TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINES. 
678 
l"HE TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINES. 
I have been urged to reply to Mr. Champion Bissell’s article on 
the vineyards of California, which appeared in “ Belford’s 
Monthly” for June. I do so with reluctance, partly because 
of other demands on my time, partly because I shall have 
to say things not entirely agreeable. Mr. Bissell’s article 
assumes that California wine is all of one quality, which he 
condemns, not only on his own judgment, but fortified also by 
the opinions of two experts who testify against it. His acquaint- 
ance with the subject, however, is entirely derivative and quite 
imperfect. His reading on it appears to have been confined to 
newspaper articles, and the productions of newspaper writers in 
their moments of leisure, and it is clear, on internal evidence, 
that he has no personal knowledge of viticulture or wine making, 
and has never seen California grapes or wines, except when of- 
fered for sale in Eastern markets. Were this not so, he never 
would have made the astounding statement that “all grapes raised 
in California, without exception, protect than selves by a tough in- 
tegument, with an imperfect boundary of definition between pulp and 
skin,” or endeavored to account for this very remarkable phe- 
nomenon by solar influences, which, in the tropics, give their thick 
skin to the banana and orange. Mr. Bissell will doubtless be 
surprised to learn that this statement is absolutely devoid of truth; 
grapes which are thin-skinned in their native countries, are equally 
so in California, just as oranges and bananas, raised in temperate 
climes are quite as thick skinned as those grown in the tropics. 
The California grapes that find their way to the markets of New' 
York and Chicago, are, of course, thick skinned, for the simple 
reason that thin-skinned ones will not bear transportation to such 
a distance. B .t the markets of all California cities are in the 
Fall laden with grapes, which flatly contradict Mr. Bissell’s state- 
ment. The Black Hamburg, the Malvoisie, the Verdal, even 
the Mission grape and the Isabella, besides the whole tribe of 
Chasselas, load the tables of the fruiterers here in the fall, but 
not one of them can be carried a hundred miles by rail without 
spoiling, simply because they are too thin skinned and delicate 
to travel. There are other sorts more pronounced in these char- 674 
TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA lVINES. 
acteristics, and which are only to be obtained at their places of 
production. They will not bear transportation even to San Fran- 
cisco. Such are the Fehersages and the Barbarossa. Had Mr. 
Bissell ever seen California grapes in California he could never 
have fallen into this conspicuous blunder, or allowed himself to 
quote, save in derision, “ the expert Vigneron, from Bordeaux dis- 
trict,” who pronounces so authoritatively “ that California grapes 
are pretty good eating, and they grow in big bunches, but they 
are tough; and a tough grape makes—what shall I call it?—a 
tough wine.” The “ expert Vigneron,” has been, I fear, mis- 
understood by Mr. Bissell, or else he is less of an expert than he 
supposes, for his language just quoted imports that wine is made 
from the same grapes as are supplied for the table. But this Mr. 
Bissell must surely be aware is a great error. There are very 
few exceptions to the rule—in fact I recall but two—that a good 
table grape will not make a good wine. Mr. Bissell’s own use of 
language seems to have become demoralized by intercourse with 
these inexpert foreign experts, for he talks about the “ beautiful 
grapes full of luscious juice.” grown in California, from cuttings 
of the “Pineaud” grape. I must tell him, however, that to get 
beautiful bunches from the cuttings of the Pineau, he will have 
to plant them in some other country than California or France. 
Here, just as in France, the Pineau produces an insignificant 
looking grape, quite unattractive in appearance, and less entitled 
to be termed beautiful than the common wild-fox grape. And 
here, just as in France, it makes a delicious wine, as Burgun- 
dian in its flavor and goutiness, as if direct from the Cote d'Or. 
Nor is Mr. Bissell happier in his quotation from the New York 
critic, whom he further on designates as the “expert from Beaver 
street.” If this gentleman had limited his assertion and his 
criticism to such California wines as had come under his own 
observation, his remarks would have such weight as the extent of 
his experience called for; but when on the strength of such 
knowledge of California products,—vegetables, fruits, wines, etc., 
as can be acquired in Beaver street, he presumes to pronounce a 
judgment, such as quoted by Mr. Bissell, he simply disentitles 
himself to any weight whatever. It is easy to say—and it sounds 
epigrammatic—that every fruit grown in California gets elephan- 
tiasis, the pears weigh five pounds, and never a Duchesse d’ 
Angouleme or a Bezi de-la-Motte among them; not even a 
respectable Bartlett. Where is the musk flavor ? Elephantiasis 
has killed it.” One wonders in reading this remark what its TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINES. 
