Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/42

2 Were we to judge of the vine, by the strength of its vegetation, or the quality of its fruits, the effects of these causes would be much less perceptible; our senses would frequently establish very slight shades of difference; but, estimating their effects by a comparison of the wines made from these fruits, we are only the more sensible of the differences, as our taste for this beverage becomes more exercised, or refined.

Before, then, we can determine the causes why the same kind of plant does not produce every where, indifferently, the same quality of wine, and establish principles by which we shall be able to foresee and announce that which ought to be, as well as to account for that which is, it is necessary that we should examine, separately and with care, what is due to each of the causes which most strongly influence the vine, and its products.

climates are not favourable for the culture of the vine. If it grows, and seems even to vegetate with force, in the colder climates, it is not less true, that its fruit never attains a sufficient degree of maturity, and it is an observation which constantly