1857 The Bordeaux wine and liquor dealers' guide

ix

PREFACE.

One word more in regard to the large quantities of whiskey shipped to France and the Continent. A small portion only is used for chemical, medicinal or mechanical purposes, perhaps one fourth of the entire amount, the larger portion being returned to this country in the form of brandy, cordials, liqueurs, &c., at prices very much enhanced trom ita original cost of exportation from our porta. As we have said before, France and the Continent could not supply the trade of New York alone, if every gallop of wine produced, and every gallon of brandy distilled, were exported to this port in ita original state, as it is a well known fact, established on the most reliable statistical data, that, notwith– standing the immense amount of imitation and adul– terated liquors shipped from the French ports, far exceeding the genuine in quantity, she does bu: little towards supplying the retail trade of the Uuited States. The city ef New York alone seas three time8 as many "pure imp<»'ted brandus,'' and fowr times as 1na;ny "pu1·e i7n!J>0Tted wines" Olflln,Ual– ty, as all the wine-produci11{! c01.11nflries ewp<»'t. It is · estimated that 12,000,000 bottles of champagne are sold jn the United States annually, while France exports less than 10,000,000 bottles. If we can induce the adoption of a system of manufacturing that is free from the objections now existing, that is, the free use of poisonous com– pounds, we shall have accomplished some good, and the object we sought in giving to the public the re– sult of years of experience and close study. 1*

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