675 
author was thinking about when he wrote or uttered it. Did he 
really expect to find a Duchesse or Bartlett among five pound 
pears; or does he suppose that the difference between various 
species of pears depends upon the place they grow in, or the 
size they attain? Such results may attend farming in Beaver 
street, but outside that favored locality most readers I imagine 
are aware that the sort of pear a tree produces depends on the 
scion with which the stock was grafted, and that five pound pears 
are one sort, Duchesse another, and Bartlett a third, and none of 
these trees ever produces the other sort, any more than a goose- 
berry bush produces watermelons. 
In the production of all fruits soil and climate are the great 
factors; nationality has nothing to do with the result. Alsace 
and Lorraine have not changed the character of their agriculture 
with their national flag, nor do Savoy and Nice grow different 
products since their annexation to France from what they did 
under the dominion of Victor Emmanuel. We have in the 
present day so many facilities for learning all particulars on 
these heads as to all civilized countries, that the superstition that 
prevailed seventy-five, or even fifty years ago, that wine could 
only be produced in France, must give way to the hard facts of 
natural history. As to soil the “ Ampelographie Francaise ” gives 
us the chemical analysis of that of many notable vineyards in 
France, among which the most conspicuous feature is the very 
large proportion of insoluble matter (viz. gravel and sand) which 
prevails in all the“grands crus,”* ex. gr. in Burgundy, “ Montra- 
chet” has 80 per cent. (p. 209), “ Romanee Conti ” 75 per cent, 
(p. 218), “Chambertin ” 89 per cent. (p. 222), and in the Borde- 
lais “Chateau Margaux ” has 85 per cent. (p. 431), and Iquem 
84 per cent. (p. 443). Now I have, from the University of Cali- 
fornia, the chemical analysis of the soil of “ Las Palmas,’’ made at 
the time of establishing the first viticultural experiment station 
there, and I now present it side by side with that of Chateau 
Margaux, as given on the authority just quoted. Here they are. 
LAS PALMAS. 
Ingredients. 
University of California. 
Soluble Silica 3-538 
Peroxide of Manganese 007 
Peroxide of Iron 3.280 
Alumina 2.820 
Phosphoric Acid 004 
Sulphuric Acid 004 
Water and organic matter 2.020 
Insoluble matter. 86.200 
100.000 
Potash 384 
Soda 374 
Lime 7IQ 
■ Magnesia 710 676 
TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINES. 
Magnesia 263 
Oxide de fer. 3.341 
Alumine • 1.590 
Acide phosphorique 0.147 
Matieres organiques 6.670 
Residu insoluble 85.427 
100.000 
CHATEAU MARGAUX. 
Ingredients. 
Ampelographie Francaise. 
Silice soluble 380 
Potasse de Soude 1.291 
Carbonate de Chaux 891 
Most intelligent and well informed people will, I imagine, find 
it difficult to believe that on two soils so strikingly similar as 
these, plants of the same identical sort will produce fruits differ- 
ing very widely from one another, unless the climate in one of 
them be so very unfavorable as to prevent the fruit from coming to 
maturity. This is so obvious that I feel warranted in assuming 
that if “ Las Palmas” from the same sort of grapes as are 
planted at Margaux fails to produce a wine of substantially the 
same character it must be conspicuously the fault of the California 
climate. But climate is just the particular in which for the 
culture of grapes California, confessedly exceeds all other 
countries. This is a truth quite indisputable, and easily proved 
too. There are newspapers in France, devoted exclusively to the 
viticultural interest, such as the “ Moniteur Vinicole,” the 
“Feuille Vinicole,” etc. It is impossible to look over a file of one 
of these without being struck by the importance attached to the 
character and state of the weather during the growing season. 
From the beginning of June, when the fruit sets, till the close of 
the vintage in October every beam of sunshine is chronicled with 
exultation, every rain storm, shower, or even cloudy day deplored. 
