AMERICAN WINES FOR AMERICANS

M

An Account of Our Wine Industry, and the
Increased Use of Wines in This Country.

ANY of our readers will be greatly surprised and interested to learn of the extent of grape growing and wine making in the United States. A few plain figures may be quoted. Thus, there are about 350,000 acres of vineyards in this country. In the State of California alone there is a total of 230,000 acres planted to grapes. New York State comes next with about 60,000 acres of vineyards. The capital invested in our vineyards, wine cellars and plants, machinery, warehouses, and stocks of wines, etc., is put at over $100,000,000.

The great progress in our wine and champagne industry is another illustration of American enterprise. Most of this has taken place in the last twenty years. In that time the importations of foreign wines have stood still, while the output of American wines shows a steady increase of one million gallons a year, or an increase of 20,000,000 gallons of wine in the last twenty years. Thus, the official figures show that, twenty years ago, or in 1886, some 5,000,000 gallons of foreign wines were imported into this country. Just about the same quantity of wine was imported last year. On the other hand, the production of American wines was about 17,000.000 gallons in 1886, but in 1966 the output was about 40,000,000 gallons. In other words, eight times as much domestic wine is produced and consumed in this country as there is of foreign wines. Not only that, but our wine makers are reaching out and are now shipping their wines to South America, India, China, Japan, England, and even to France and Germany.

AMERICAN WINES THE BEST.

The superior qualities of American wines are becoming more and more appreciated, while, on account of their known purity, they are preferred to the imported. There is no doubt that our ordinary American wines are much better than the ordinary wines from Europe. Our methods of wine making, as the result of American skill, are a great improvement over those abroad, and our wine makers are muen cleaner, and take greater pains and care in making their wines than they do in Europe. We have in the United States the choicest varieties of grapes, and every kind of soil and climate, and therefore it is no wonder our wine makers can and do produce wines that equal and rival the celebrated vintages of the Old World. This has been recognized by the highest awards and prizes given to American wines at all of the recent expositions, even in Europe and in the United States.

WINES, HEALTH, AND TEMPERANCE.

It is interesting to note the increased use and consumption of light table wines in this country. This is due to the fact that many thousands of Americans are gradually acquiring the habit of using wine at their table; also our large foreign population, from winemaking countries, takes kindly to wine in preference to beer and whiskey. In the interests of temperance, it is to be hoped that the custom of drinking wines at meals will become more general in this country. The most temperate are those who use wine to help digest their food, and these people are usually free from indigestion, or dyspepsia, and other troubles due to over-eating and over-drinking. In France and Italy, the greatest wineproducing countries of the world, where every man, woman and child use wine as freely at their meals as Americans do tea or coffee, the people are sober, temperate, and industrious. Americans who have visited, or have lived in wine-drinking countries any length of time usually become wine drinkers themselves, and advocates of the use of wine at the table.

RECENT GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN WINE INDUSTRY.

It is less than fifty years ago since the wine trade assumed much importance in the United States. In the year 1860 there were about 2.000 acres of vineyards, and several wine cellars, in the Ohio River Valley near Cincinnati. The father, or founder, of the present wine industry was Hon. Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati, O., grandfather of It may Congressman Longworth, who recently married the daughter of President Roosevelt. be noted that it was after a visit to the Longworth wine cellar that the poet Longfellow wrote his well-known poem on "Catawba Wine."

From 1860 to 1870 the wine industry made great progress, especially in New York, Northern Ohio, Missouri, and in California. From 1880 to 1890 there was stil greater The census progress, and from 117 wineries in 1880 the number increased to 236 in 1890. of 1900 showed a total of 359 wine establishments for the United States.

According to the "American Wine Press," the average annual production of wine in the United States for the past few years has been about 35,000,000 gallons. The yield in 1904-1905 was as follows: Southern States, 1.500.000: New York, 5,000,000; Ohio, 3,500,000: Western States, 2,000,000; California, 25,000,000; other States, 1,000,000. a total of 38,000,000 gallons.

The principal grape and wine growing States in order from South to North, and from East to West, are: North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and California. A brief notice of the wines made and of the leading makers may be given.

The Sucuppernong grape is a popular variety all through the South, and excellent Scuppernong wine is made in large quantities by S. Bear & Co., of Wilmington, N. C.

