1934 What Shall We Drink by Magnus Bredenbek

132 What Shall We Drink? the rare exceptions noted)be served atroom temperaturesfor the fullest enjoyment of their bouquet and enticing flavors. The sparkhng red wines,like their stiU dry white orspark ling white brothers, conversely must be chilled exactly as anything else effervescent must be chilled to be palatable— for instance, beer, ginger ale, vichy, seltzer or carbonated water. If you like vichy approximately lukewarm—faugh!— drink your champagne that way, too. Your taste must be abnormaland you should consulta physician. Do not be dismayed when you read aU the trade names of the various vintages—Chateau This and Chateau That, Saint This and Saint That. Be guided in your selection by the advice of a reliable dealer. Don't wince too much at price for if the beverage be royal it cannot be cheap,that is, if you seek the imported brands. If your purse is notso bulging asin more prosperous years, turn toward the California wines and you will not be disap pointed, whether they be red or white,sparkling or still, dry or sweet. Or choose an Ohio,New York or New Jersey wine. Red wines, at their best, should be from eight to twelve years old—but who expects to get them at low prices? It is impossible. One may buy with some certainty of obtaining really aged and noble wines only by patronizing the highest class and, consequently, the most expensive establishments. Otherwise one is likely to buy palmed off stuff that, while palatable, might have no virtues comparable with a one,two or three year old American wine. I have heard it charged, although I cannot prove it, that many French wineries are importing American vintages to mix with their native non-vintage wines and then are export ing them again to America to be sold as Chateau This and Chateau That. WeU,if this be true,it wouldn't be surprising thatsuch skillful vintners asthe French have learned that our grapes have a richer flavor, flner bouquet and more splendid "body"than any grown in Medoc,Burgundy,Bordeaux,the Gironde district, the Rhone,or even in Anjou,Touraine and the Loire country. It is, rather,to their credit and our own discredit that our wines return to us as imports from France, Our grapes are,