The news columns and correspondence of these journals, during 
the season referred to, are filled with accounts of the weather 
changes and with discussions on their probable effect on the 
crops. They say themselves, “ Une vigne doit toujours regarder le 
soleil,, ” and in accordance with this idea the sunshine is always 
spoken of as “ le beau soleil," and rainy or cloudy weather as 
“ mauvais temps." Now I would ask Mr. Champion Bissell, who 
must be quite aware of what I have just stated, whether he does 
seriously think or expect any one else to believe that nature is so 
*The quality of the wine produced seems to bear direct relation to the pro- 
portion of gravel in the soil; and such is also the popular belief. Thus in Les 
Olivottes (p.235) the gravel is given at 51 percent, and in “ Vallmorillon * 
(p. 234), it is 33 per cent. Both these crus are said to produce good wine, but 
not comparable with those named in the text. TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINES. 
677 
capricious in her operations on the Pacific coast that the uninter- 
rupted fair weather and magnificent sunshine of our California 
summer, can produce on the grape grown here, effects just the 
reverse of what such weather does in all other countries ? Can 
such a paradox find credence with any one having the least 
experience in agriculture ? 
“But,” says the Beaver street critic, “a choice claret or sherry 
from California with a bouquet is impossible. It cannot be, and 
that settles it.” As regards sherry, I will neither affirm nor deny 
this prophecy, though I deem it, like all prophecy, rash; for 
sherry is an artificial compound, not a pure wine. But as regards 
claret, I hope Mr. Bissell will allow me, with great deference to 
the authority of his Beaver street expert, to express a doubt 
whether that does settle it or at least whether it will stay so 
settled. I venture to appeal from his absolute dictum to the 
proverbial proof of the pudding, for I am myself convinced that 
quality and price, both considered California table wines, white 
and red, are quite equal to the French; and I propose to prove it 
by a competitive test, to which Mr. Bissell and the Beaver street 
expert may both be parties if they will. There is now in the 
hands of Messrs. Hegeman & Co., 196 Broadway, New York, 
little more than half a mile from Beaver street, a lot of claret 
grown and made in the Cupertino Wine Co.’s, vineyard, Las 
Palmas. Incontestible proofs of its California origin will be 
furnished. Let a person appointed by Mr. Bissell, purchase a 
case of it at whatever the current price may be, and let him select 
and name to me a French claret of that price, of which I will pur- 
chase a like quantity, the guarantee of its French origin to be equally 
satisfactory. Let these two cases of wine be placed at the dis- 
posal of a committee of competent and disinterested gentlemen, 
selected as we will agree, and precautions against prejudice being 
taken by obliterating all external evidence of nationality of the 
wines; let the committee after sampling the whole, pass judg- 
ment on them, their report and awards to be published in 
Belford’s Monthly, or elsewhere, and the whole test to be at 
the expense of the losing party. 
Or if preferred I will name a California vineyard or vineyards 
at which Mr. Bissell may purchase a barrel of red wine and an- 
other of white of sorts indicated by me; to insure his obtaining 
them at the current price, let a stranger make the purchase at 
such a time as he pleases. He will then designate French wines 
of corresponding price of which I will purchase a like quantity 678 
TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINES. 
from the importers in New York. Let both lots be bottled and set 
aside for competition at the World’s Fair, eight months hence, 
where the proprietors of this magazine can arrange for a fair com- 
petition and decision on their merits by the proper jury. By a 
test of this sort, we shall, I think, obtain more real light on the 
relative merits of California and French wines than by any amount 
of assertion by either side. I have no fears for the result. The 
fact is that California, like all other wine growing countries, pro 
duces wines of different sorts and various degrees of merit. The 
bulk of the crop is a vin ordinaire simply because the grapes first 
introduced in the State were such as bore abundant crops, but of 
an inferior order of wine, and the bulk of the crop continues to 
be such because the mass of consumers demand a low priced 
article. Hence producers, as a rule, look for quantity in prefer- 
ence to quality, and with the products of the vine these proceed 
in inverse proportion. But Mr. Bissell is most unhappy in his 
suggestion (on page 94) that Horace’s verse, “ Ccelutn non animum 
mutantetc., cannot be applied to the transplantation of the 
grape, for the fact is exactly the reverse of what he states. On 
this question all authorities agree, and their verdict is confirmed 
by the experience of all who have submitted the question to that 
crucial test. As this is the very kernel of the question, I may be 
excused for dwelling on it at some length. 
