses its peculiar flavour. During the process of melioration, a considerable portion of the extractive and colouring matter is precipitated on the sides of the vessels in the form of crust. In some wines this change occurs much earlier than in others. A large quantity of brandy is always mixed with the wine shipped from Oporto for Eng land. Genuine unmixed port wine is very rarely met with in this country. We have been so long accustomed to the compounded article, that, were it possible to procure it unmixed, it is doubtful whether it would be at all suited to our taste. According to Mr. Brande's analysis, on which, however, owing to the differences in the quality of the wine, no great stress can be laid, port, as used in England, contains about 23 per cent. of alcohol. In 1833, 2,596,530 gallons of port were retained for consumption in the United Kingdom. Oporto Wine Company. The quality of the wine shipped from Oporto has been materially injured by the monopoly so long enjoyed by the Oporto Wine Company. This company was founded in 1756, during the administration of the Marquis Pombal. A certain extent of territory is marked out by its charter as the only district on the Douro in which wine is to be raised for exportation; the entire and absolute disposal of the wines raised in this district is placed in the hands of the Company; who are further authorised to fix the prices to be paid for them to the cultivators, to prepare them for exportation, and to fix the price at which they shall be sold to foreigners! It is obvious that a company with such powers cannot be any thing else than an intolerable nuisance. What could be more arbitrary

and unjust than to interdict the export of all wines raised out of the limits of the Company's territory? But even in its own district, its proceedings have been most oppressive and injurious. The Company annually fix, by a fiat of their own, 2 rates of prices-one for the vinho de feitoria, or wine for exportation, and the other for vinho de ramo, or wine for home consumption-at which the cultivators are to be paid, whatever may be the quality of their wines! They have, therefore, no motive to exert superior skill and ingenuity; but content themselves with endeavouring to raise, at the least possible expense, the greatest supply of vinho de feitoria, for which the Company allow the highest price. All emulation is thus effectually extinguished, and the proprietors who possess vinyards of a superior quality invariably adulterate their wines with inferior growths, so as to reduce them to the average standard. "In this way,' "" says Dr. Henderson "the finer products of the Douro vintages have remained in a great measure unknown to us; and port wine has come to be considered as a single liquor, if I may use the expression, of nearly uniform flavour and strength; varying, it is true, to a certain extent in quality, but still always approaching to a definite standard, and admitting of few degrees of excellence. The manipulations, the admixtures-in one word, the adulterations-to which the best wines of the Cimo do Douro are subjected, have much the same effect as if all the growths of Burgundy were to be mingled in one immense vat, and sent into the world as the only true Burgundian wine. The delicious produce of Romanée, Chambertin, and the Clos Vougeôt, would disappear, and in their places we should find nothing better than a second-rate Beaune or Macon wine."-(History of Ancient and Modern Wines, p. 210.)

Not only, however, have the Oporto Wine Company deteriorated the quality, but they have also raised the price of their wines to an enormous height. Secured against the competition of their countrymen, and enjoying, down to 1831, a nearly absolute monopoly of the British markets, by means of the high duties on French wines, they have filled their pockets at our expense. At the very moment when the Company have been shipping wine for England at 402. a pipe, they have frequently shipped the same wine to other countries at 201.!—(Fleetwood Williams on the Wine Trade.) And the authentic Tables published by Balbi show that the price of wine has been trebled or quadrupled under the management of this corporation.-(Essai Statistique sur le Royaume de Portugal, tome i. p. 157.)

But though the abuses inherent in the constitution of the Company have been carried of late years to an enormous extent, it is long since its injurious effects on the commerce of this country were distinctly perceived and pointed out. So far back as 1767, the Board of Trade laid a memorial before his Majesty in council, in which they state, "With respect to many particular regulations of the Oporto Company, which we think justly objected to by the merchants as highly grievous and oppressive, we have not thought it necessary to enter into a minute description of them, being of opinion that one general and fatal objection lies against them all; viz.-that they all contribute to establish in the Company a monopoly against your Majesty's subjects, from which by treaty they have a right to be exempted." But notwithstanding this authoritative exposition of the injury done to the English by this monopoly, and the experience which every subsequent year afforded of its mischievous influence, such has been the inveteracy of ancient prejudice, that it was not till the session of 1831 that we took the only step by which we could hope to rid ourselves of its evils, as well as of a host of others, by equalising the duties on French and Portuguese wines, and putting an end to the absurd and injurious preference in favour of the latter established by the Methuen treaty.

