Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/649

Rh WINE 611 a greater inequality exists in the different vintages than is known in connexion with the wines of any other country. In a successful season, when the grapes have been able to mature thoroughly, per haps no class of wine shows more elegance and quality than do those of the Rhine provinces, while, on the other hand, there are none 011 which the adverse influence of cold and wet is more appar ent. The principal wine-producing districts of Germany are Alsace- Lorraine, Baden, Wiirtemberg, the Hessian and Bavarian Palatinates, and the Rheingau, the total annual production of which is about 80,000,000 gallons. Of these the first three give half the aggregate yield ; but their wines are chiefly light and poor, and are only used for home consumption. The best wines of Germany are grown on the banks of the Rhine in the neighbourhood of Mainz : the Rhein- gau, in which .the choicest descriptions are grown, lies on the right bank of the river, whilst the vineyards of Hesse lie on the left. The wines produced on the left bank arc full-bodied and with good flavour, the best growths being Liebfraumilch, Nierstein, Schar- lachberg, and Forst, which are considered nearly equal to the Rheingan wines. Amongst the latter are the wines of Johannisberg and Steinberg; the first -named is looked upon as the king of German wines. In the same neighbourhood are also the celebrated vineyards of Riidesheim, Grafenberg, and Rauenthal. The vineyard of Johannisberg is said to have been planted about the year 1009, under the direction of Ruthard, archbishop of Mainz. During the Thirty Years War these vineyards were destroyed, but in 1722 the abbot of Fulda built a chateau on the site of the old convent and re-planted the vineyards. Hochheimer is the produce of a compara tively small district situated on the banks of the Main, several miles above its junction with the Rhine. The name (whence Hock) has been known in England for upwards of two hundred years, and no donbt originally included and denoted the general body of Rhine Moselle wines. The wines of the Moselle, many of which are shipped as wines. sparkling wines, occupy only a secondary position, although in favourable seasons they are characterized by a light pleasant flavour with a marked aroma. The wines of Germany, at least of the descriptions exported, are mostly white, although a small quantity of red is grown in the Palatinate, notably at Assmannshausen, which resembles Burgundy. The yield, however, is comparatively trifling. Amongst the leading descriptions of vine plants in German vineyards the Riesling stands out pre-eminent. It is gener ally planted on the rocky mountain slopes, and the bunches of white grapes which it produces only ripen perfectly in years of high temperature. When this is the case, however, they yield a wine of high quality, the characteristics of which develop as the wine grows older. On the lower lands the species known as the Klein- berger and Oestreicher are planted, the grapes of which ripen more easily and produce more freely than the Pincan Riesling grape. The French vines, the Pineaxi and Gros Blanc, are also cultivated in Germany. But one-half of the vines growing on the banks of the Rhine are Riesling plants, which are probably indigenous to the valley, as, although planted elsewhere, they have never been found to yield fruit of such quality as in the Rheingan. Great care is bestowed upon the process of vintage, which usually takes place at as late a date as possible, as a rule not before the end of October or beginning of November, in order to allow the grapes to ripen as thoroughly as may be. The wine is allowed to ferment in casks instead of in vats, as in most other countries, owing to which cir cumstance considerable difference in quality and price is apt to exist in the produce of the same growth and vintage. After the grapes are gathered, they are pressed as they attain ripeness ; and, after the fermentation is duly effected, the wine is fined and racked into vats, which are constantly filled up so that the wine improves with age. The time for racking varies with different proprietors, some taking the wine olf the lees in the February following the vintage, whilst others allow the lees to remain a year in the wine, a process which gives it a fuller and sweeter taste. Several years are required to get the wine fit for bottling, as there is no fixed period at which it will finish its fermentation, in fact the finer the wine the longer the time requisite to get it in condition. During this period it receives the greatest attention and is frequently tested, condition being perhaps the greatest difficulty in connexion with German wines. Russia and Greece. Russia A certain quantity of wine is made in the southern portions of and Russia and in Greece ; but thd quality is mostly coarse and common, Greece, and the produce is almost entirely used for home consumption. United States. United _ The cultivation of the vine has made rapid progress of late years States, in the United States, and American wines are steadily taking the place of the foreign product. The soil and climate of the Pacific coast seem best adapted to the growth of the vine, and wine-making appears likely to become one of the leading industries of California, where the vine was first introduced by the Franciscan fathers about the year 1769. The variety of grape first