1914 Drinks by Jacques Straub

10

DRINKS

Wines from tlie perfect crops are sold as vintage wines, and a great many are shipped to England, where, at the age of from three to five years, they are bottled. Port greatly improves in bottles, and care should bo taken to use only the very best corks. Bottles should be hermetically sealed either with wax or especially made caps. A well aged bottle of Port should be carefully decanted be fore serving, as a good deal of the tannin and tartar settles during maturation. Port wine of good quality and old, taken in moderation, is the most wholesome wine pro duced. Port is especially agreeable when taken with a light repast, biscuit or cake. Per those in delicate health, a glass of Port taken with a repast is a splendid invigorator, and will be found very beneficial to those suffering from anaemia. The district of Jerez, from which the well- known Spanish wines derive their name of "Sherry," is situated southwest from Jerez de la Prontera to Port St. Mary and north to San Liucar. The principal grapes grown in the Sherry producing districts are thePedro Jimenez, Palomino,Penimo, Marituo Castellano. The vintage begins in early September. The grapes are gathered into wooden troughs, and crushed by the bare feet of the workmen, after which they are pressed in an old-fashioned wooden press, from which the juice is pumped into large casks. Previous to this operation, however, a small quantity of sulphate of lime is sprinkled upon the crushed grapes. This sulphate of lime is produced by burning some native earth, found near Jerez. It is this process which gives the wine its Sherry