England and Brazil are the only countries to which any considerable quantity of port wine is exported. Our imports amounted, at an average of the 10 years ending with 1833, to 22,121 pipes a year; of which, however, a portion is subsequently exported; while the exports from Portugal to all other countries, Brazil inclusive, have not recently amounted to 3,000 pipes. It has been supposed, now that there is no discriminating duty in favour of port, that its consumption in this country will gradually fall off, its place being filled by French and other wines; but though such a result be not improbable, it derives no confirmation from the pretty gradual decrease in the quantities of port retained for home use since 1827, the French wines retained for the same purpose having declined still more rapidly.

Sherry is of a deep amber colour; when good, it has a fine aromatic odour; its taste is warm, with some degree of the agreeable bitterness of the peach kernel. When new, it tastes harsh and fiery; it is mellowed by being allowed to remain 4 or 5 years or longer in the wood; but it does not attain to its full flavour and perfection until it is kept for 15 or 20 years. It is a very strong wine, containing about 19 per cent. of alcohol. It is principally produced in the vicinity of Xeres, not far from Cadiz, in Spain. It is very extensively used in this country as a dinner wine. Dry sherry, or amontillado, when genuine and old, fetches a very high price. Perhaps no wine is so much adulterated as sherry. With the exception of Marsala, the consumption of sherry has been far more influenced than that of any other wine by the reduction of the duties in 1825. In 1833, the quantity retained for home consumption amounted to 2,246,085 gallons, being more than double the quantity retained for consumption at an average of 1823 and 1824!-(See post.)

Claret,-the term generally used in England to designate the red wines, the produce of the Bordelais. Of these, Lafitte, Latour, Château-Margaux, and Haut-Brion, are so generally esteemed, that they always sell from 20 to 25 per cent. higher than any others of the province. The first mentioned is the most choice and delicate, and is characterised by its silky softness on the palate, and its charming perfume, which partakes of the nature of the violet and the raspberry. The Latour has a fuller body, and at the same time a considerable aroma, but wants the softness of the Lafitte. The Château-Margaux, on the other hand, is lighter, and possesses all the delicate qualities of the Lafitte, except that it has not quite so high a flavour. The Haut-Brion, again, has more spirit and body than any of the preceding, but is rough when new, and requires to be kept 6 or 7 years in the wood; while the others become fit for bottling in much less time.

Among the second-rate wines, that of Rozan, in the parish of St. Margaux, approaches in some respects to the growth of the Château-Margaux; while that of Gorce, in the same territory, is little inferior to the Latour; and the vineyards of Leoville, Larose, Bran-mouton, and Pichon-Longueville, in the canton of Pauillac, afford light wines of good flavour, which, in favourable years, have much of the excellence of the finer growths. In the Entre-deuxMers, the wines of Canon and St. Emilion, in the vicinity of Libourne, are deemed the best, being of a full body and very durable. When new, these wines are always harsh and astrin

gent; but they acquire an agreeable softness, and are characterised by a peculiar flavour, which has been not unaptly compared to the smell of burning wax. The aroma of the first growths is seldom fully developed till after they have been kept 8 or 9 years: but the secondary qualities come to perfection a year or two sooner. The colour often grows darker as the wine advances in age, in consequence of the deposition of a portion of its tartar; but, when well made, and thoroughly fined, it seldom deposits any crust.

(These particulars are borrowed from the excellent work of Dr. Henderson, on Ancient and Modern Wines (p. 184.). We have given, in a previous article-(see BORDEAUX),— fuil and authentic details as to the trade in claret. We beg, also, to refer the reader to that article for some observations on the wine trade of France, and on the injury done to it by the restrictive system of commerce.)

There is generally a very good supply of claret in bond in the docks in London. Its price varies from about 151. per hogshead for the inferior, to 50l. and 551. per hogshead for the superior growths. What are called cargo or shipping clarets may be bought at from 51. to 101. per hogshead. The finest case claret sells in bond at about 50s. per dozen; but parcels of very well flavoured wine may be bought at 25s.

