1934 Cocktail Bill Boothby's World Drinks and how to mix them

WINES

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vital natural phenomena, absolutely essential to the successful production of the finer wines (proper soil, proper precipitation and just sufhcient sunshine), are most often present in propor tion better than elsewhere. As to soil, the finest table wines are produced from what appears to the layman to be the poorest soil. Chalky, rocky hillsides, which seemingly would be fit only for goats, in France, produce the delectable Yquem, Chablis, Medoc, Champagne and other world-famous varieties, concerning which volumes be yond number have been dedicated with deep reverence. In California markedly comparable types of these justly famous beverages are produced from ground greatly similar in char acter. Just sufficient sunshine and precipitation are the two other vital ingredients which go to make a vintage crop of wine. Too much or too little of either of these ingi^edients and the crop is scratched as vintage. Contra, when these elements hold their sway,in proper proportion, then another vintage year is written down in history. To present a proper understanding of this entrancing sub ject this publisher now dares to digress, for the nonce, from the practical, to just over the threshold of the science of wine production. In other words, why is wine? All wines are primarily the result of proper fermentation (formation of alcohol). So-called vintage wines are this and nothing more. The finer table varieties are blended (mixed) to a greater or lesser extent, following fermentation, and sweet or heavy wines are fortified following this natural phenomenon. Fermentation is a natural occurrence. Any liquid, exposed to the air, will ferment, but, to secure proper fermentation, as measured by the combined opinion of most experts upon the subject, and which opinion seemingly has met with the favor of the wine-consuming public, certain other elements now must be considered. First among these is the cause of fermentation. This