1872 Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks (Mixellany)

Rhenish Wines. 17 two miles N.W. of Riidesheim, but the quantity produced is small. This wine was famed as far back as 1108. The durability of the wines of the Rhine is remarkable. It is this excellent quality most probably that originated the singular custom of storing the Rhine wines in vessels of enormous magnitude, such as the great tun of Heidelberg (built in 1751), which was 30 feet in length and 20 in depth; and that of the Gruningen tun, 30 feet long by 18 in diameter; also the tun of Tubingen, 24? feet long by 16 in diameter, and many others of sizes closely approaching those named, it being a great point of rivalry amongst the wine proprietors to produce these huge vessels, which were always kept full, either by replacing each quantity drawn with the like quantity of wine of a similar strength, or by adding washed pebbles to fill up the void. The peculiar qualities of these wines appear to form an exception to the prevalent chemical theories; their sharpness of flavour occasions a suspicion of acidity, yet they are highly agreeable, abounding in delicate aroma, and are also dry and sound, while they contain very little alcohol. " In a word/' as Dr. Henderson re- marks, " the wines of the Rhine may be regarded as constituting a distinct order by themselves. C