Champagne, so called from the province of France of which it is the produce,—is one of the most deservedly esteemed of the French wines. The wines of Champagne are divided into the 2 grand classes of white and red wines; and each of these again into still and sparkling; but there is a great variety in the flavour of the produce of different vineyards. Sillery is universally allowed to be the best of the still wines. It is dry, of a light amber colour, has a considerable body, and a charming aroma. "Le corps," (says M. Jullien,) "le spiritueux, le charmant bouquet, et les vertus toniques dont il est pourvu, lui assurent la priorité sur tous les autres."-(Topographie de tous les Vignobles, p. 30.) Dr. Henderson agrees with M. Jullien, in considering it as one of the wholesomest of the Champagne wines. The sparkling wines are, however, the most popular, at least in this country. Of these, the wine of Ay, 5 leagues south from Rheims, is, perhaps, the best. It is lighter and sweeter than Sillery, and has an exquisite flavour and aroma. That which merely creams on the surface (demi-mousseux) is preferred to the full frothing wine (grand-mous seux). Being bright, clear, and sparkling, it is as pleasing to the eye as it is grateful to the palate.

"Cernis micanti concolor ut vitro
Latex in auras, gemmeus aspici,
Scintillet exultum; utque dulces
Naribus illecebras propinet.
"Succi latentis proditor halitus!
Ut spuma motu lactea turbido
Crystallinum lætis referre

Mox oculis properet nitorem."

Hautvilliers, about 4 leagues from Rheims and 1 from Epernay, used formerly to produce wine that equalled, and sometimes surpassed, the wine of Ay. But it is no longer culti vated with the same care; so that, though still very good, it now only ranks in the 2d class. The best of the red wines of Champagne are those of Verzy, Verzenay, Maily, Bouzy, and St. Basle. "Ils ont une belle couleur, du corps, du spiritueux, et surtout beaucoup de finesse, de sève, et de bouquet."—(Jullien, p. 27.) The Clos St. Thierry, in the vicinity of Rheims, produces wine which, according to M. Jullien, unites the colour and the aroma of Burgundy to the lightness of Champagne.

The province of Champagne produces altogether about 1,100,000 hectolitres of wine; of which, however, the finest growths make but a small part. The principal trade in wine is carried on at Rheims, Avise, and Epernay. The vaults in which the vintages are stored are excavated in a rock of calcareous tufa to the depth of 30 or 40 feet. Those of M. Moet, at Epernay, are the most extensive, and few travellers pass through the place without going to see them. The briskest wines (grands-mousseux) keep the worst.-(Jullien, p. 34.)

Burgundy.-The best wines of this province, though not so popular in England as those of Champagne, enjoy the highest reputation. "In richness of flavour and perfume, and all the more delicate qualities of the juice of the grape, they unquestionably rank as the first in the world; and it was not without reason that the dukes of Burgundy, in former times, were designated as the princes des bons vins."—(Henderson, p. 161.) M. Jullien is not less decided:-"Les vins des premiers crus, lorsqu'ils proviennent d'une bonne année, réunissent, dans de justes proportions, toutes les qualités qui constituent les vins parfaits; ils n'ont besoin d'aucun mélange, d'aucune préparation, pour attendre leur plus haut degre de perfection. Ces opérations, que l'on qualifie dans certains pays de soins qui aident à la qualité, sont toujours nuisibles aux vins de Bourgogne."-(p. 104.)

Romané-Conti, Chambertin, the Clos Vougeôt, and Richebourg, are the most celebrated of the RED wines of Burgundy. Chambertin was the favourite wine of Louis XIV. and of Napoleon. It is the produce of a vineyard of that name, situated 7 miles to the south of Dijon, and furnishing each year from 130 to 150 puncheons, from an extent of about 65 acres. It has a fuller body and colour, and greater durability, than the Romané, with an aroma nearly as fragrant.

The white wines of Burgundy are less numerous, and, consequently, less generally known, than the others: but they maintain the highest rank among French white wines, and are not inferior to the red, either in aroma or flavour.

