1827 Wine and spirit adulterators unmasked

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that even, the most costly Wines, are neither pro- tected from the mischievous ingenuity of our cheap sellers, nor forgotten in their adulterating vocabu- lary. Whether the importations of Cape Burgundy, Cape Hermitage, Cape Hock, Cape Santerne, 8$c. which frequently arrive in this country from the Cape of Good Hope, may constitute any basis, from the use of which, an extra profit is derived on the Wines, to which they are made to bear some slight resemblance, I shall not pretend to say ; a view of the means employed to advertise cheap Claret, and more particularly cheap Cham- pagne, will, 1 doubt not, fully answer the purposes of this Treatise with respect to French Wines. CLARET. The adulterations of this Wine, as carried on, in the cellars of our placarders and advertisers, may be summed up in few words ; a small quantum of Spanish Red Wine, and a portion of Rough Cyder, (the latter, I am informed, being an article not un- frequently applied in the making up of cheap Clarets abroad,) is introduced into a cask contain- ing inferior Claret, a colour being previously added to the Cyder, by means of Berry-dye, or Tincture of Brazil Wood, the difference in duty and cost and a little management in the apportioning what is used of the Spanish Red Wine and Cyder, at once enabling the cheap sellers, to reduce the ti price,