1939 The Gentleman's Companion volume II Beeing an Exotic Drinking Book

THE EXOTIC DRINKING BOOK

envious, heads raise at neighbouring tables at this wide display of lavishness, lower again. The wine is hastily poured out-and there we are gentlemen-we are drinking wine, and God help us! EXPLODED OLD ALEWIVES' TALE No. III, IMPROPRIETY of HEATING CLARETS No matter what nice old Aunt Peola Fittich remembers about claret in London's famous old inn The Clieshire Cheese, never heat claret artificially. Place it in the room where it is to be served, in the forenoon, properly decanted, with the stopper out. Pour at night without further treatment. A WORD on the CORRECT SERVICE of WINES with MEALS, GIVING FouR EXA.1'1PLEs, or so, of Wrm SEQUENCES & SIMILAR AD– DENDA THis CHAPTER on wines makes no pretense to go into types, qualities, traditional vintages, and the like. This information, often the life work of gentlemen far mor:c; qualified than ourself to speak of such matters, is readily available from hundreds of sources-one of the most charming being a small pocket-size volume by a gentleman and a gourmet in his own right, Julian Street, entitled Where Paris Dines; and no amateur should be without it on his shelves. But many of these books by experts fail to remember that the aver– age American amateur, not conceived in a wine-drinking land, may need a helping hand to guide him over the first barriers. Not being primarily able to concern ourself with extravagant vintages, Ameri– cans generally prefer peace and mixed drinks rather than wars and rumours of wars, and infinite wine knowledge. What we note below are just about all the needful service essentials. Let us explain :z points which have always struck us as not usually made clear to the amateur. In the first place Game can be a relatively unimportant course, technically an Entree, or it may be the whole focal point of a meal-like a vast platter of wild duck, or wild turkey, and there may be no conventional Roast course included in such a meal. The other is: where we live in the tropics and dining room tern- • 1 97 .