The entire annual produce of wine in Burgundy and Beaujolais may at present be esti mated, at an average, at nearly 3,000,000 hectolitres, of which about 750,000 suffice for the consumption of the inhabitants. Since the Revolution, the cultivation of the vine has been greatly extended in the province. Many of the new vineyards having necessarily been planted in comparatively unfavourable situations, a notion has been gaining ground that the wines of Burgundy were degenerating. This, however, is not the case. On the contrary, the quantity of bons crus, instead of being diminished, has increased considerably; though, as the supply of inferior wines has increased in a still greater degree, the fine wines bear a less proportion to the whole than they did previously to the Revolution.-(Jullien, p. 90.) The principal trade in Burgundy is carried on at Dijon, Gavrey, Châlons-sur-Saône, &c. Besides the above, France has a great variety of other excellent wines. Hermitage, Sauterne, St. Péry, &c. are well known in England; and deservedly enjoy, particularly the first, a high degree of reputation.

Account of the Quantity and Value of the Wines exported from France in 1831; distinguishing between those of the Gironde and those of other Departments, and between those exported in Casks and Bottles; and specifying the Quantity and Value of those sent to each Country.-(Administration des Douanes for 1831, p. 249.)

Exclusive of the above, there were exported from France, in the same year, 2,753,499 litres of vins de liqueurs, valued at 4,130,250 francs.

The total produce of the vineyards of France is estimated at about 35,000,000 hectolitres (77,000,000 Imp. gallons), worth 540,000,000 francs (21,600,0001.). We beg to refer the reader to the article BORDEAUX, for an account of the influence of the French system of commercial policy on this great department of industry.

Dispute as to the Comparative Merit of Champagne and Burgundy.-The question, whether the wines of Champagne or of Burgundy were entitled to the preference, was agitated during the reign of Louis XIV. with extraordinary keenness. The celebrated Charles Coffin, rector of the University of Beauvais, published, during this controversy, the classical ode, partly quoted above, in which Champagne is eulogised, and its superiority vindicated, with a spirit, vivacity, and delicacy worthy of the theme. The citizens of Rheims were not ungrateful to the poet; but liberally rewarded him with an appropriate and munificent donation of the wine he had so happily panegyrised. Gréneau wrote an ode in praise of Burgundy; but, unlike its subject, it was flat and insipid, and failed to procure any recompence to its author. The different pieces in this amusing controversy were collected and published in octavo, at Paris, in 1712.-(See Le Grand d'Aussy, Vie Privée des Français, tom. iii. p. 39., and the

Biographie Universelle, tom. ix. art. Coffin (Charles).) Erasmus attributes the restoration of his health to his having drunk liberally of Burgundy; and has eulogised it in the most extravagant terms. An epistle of his, quoted by Le Grand d'Aussy, shows that Falstaff and he could have spent an evening together less disagreeably than might have been supposed :-"Le premier qui enseigna l'art de faire ce vin (Bourgogne), ou qui en fit present, ne doit-il point passer plutôt pour nous avoir donné la vie que pour nous avoir gratifié d'une liqueur."-(Vie Privée des Français, tom. iii. p. 9.)

Consumption of French Wine in England. Discriminating Duties.-Owing to the intimate connection subsisting between England and France for several centuries after the Conquest, the wines of the latter were long in almost exclusive possession of the English market: but the extension of commerce gradually led to the introduction of other species; and in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., the dry white wines of Spain seem to have been held in the highest estimation. This, however, was only a temporary preference. Subsequently to the Restoration, the wines of France regained their former ascendancy. In 1687, their importations amounted to 15,518, in 1688 to 14,218, and in 1689 to 11,106 tuns. It is exceedingly doubtful whether so much as a single pipe of port had ever found its way to England previously to this period-(Henderson, p. 313.); and it is most probable that the wines of France would have continued to preserve their ascendancy in our markets, had not their importation been artificially

checked.

The trade with France had occasionally been prohibited previously to the accession of William III.; but it was not until 1693 that any distinction was made between the duties payable on French and other wines. But Louis XIV. having espoused the cause of the exiled family of Stuart, the British government, in the irritation of the moment, and without reflecting that the blow aimed at the French would infallibly recoil upon themselves, imposed, at the period above-mentioned, a discriminating duty of 81. a tun on French wines, and in 1697 increased to 331. In consequence of this enormous augmentation of duty on French wines, the merchants began to import wine from Oporto as a substitute for the red wines of Bordeaux, excluded by the high duties. It is probable, however, that these discriminating duties would have been repealed as soon as the excitement which produced them had subsided, and that the trade would have returned to its old channels, had not the stipulations in the famous commercial treaty with Portugal, negotiated by Mr. Methuen in 1703, given them permanence. Such, however, was unluckily the case: for, according to this treaty, we bound ourselves to charge in future one third higher duties on the wines of France than on those of Portugal; the Portuguese, by way of compensation, binding themselves to admit our woollens into their markets in preference to those of other countries, at a fixed and invariable rate of duty.