planted in that region was known as the &quot;Mission&quot; grape, and is generally supposed to have been imported from Mexico. Subsequently the principal varieties of French, German, and Spanish vines were introduced into that State and have all been tried with more or less success. The result is that several descriptions of wine are now made in California resembling, to a certain extent, the leading European types, although, as a rule, of a coarser style, a defect, however, which is disappearing with the spread of technical knowledge. Although California is by far the largest grape-growing State in the Union, producing nearly one -half of the wines made in tho United States, yet the rate of increase of the product during the past five years has been greatest in other States. In Ohio, upon the shores of Lake Erie and along the Ohio river, the vine is ex tensively cultivated. The champagnes and clarets made in the neighbourhood of Sandusky and Cleveland, and the &quot;sparkling Catawba,&quot; made originally by Nicholas Lohgworth of Cincinnati, are produced in considerable quantities. New York, Missouri, Illinois, and Pennsylvania are likewise large wine-producing States, the largest wine-manufacturing establishment being in New York State, in Steuben county. The annual yield in each of these States ranges now (1888) from 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 gallons. Wines of inferior quality are made in small quantities in nearly all the States. In the eastern and middle States the principal grapes are tha Catawba and Ives seedling, while in the south the Virginia seedling and the Scuppernong grapes are the favourites. The wine-grapes in these regions resemble the grapes of Germany and France, con taining more acid and flavour, while those grown on the Pacific coast are of a milder and sweeter character, resembling the wines of Spain. The principal obstacles in the way of the cultivation of the vine in the United States are mildew and blight, which sometimes destroy the entire foliage of the vine, and the grape-rot, which in some localities has baffled the grower and caused the abandonment of grape-culture. The ravages of the Phylloxera are likewise encountered in certain localities, but these are not so ex tensive in the United States as in France, and, indeed, certain varieties of vine are entirely free from them. The exports of American wines, though still small, are rapidly increasing. The imports of foreign wines have steadily decreased during the past fifteen years. The total annual production of wine in the United States now amounts to about 35,000,000 gallons. Cape of Good Hope. Previous to the alteration of the wine duties in 1860, which placed Cape of foreign and colonial wines on a similar basis, a considerable business Good was developing in the United Kingdom in favour of Cape wines, Hope, especially of those descriptions most resembling the traditional port and sherry. The Cape of Good Hope in its geographical and climatic elements greatly resembles the vine-growing countries of Europe, and, notwithstanding certain earthy characteristics (due in the main to imperfect cultivation) which were inseparable from its wines, bade fair at one time to rival the best of its competitors north of the equator. The equalization of duty, however, has con siderably checked the trade in Great Britain, notwithstanding the great improvement which has since taken place in wine-making at the Cape. Australia. Wine-producing has been prosecuted as an industry for many Australia years in the Australian colonies, and in some instances with con siderable energy. But it has not hitherto developed to any great extent, owing to the absence of differential duties to favour the growers and the cost of freight, although from the quality of their production they have no reason to dread competition with the wine-growers of Europe. The Australian colonies (Yictoria, South Australia, New South Wales) have suffered much from want of technical knowledge both in vine selection and wine preparation, though in both of these branches considerable progress has been made during the last few years. According to Mr J. P. Stow, in his History of South Australia, the tentative stage of vine culture in that colony has now passed. Good markets for its vintages may be expected in Europe as soon as wines of certain qualities are made in sufficient quantities to allow of heavy stocks being kept. As with the growths of Medoc, attempts are being made to keep the yields of the various vineyards distinct, those of Highereombc, Auldana, Tintara, &c., in South Australia being well known in Great Britain. In their principal characteristics these wines re semble those of France, the red wines being intermediate between claret and Burgundy, while the white wines, although the fuller descriptions come near Sauterne and Chablis, as a rule take more after those of the Rhine. The quantity imported into England during 1887 amounted to 168,188 gallons. Asia. Although holding a position of little importance in wine-grow- Asia, ing, as compared with Europe, Asia yields a certain quantity for home consumption. Chief amongst these are the wines of Caucasia and Armenia, which, according to Thndicum, are more notable for their alcoholic strength than for their colour. Wines are also made in Persia, especially in the district of Shiraz ; these, however, rarely find their way into the market. (II. J. N.)