1914 Drinks by Jacques Straub

DRINKS

7

"When serving claret your meals, the lighter but sound types should be served with the entree, while the rich and heavy chateau bottlings are served best with the roast. They should be served at the temperature of the room in which the meal is served. Like the Red Burgundies, they form sediment and should be carefully decanted. Many of the finer class clarets are bottled at the vineyard in which they are grown, and are thus known as chateau bottlings. Authentic chateau bottlings have their vintage and crest of the chateau plainly marked en cork and label. The best vintages in the last forty years are as follows: 1870, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1878, 1888, 1893, 1899, 1904. Sautemes Sauternes, no doubt on account of their sweet ness, are not being given their deserved appre ciation. Yet, a better and finer wine than a Chateau Yquem of a good vintage could not bo found the world over. Sauternes are of a delicate flavor, pale golden color, mellow, rich and have fine, agreeable bouquet. They are hygienic, not heady, and merit the description of perfection in white wines. Their relatively high alcoholic strength is both tonic and stimulating. Consumed moderately, they are invaluable to convalescents after a severe illness, or when it is necessary to revive an organism extenuated by high fever, hemorrhage, or long fatigue. For table service, the dry Sauternes should be served with the fish course, while the rich and heavy Yquems are perfect dessert wines, and one or two glasses at the end of the meal facilitate digestion and provoke gaiety. When conditioning Sauternes for the table, they should be chilled slowly, and be served at a temperature of not below 42 degrees.