The greatest authority France has produced on the vine and 
its products is Dr. Jules Guyot. His eminent qualifications 
were recognized by the Imperial government, which commissioned 
him to make a viticultural survey of France, from his report on 
which, his Opus Magnum “ Le Vignoble,” in three octavo vol- 
umes, was compiled and printed by the Imperial press. French 
viticulturists in their public writings and discussions, reverently 
term him “ Notre Maitre.” Here is what he says on the ques- 
tion Mr. Bissell disposes of so jauntily. In his “ Culture de la 
Vigne et Vinification,” Chap. V, after pointing out the character- 
istic differences between different varieties of the same plant, in the 
case of other vegetable products, he continues (p. 61) as follows:* 
Translation—“The vine has its sorts and varieties, like most other useful 
or agreeable products which mankind have sought to multiply and bring to 
perfection, by cultivation. These sorts and varieties have theu essential and 
distinctive qualities and characteristics which they preserve, in all soils, climates 
and exposures. 
* It is difficult to translate these passages into idiomatic English, for want of 
exact equivalents in our language for the technical terms of viticulture. TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINES. 
679 
“It is just so with the different varieties of grapes. The Muscat will never 
become a Cabernet, nor the Cabernet a Pineau, the Pineau a Gamai, nor the 
Gamai a Chasselas. That is an incontestable truth which prejudice, on the 
subject of soil, has so far obscured as to mislead some of the keenest oenologists 
and accomplished grape growers. Misled by slight diversities of vegetation- 
more or less vigorous ; by the different names bestowed on the same sorts in 
different provinces ; confirmed in these errors by shades of difference in 
bouquet and flavor, the species of grape grown (cepage) without being entirely 
lost sight of by them, has only been adverted to as a circumstance to be noted 
in connection with the wines produced in great, or middling or inferior vineyards 
(crus.) The idea of the vineyard (crus) has absorbed that of the variety of 
grape (cepage) whereas it is the variety of grape that determines the character of 
the vineyard. Chateau Lafitte planted in Gamai or Gonay would produce a 
wine simply detestable. Substitute those sorts for the ancient stocks of Clos 
Vougeout, and it would yield a wine worth fifty francs per barrel. On the 
other hand transport the Cabernet Sauvignon of the l/pper Me doc or the Ftanc 
Pineau of Burgundy to Madeira, to the Cape of Good Hope, to Spain, to Algeria, 
or even to Auxerre,— Wherever grown they will yield you excellent wines, re- 
calling perfectly the best vintages of Bordeaux and the finest products of Bur- 
gundy. Their value will doubtless vary more or less; because the soil of the 
vineyard, its exposure, the climate, the character of the season, the cultivation 
and mode of making the wine, all undoubtedly contribute their part toward its 
lightness, richness, taste and bouquet. But the product, whether grown at the 
Cape or at Navarre, Madeira or Auxerre, will recall at once the fine wines of 
Burgundy, and of Bordeaux, as the case may be. This is a truth established by 
experience, and experience on an extensive scale.” 
,:Our great vineyards have deserved and retained their high repute, because 
they were originally planted by intelligent men with superior varieties of 
grapes which have been preserved in them as objects of a veritable worship 
Faith in particular sorts of grapes preceded confidence in vineyards; but the 
superstitious reverence for particular vineyards has supplanted the religion of 
sorts. The real principal has disappeared in the spread of the renown due to 
it.” 
