brusco of Modena; the Chianti of Tuscan-a wine. grown on the estate of Baron Ricasoli, not thought so much of in Italy as in England; and the Lacryma Christi of Naples. Most Italian wines are bottled in flasks, in the old Roman style, with oil on the top, and wool over the oil. MADEIRA. Wine is first mentioned as a product of Funchal, the capital of Madeira, in the fifteenth century. In 1662, when Charles II. married the Infanta Catherine. of Bragança, English merchants began to settle in Madeira. The principal varieties of Madeira are Malvasia, Bual, Sercial, Tinta, and Verdelho (the Verdea of Tuscany). In England, Madeira is now Iwithin the reach of all. At the beginning of this century, it was known only to connoisseurs. The "fine rich old Boal" is fairly familar, and if we may trust the wine merchants, the "Very Superior Old," variously described as full, soft, golden, delicate, and mellow, is gradually winning its way into public favour, since that same "soft fulness," added to a delicious and yet pungent flavour, produces a drink "altogether superior" to the best Sherry. PERSIA. The ancient, most famous wines of this country were those of Chorassan, Turan, and Mazanderan. oil These 1 "Let no man," says the Talmud, "send his neighbour wine with upon its surface."-Chulin, fol. 94, col. 1. G places still produce wines; but their characteristics and reputation have, it is affirmed, become blended in the wine of Shiraz, in the province of Ferdistan, on the Persian Gulf. Chardin, the Frenchman, describes this wine as of excellent quality, but of course not so fine as the French wines. The German, Kämpfer, puts Shiraz on the same level with the best Burgundy and Champagne. He who wishes to learn the nature of the wine of Shiraz should consult the Diwan of Hafiz. How far this poet speaks of wine literally understood, and how far of spiritual delights, is a matter for commentatorial investigation. Persian wine is frequently mixed with raki and saffron, and the extract of hemp. Sherbet, made of fruit juices and water, is English rather than Oriental. PORTUGAL: Peso da Regoa-Four Methods of Cultivation of VineWhite and Black Ports-The Quintas-Tarragona-Charneco. RUSSIA: Kahetia-Gumbrinskoé. SICILY: Marsala. SPAIN: SWITZERLAND: Chiavenna Malaga-Sherry-Amontillado. St. Gall-The Canton of Vaud. CIDER: Derivation— Ainsworth-Gerard-Bacon - Evelyn - Turberville Macaulay-Phillips. FERRY. PORTUGAL. One hundred and fifty years ago, in the small town of Peso da Regoa, then called Regua only, near the confluence of the Corgo with the Douro, lived a single fisherman, in a hut which he had himself constructed. When the Oporto Wine Company was established, their warehouses were erected here, and an annual fair for the sale of wine was established. -- Peso da Regoa-the Peso comes from an adjoining village is now a thriving town, and may be considered the capital of the Alto Douro district (Paiz Vinhateiro do Alto Douro), whence are sent to England and elsewhere those wines which are here known as Port. The wine district is bounded by Villa Real on the north, Lamego on the south, S. João da Pesqueira on the east, and Mezãofrio on the west. It is unwholesome, and but thinly populated. Those who list may draw from this fact a divine prohibition of the bibbing of Port. The vine is cultivated in Portugal in four ways. (1) By being trained round oaks or poplars de enforcado, as the Romans ulmisque adjungere vites. (2) By the terrace system, the best as (1) is the most picturesque. (3) By bushes in rows, with the intermediate ground ploughed. (4) By the trellis or de ramada. The first liquor drawn from the lagar, or press, the result of the weight of the grapes alone, is called Lacryma Christi. After that a gang of men jump into the lagar, and dance to the sound of the fife or bagpipe. The weather is warm, the work is hard; the result is better conceived than expressed. Of white ports the best are Muscatel de Jesus (the testimony to religious influence in this and the Lacryma Christi is extremely touching), considered the prince of all, the Dedo de Dama, the Ferral Branco, Malvazia (our Malmsey),' Abelhal, Agudelho, Alvaraça, Donzellinho, Folgozão, Gonveio, White Mourisco, Rabo da Ovelha, and Promissão. Of the black ports the finest is Touriga, and the sweetest Bastardo. Other dark ports are Souzão, the darkest of all, Aragonez, Pegudo, besides Tintas, whose names are legion. Other wines grown here, or in the immediate vicinity, are Alvarilhão, a kind of claret, Alicante, Muscatel, Roxo, and Malvazia Vermelha. Great quantities of wine are produced in the quintas outside the line of demarcation, and some of these wines are equal to those made in the wine district of the Alto Douro itself. Red wines transformed into French clarets at Bordeaux, are exported in large quantities. A wine from Tarragona, known as Spanish Red," or superb Catalan, is sent yearly to 1 Malmsey wine is also a product of Funchal, in Madeira. The first so-called wine was shipped for Francis I. of France. The word is probably a corruption of Malvasia or Monemvasia (μóvn èμẞaoía, or single entrance), a Greek island from which the grape may have been brought by the Florentine Acciajoli in 1515. |