1899 The Mixicologist by C F Lawlor

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THE MIXICOLOGIST.

The ftualities of Good Wine

In the 12th century are thus singularly set forth ; "It should be clear like the tears of a j)enitent, so that a man may see distinctly to the bottom of the glass; its color should represent the greenness ofa buffalo's horn; when drunk, it should descend impetuously like thun der; sweet-tasted as an almond; creeping like Ji scpiirrel; leaping like a roebuck; strong like the build ing of a Cistercian monastery; glittering like a spark of fire; subtle like the logic of the schools of Paris, delicate as fine silk ; and colder than crystal. If we pursue our theme through the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries we find but little to edify us; those times being distinguished more by their excess and riot than by superiority of beverages or the customs attached to them. It would be neither profitable nor interesting to descant on scenes of brawling drunkenness which ended not unfrequently in fierce battles; or pause to admire the congregation offemale gossips at the taverns,where the overhanging sign was either the branch of a tree, from which we derive the saying that"good wine needs no bush,"or the equally common appendage of a besom hanging from the window, which has supplied us with the idea of"hanging out the broom." The chief wine drunk at this period was Malmsey, first imported into England in the 13th century, when its average price was about 50s. a butt; this wine, however, attained its greatest popularity in the 15th century. There is a