“ II en est exactment de meme pour les varietes de raisin: Jam- 
ais le muscat, ne deviendra cabernet, jamais le cabernet ne de- 
vienpra pineau, jamais le pineau ne deviendra gamai, jamais le 
gamai ne deviendra chassellas. C’est la une verite absolue, que 
la passion du terroir est parvenue a obscurcir, au point de troubler 
les idees des plus savants oenologues, et des meilleurs ampelo- 
graphes; trompes par la difference des vegetations, plusou moins 
vigoureuses, par les noms differents imposes aux memes especes, 
dans les differentes provinces, confirmes dans leurs erreurs par 
les nuances dans le bouquet et la saveur des vins, Le cepage,* 
* We have no single English word the equivalent of CJpage, and it is not even 
found in any French-English dictionary I know. It signifies the sort of grape. 680 
TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINES. 
sans etre tout-a-fait meconnu par eux, n’a figure dans leurestime. 
que comme fait observable et special aux grands, aux moyens, et 
aux mauvais crus. L'idee du cru a absorbc l'idee du cepage, tandis, 
qu en realite, Ic 7 ccpage domine le cru. Plantez Chateau Lafitte 
en gamai, ou en gouais, et vous aurez un vin detestable; substi- 
tuez ces memes cepages aux vieilles souches de Clos Vougeot, et 
vous aurez du vin a cinquante francs la piece. Portez le cabernet 
Sauvignon du haut Me doc, le Fratic pineau de le Bourgogne, a 
ATaddre, au Cap. en Espagnc en Algcrie ou bien a Auxerre, partout 
ils vous donneront d'excellents vins qui rappelleront parfaitement les 
meilleurs Bordeaux, et les plus Jins Bourgognes; ils vaudront plus 
ou moins sans doute, par ce que le terroir, l’exposition, le climat, 
l’annee, la culture, et le mode de confection du vin, ont une part 
reelle et incontestable dans la legerete, la richesse, le gofit, et le 
bouquet du liquide; mais le Cap. la Navarre, Medere, et Auxerre, 
vous rappelleront les bons vins de Bourgogne, et les bons vins 
de Borbeaux. C’est la une experience faite, et faite en grand\" and 
again on page 63 he continues; “ Les grands crus* ont merite 
et conserve leur belle reputation par ce qu’ils ont ete dot£s par 
des hommes intelligents de cepages d’especes superieurs, et que 
ces cepages y sont restes 1’objet d’un veritable culte. La religion 
du cep a precede celle du cru; la superstition du cru atue lecep; 
le principe a disparu, dans l’exploitation de sa renommee;” and 
these truths are amply confirmed, if confirmation were needed, by 
our California experience. 
We have another work called “ Le Vignoble ’’compiled by 
Mas and Pulliat (8 vo. Paris, 3 vols. G. Masson 1874-79) 
which gives a pictorial representation of the leaf, wood 
and fruit of some three hundred different European grapes, 
together with a careful description of the plant, leaf, habit of 
growth, time of maturity, and character of the fruit of each, the 
wine it makes, etc. This work is accepted as the standard for 
identifying different sorts, and we find in every case that the 
California grown grape corresponds perfectly with the represen- 
tation of the European original. The same correspondence is 
found with the description in Victor Rendu’s “Ampelographie 
Francaise,” and Count Odart’s “Ampelographie Universelle.” I 
have myself an experimental plot established and directed by the 
* Cru, growth; then place of growth; hence vineyard. The vineyards of the 
vicinity of Bordeaux are classified and distributed into ier. crus classes, 2me. 
classes, etc., besides crus bourgeois superieurs, crus bourgeois inferieures, crus 
artizan, crus paysan, etc. Cru in viticulture is vineyard. TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINES. 
681 
State University containing some hundred and twenty varieties, 
which enables me from personal observation to affirm the same 
truth, and to prove it to doubters every October, by comparision 
of the text and plate with the living example. If Mr. Bissell 
can be prevailed upon to visit California, and see for himself I 
will take pleasure in showing him all this and wringing from him 
(however reluctant) a confession that the basis on which his 
whole criticism proceeds is fallacious. He has simply been mis- 
led into an egregious error by want of personal acquaintance 
with the subject and a too ready credence given' to unfounded 
statements. 
