1911 Beverages de luxe

carried on bullock carts, generally at night, to the Bodegas (large stone overground cellars) at Jerez de la Frontera, Port St. Mary, or Sanlucar. ïïere the Mosto goes through the pro- cess of fermentation, where the saccharine niatter is changed to alcohol and carbonic acid gas, the latter going free, while the alcoholic strength increases in the Mosto, until it reaches the point where it kills further fermentation, leaving some sac- charine nnfermented, or where ail the saccharine has been transformed. The wine is then drawn off, and is aged like other wines, bnt, unlike other wines, which are kept in dark under- gronnd cellars, the Spanish Bodegas are large stone buildings, with many Windows and openings, giving plenty of light an& sunshine and a free circulation of air. Sherry is now used in médicinal compounds, in combina- tion, more than any other wine; but why lessen its strength- giving powers by combination? The fact that from the time the grapes are ripened on the high sunny hills until the wine is bottled, Sherry is always surrounded by pure air and sunshine, should be considered by the médical profession, and the strengthening powers of old Amontillado should be more widely known and appreciated. The longevity of the inhabitants of Andalucia is well known. There is an old taie of an Archbishop of Seville who lived to be one hundred and twenty-five years old, and always drank half a bottle of Amontillado at dinner; but on the days lie was not feeling just right, he braced up with two bottles. There are a number of varieties of white grapes used in making Sherry, and consequently a number of différent styles of Sherry; but Sherry is classified under two grand divisions: Finos and Jerezanos. Finos are the pale, Jerezanos the darker wines. Finos are sub-divided into Vino de Pasto, Palo Cortado, Palma and Amon- tillado. Jerezanos are sub-divided into I. Raya, II. Raya, III. Raya. I. Raya's are aged and become Oloroso or Amoroso. II. Raya's and III. Raya's are either mixed with the cheap wines of the plains or distilled. This classification is made by the Almacenista (the mer- chant who buys from the grower and âges Sherry, keeping the vintages separate as Anadas), or by his Capataz (head cellar man), and it must be made correctly, or the conséquent loss may be enormous. The dilficulty can be somewhat imagined when one understands that two Bodega Butts, lying side by side, containing wines from the same vintage, will develop differently; one will be Fino, the other Jerezano. This phe- nomenon cannot be explained, but it is a fact. Although the vineyard proprietors, almost without excep- tion, were, and still are, Spaniards, the shipping of the wines