Though very generally regarded at the time as the highest effort of diplomatic skill and address, the Methuen treaty was certainly founded on the narrowest views of national interest, and has proved, in no common degree, injurious to both parties, but especially to England. By binding ourselves to receive Portuguese wines for two thirds of the duty payable on those of France, we, in effect, gave the Portuguese growers a monopoly of the British market, and thereby attracted too great a proportion of the deficient capital of Portugal to the production of wine; while, on the other hand, we not only excluded one of the principal equivalents the French had to offer for our commodities, and proclaimed to the world that we considered it better to deal with two millions of poor beggarly customers, than with thirty millions of rich ones, but we also provoked the retaliation of the French, who forthwith excluded most of our articles from their markets!

The injurious effects of the regulations in the Methuen treaty were distinctly pointed out by Dr.' Davenant and Mr. Hume. The latter, in his Essay on the Balance of Trade, published in 1752, says, "Our jealousy and hatred of France are without bounds. These passions have occasioned innumerable barriers and obstructions on commerce, where we are commonly accused of being the aggressors. But what have we gained by the bargain? We lost the French market for our woollen manufactures, and transferred the commerce of wine to Spain and Portugal, where we buy much worse liquor at a much higher price! There are few Englishmen who would not think their country absolutely ruined were French wine sold in England so cheap, and in such abundance, as to supplant ale and other homebrewed liquors. But, would we lay aside prejudice, it would not be difficult to prove that nothing could be more innocent; perhaps, more advantageous. Each new acre of vineyard planted in France, in order to supply England with wine, would make it requisite for the French to take an equivalent in English goods, by the sale of which we should be equally benefited."

In consequence of the preference so unwisely given to the wines of Portugal over those of France, -a preference continued, in defiance of every principle of sound policy and common sense, down to 1831,-the imports of French wine were for many years reduced to a mere trifle; and notwithstanding their increased consumption, occasioned by the reduction of the duties in 1825, the quantity made use of in 1833 did not exceed 232,500 gallons; while the consumption of Portuguese wines amounts to about 2,600,000 Imperial gallons! This is the most striking example, perhaps, in the history of commercé, of the influence of customs duties in diverting trades into new channels, and altering the taste of a people. All but the most opulent classes having been compelled, for a long series of years, either to renounce wine, or to use port, the taste for the latter has been firmly rooted; the beverage that was originally forced upon us by necessity having become congenial from habit. We have little doubt, however, now that the discriminating duty in favour of port is abolished, that the excellence of the French wines will ultimately regain for them some portion of that favour in the English market they formerly enjoyed.*

Madeira,-so called from the island of that name,-is a wine that has long been in extensive use in this and other countries. Plants of the vine were conveyed from Crete to Madeira in 1421, and have succeeded extremely well. There is a considerable difference in the flavour and other qualities of the wines of Madeira: the best are produced on the south side of the island. Though naturally strong, they receive an addition of brandy when racked from the vessels in which they have been fermented, and another portion is thrown in previously to their exportation. This is said to be required to sustain the wine in the high temperature to which it is subjected in its passage to and from India and China, to which large quantities of it are sent; it being found that it is mellowed, and its flavour materially improved by the voyage. It does not, however, necessarily follow, that the wines which have made the longest voyages are always the best. Much must obviously depend on the original quality of the wine; and many of the parcels selected to be sent to India are so inferior, that the wine, when brought to London, does not rank so high as that which has been imported direct. But when the parcel sent out has been well chosen, it is very much

*The mischievous operation of the Methuen treaty, and of the discriminating duty on French wines were very strikingly exhibited by Mr. Hyde Villiers, in his able speech on the 15th of June, 1830. is highly deserving of the reader's attention. 94

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