These fine sorts of grapes have within the last few years, been 
imported into California, with every precaution to secure genuine- 
ness. They are now propagated here in several vineyards, and 
the wine produced from them fulfills all the expectations formed 
of it. Its production is, however, much more costly than 
that of the common sorts. The pruning, staking and tying of 
the vines is more laborious; much of the work of cultivation 
has to be done by the hoe instead of the plow, the crop when 
harvested is incomparably smaller, and the wine instead of being 
potable at six months from the vat, must tarry at least three years 
in wood before it is fit to bottle, and will then be better for pass- 
sing a year or more in glass before consumption. All these cir- 
cumstances call for more capital, patience and courage than the 
growing of common wine, and deter most growers from leaving 
the beaten track. Hence wines of superior excellence are no 
more common in California than in France or Italy. Here, as in 
Europe, they are a product quite distinct from vin ordinaire, or 
vin du pays, which is grown all over the country. But that they 
are produced and in appreciable quantities is proved by the very 
fact quoted by Mr. Bissell to show their non-existence, viz: 
“The ominous figures, nineteen cents per gallon,” given in the 
census returns as the average price of California wines. The 
great bulk of the crop from which that average was obtained, was 
sold at, or under, twelve cents per gallon; indeed, large lots went 
as low as seven and a half cents, and ten was quite generally 
accepted. Now taking the whole crop at 17,000,000 gallons and 
assuming that 16,000,000 of it was sold at an average of 
eleven cents, it is clear that the other million must have brought 
an average of $1.28 per gallon to bring that of the whole up to 
nineteen cents. The actual figures were probably somewhat 
different from these, but, all the same, a general price of nineteen 682 
TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINES. 
cents per gallon, with the great bulk of the crop sold at twelve 
or under, proves that an appreciable part brought a price very 
much above the average. 
That the wines I refer to have not found their way into the 
ordinary channels of commerce is very easily explained. They 
are practically a new commodity and have to force their way to 
recognition against the competition not only of the foreign article 
(which has all prejudices in its favor) but also of our own inferior 
products, which, tricked out in attractive labels and even netted 
with wire to prevent adulteration, are, under the stimulus of over 
production, pushed by the trade in every direction. They have 
to contend with the ignorance and prejudices of consumers, of 
whom very many have really no knowledge or judgment as to the 
quality of wine, and adopt what they deem the safe rule of pre- 
ferring the foreign article merely because it is foreign,* and others 
invent or blindly accept as true such sage aphorisms as that “all 
California fruits get Elephantiasis which kills their natural bou- 
quet,” and that “a choice claret with a bouquet from California 
is impossible. It cannot be, and that settles it.” Each producer 
too, has to fight his way to recognition single-handed, for unhap- 
pily there is no commercial house which makes a business of 
dealing in our fine wines, and the trade does not want such 
goods except at a price materially below the cost of production. 
What should trade, as such, want of a wine that would cost, say 
seventy cents per gallon, young, and have to be kept four years 
before selling it, when an article quite as good looking, and 
which will answer its purposes as well can be bought at twelve 
*In a conversation lately with a wealthy New Yorker. I asked him what wine 
he drank at home. He told me it was a claret called MEdoc which he im- 
ported in glass. It cost him, landed in New York, forty cents per bottle, or 
$4.80 per case. He preferred it because he was assured that it was unblended, 
and he thought wines blended or made from more than one sort of grape did 
not agree with him. He was undoubtedly sincere in this, and not at all actu- 
ated by parsimony. Yet taking shipping charges, freight and duty into account 
and deducting the cost of the case, bottles, etc., he is evidently importing a wine, 
worth in Bordeaux, at retail, not more than forty francs per hectolitre, or say a 
franc and a half per gallon. It would be interesting to hear the opinion of Mr. 
Bissell’s “expert Vigneron from the Bordeaux district” on the purity of that 
wine. For myself, judging only from published market reports, I should guess 
it to be a Barcelona claret, not blended perhaps, but let us say mildly attenuated 
by the water of the Garonne, and perhaps flavored with some of the extracts so 
liberally advertised in the “Moniteur Vinicole!!!” But he knows it to be 
French, for he imports it from Bordeaux himself, and that is the main point TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINES. 
