1934 What Shall We Drink by Magnus Bredenbek

Red Wines 131 Chianti, of course, is the most popularly known of the Italian wines, but there also are the red and white Marsala wines,the wines ofsunny Capri,immortahzed by Lord Byron when he spoke of Lacrjona Christi as "the drink of the gods, the pride of Italy"; the wines from the slopes of Asti—rich, full-bodied, rare in bouquet and a dehght to the epicurean taste; vintages of Moscato, Frascati and Orvieto; or nectars from Piedmont,Tuscany and the Umbrian hills. One's mouth waters at remembrance—if one has been to Italy—ofthe Roman and Neapolitan beverages,warm wines, romantic and historic. One must pay due reverence to them or be callous,indeed,to merit. And just as in the case of the rales given for the French and other wines, adapt them to these noble products of the land of the Caesars and her modern Caesar, Mussolini. I could go on,with dehght,talking about Barolo Barbera, Santa Maddalena, Corvo di Casteldaccia, Valpohcella and ValteUina,among the red wines of old Italy, and the famous sparkhng Spumantiof Capri,the Orvieto and Soavethatrank with the white Frascati of dehcious memory,but in a general survey of the entire field of drinking,one must not linger too long at any one place lest the comprehensiveness sought be not attained. Nor mustI neglect that land of the Alexandrian empire— Greece,the ancient—whose vines inspired Homer before the Roman Empire ever was dreamed of or a Caesar crowned. It would not surprise me also to find in the nearfuture the wines of the South Americas coming into the United States, especially the rich ruby vintages of the Andean slopes. Now that we have effected more amicable relations with our Latin- American neighbors, this really is to be desired. I have tasted some of these beverages and found them delightful. The supremacy of France in wines is not yet lost, but she mustlook to her laurels among some of the rivals for favor I have mentioned. Yet,in most cases, whether the wines travel long journeys from Madeira,Morocco,Algeria,Malaga,the CanaryIslands, or even from the"Cape"district of South Africa,the general rule remainsthesame:thatthe still red wines must(with only