1885 New Guide Hotel Bar Restaurant

THE WINE COUNTRIES.

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CHAPTER III.

The Wine Countries and their Products, &c., &c,

THE general British taste for wine is not in favour of pure wines, they like something with a substantial body and plenty of spirit. A new fruity wine with plenty of brandy fretted in and a little cream of tartar to give it a cer« tain hardness, is the kind of drink the uneducated palate would appreciate. German wines contain more spirit than the French, but all are prepared or dressed for the English market. If in the matter of wines we could only cultivate the English wine-bibber's palate to the appreciation of pure wines, which are undressed and contain only the small quan- tity of spirit, naturally engendered by vinous fermentation, we should be doing good service. Perhaps the introduction of our colonial wines, such as those imported by Messrs. Bur- goyne & Co., may do something towards this end. To show how the foreign manufactures are tampered with by middle- men and English retail dealers— so as to make them appre- ciable according to the British standard and gout, I produce a circular which reached me in the early wine season of 1883, from Mons. P. Lafitte, the growe rand producer of the cele- brated **Lafitte" brand of claret. "Gentlemen, I take the liberty of addressing you on the following subject. Hitherto it has been my custom to dispose of my wine to the trade, who after manipulating and blending them with others of inferior quality, have sold them as the produce of my vine- yards, thus materially diminishing their reputation. I have decided in future to supply consumers direct. Being the proprietor of the Sabat Estate, Gironde, five miles from Bor- deaux, I can offer you my wines in cases of 1 doz. each delivered free of all charges within the London radius,'*