683 
cents and sold readily when it has attained the mature age of 
twelve or fifteen months, and even passed off with most persons, 
by means of a label, for the very thing they are in quest of? In 
vain will he appeal to the wine merchant to add these fine pro- 
ducts to his stock and cultivate a trade in them as a new branch 
of business. The answer is, “My customers are satisfied with what 
I give them now; if any one wants a finer article than what I offer 
him, I have it ready with a different label and a higher price. I 
see no need of your high grade wine, nor do I desire to add any 
new branches to my business.” If he attempts to introduce it at 
some first-class hotel, his negotiation is unlikely to get further 
than the mention of the price. The moment he names six, seven 
and eight dollars a case, he is told that we have a very good Cali- 
fornia wine that we pay $3.00 or $3.50 per case for, which 
answers all our purposes. Should he address himself to a lead- 
ing club in one of our great Eastern cities, among whose mem- 
bers must be found real connoisseurs of wine, capable of appreci- 
ating what is good without seeing the outside of the bottle, he 
will probably find that the wine committee, without whose sanction 
no new brand can be put on the wine list, is composed in whole 
or in great part of gentlemen, or the friends of gentlemen, who 
import and sell foreign wines, and are, after the manner of 
Beaver street, prejudiced in favor of their own merchandise. If 
he proposes to leave his goods with some first-class family grocer 
and endeavor through an agency of that kind to obtain consum- 
ers, he finds the ground preoccupied, and is told, “We are already 
agents for a very nice brand of Zinfandel, and we could not do 
justice to your wine, and do it simultaneously.” 
He is by some perhaps advised to open a little bureau to keep 
samples, and take orders, and thus sell his own goods; but that 
involves a deal of expense and even a change of occupation as 
well as of residence. He is a wine grower, not a retailer of wine, 
and he knows that qualifications are required in a salesman which 
he does not possess. What wonder if under such discourage- 
ments “his poverty and not his will,” consents, in order to dis- 
pose of his product, to the putting of a French label on it* and 
*Mr. Edward Muybridge, of the University of Pennsylvania, so well known 
in connection with photographic studies of animal locomotion, lately paid a 
visit to California, after an absence of many years. In relating to me incidents 
of his calls on various old friends, he mentioned spending a day at the vineyard 
of Mr. (he suppressed the name) where he drank a bottle of excellent 
claret, but on being shown through the establishment observed the packers put- 684 
TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINES. 
letting it go as “Haut Medoc” “Vin de Graves” “Saint Emil- 
lion” or even “Chateau Margaux” “Chateau Iquem” or “Chateau 
.La Rose,” as the case may be. 
There is much wanted a commercial house in San Francisco, 
that will purchase the fine wines produced in the state when 
young, mature them carefully, and then put them on the general 
markets, challenging the competition of the better wines of France 
and Germany; and I know no such good opening in business in 
the United States as it affords, for the wines can be purchased the 
spring after their production at from sixty to seventy cents per 
gallon, and sold when four years old at two dollars and upward. 
Every year they are kept adds to their value. Such a house must 
have capital to carry a stock of four years’ consumption, and until 
the market has been fairly conquered must employ all the usual 
commercial methods of effecting sales. It should of course have 
the courage to sell its goods for what they really are, discarding 
all reliance on meretricious ornament and fictitious nomenclature. 
And such a house we will have ere long I am persuaded, for 
“Securus judicat orbis terrarum” the stupid prejudice against high 
class California wine cannot long survive the Columbian exposi- 
tion at Chicago, for all the world will be there to judge it, and 
we will poll the jury on the truth of the statement, in an earlier 
part of this paper, viz: That quality and price both considered, the 
wines of California are quite equal to those of France. When the 
verdict is rendered some enterprising Chicagoan will present 
himself here to take up the business suggested, and he will find 
it a straight avenue to fortune. He may organize it as a corpo- 
ration in which the growers themselves will take a considerable 
part of the stock, and he will, as the first in the field, secure for 
several years a practical monopoly of a lucrative business, which 
must expand indefinitely with, the increase of population, and 
growth of luxury in the United States. 
Menlo Park, Cal. 
John T. Doyle. 
ting French labels on the bottles, and packing them up in cases, externally very 
French in appearance. He was rather shocked at this, and in talking it over 
with his host, asked him whether he thought that right? “Well,” said the lat- 
ter, “as a matter of sentiment I hate to do it, but I am not clear that there is 
anything wrong about it. It is pure wine, and good wine too, and the men I 
sell it to know perfectly well that it is grown and made right here at my vine- 
yard. They request me to pack it in this way, and won’t buy it otherwise. 
What can I do? I must sell my wine to live.”