Some of our best red and white grapes grow in Virginia, as, for example, the Norton's (Va.) Ives seedling, Delaware, Catawba, and other varieties. The leading wine makers are Garrett & Co., at Norfolk, and the Monticello Wine Co., Charlottesville, Va. The headquarters of the grape and wine industry in New Jersey are around Egg Har bor. The largest wine cellars are those owned by the H. T. Dewey & Son's Company. The earliest vineyards in New York State were planted in the Hudson River Valley at Washingtonville, Orange County. Here a French vintner, M. Jacques, set out vines back in 1839. A few of the old vines are still growing, but the business is now conducted by the Brotherhood Wine Company. The original stone cellar has been added to, until the plant is one of the largest in the country.

THE AMERICAN CHAMPAGNE INDUSTRY.

This branch of the wine business has made wonderful progress in recent years. The demand for American champagne is increasing year by year, and American champagnes are gradually and steadily taking the place of the imported kinds.

The pioneer house in the American champagne trade is the Pleasant Valley Wine Company, of Rheims, N. Y. The company was established back in 1860, and its well-known brand of "Great Western" champagne has the largest sale, and has taken the highest awards at the World's Fair, Chicago, 1893, and at the Paris Exposition, 1900.

The headquarters of the champagne industry are in the Lake Keuka region of New York, where about two-thirds of all the American champagne is now produced. The leading cellars in the district are those of the Urbana Wine Company, at Urbana, N. Y. The "Gold Seal" brand of champagne is one of the most popular, and has a very large sale. Among the other large and flourishing companies in the district about Hammondsport, N. Y., may be mentioned the Germania Wine Cellars, producers of the "Grand Imperial". champagne; the New Hammondsport Wine Company, the Roualet Wine Company, and the White Top Champagne Company. Among those producing dry and sweet wines, such as Claret, Catawba, Port, &c., are the Columbia Wine Company, the Taylor Winery, and the Vine City Wine Cellars, all at Hammondsport, N. Y., and Naples Valley Wine Cellars, at Naples, N. Y.

The Chautauqua district, in Western New York, with its 25,000 acres of vineyards, yields a large output, both of wines and grape juice. The largest cellars in the district are those of the Ryckman Wine Company, at Brockton, and the Randall Fruit Juice Company, at Ripley, N. Y. In the same belt are the Lake View Wine Co. and Grimshaw Bros., of Erie, Pa.

There is a large acreage of vineyards and a number of wine cellars in Northern Ohio. The M. Hommel Wine Company, of Sandusky, manufactures champagnes and still wines. The Lenk Wine Company, of Toledo, O., is well known for its Lake Erie Island wines.

CALIFORNIA VINEYARDS AND WINERIES.

California is the banner State of the Union in the area of its vineyards, in the number of its wineries, and in the output of wines and brandies. This great State, with its vast stretch of over 100 miles along the Pacific Coast, and with its great variety of soils and climate, is splendidly adapted to grape culture. In California all the well-known wine grapes from the Old World flourish and reach perfection.

The wine industry in California has had a steady, and at times a rapid, growth during the last ten years. In that time the output of wines and brandies has about doubled. Thus, the yield in 1894 was about 18,000,000 gallons of dry and sweet wines, and 1,754,000 gallons of brandy. In 1904 the production was about 30,000,000 gallons of wines, and 4,420,000 gallons of brandy. Naturally the handling and crushing of grapes in many places in California is carried on on a large scale. There are machines that stem and crush 300 tons of grapes a day, and the biggest tanks hold from 40,000 to 50,000 gallons of wine.

At the head of the industry is the California Wine Association, with the main offices at San Francisco. This concern alone owns and controls many thousands of acres of vineyards, and some twenty different wineries. Its largest vineyard in the Fresno County contains 2,500 acres. Its winery at St. Helena is the largest stone wine cellar in the world. The Association has branches in the principal cities, and agencies in London, Hamburg and Yokohama.

Another great organization is the Italian-Swiss Colony, of Asti, Cal., where it has about 3,000 acres. Here is the largest cement tank, which holds 500,000 gallons of wine. The Colony has large vineyards and vines at Madera and Lemoore. Among the other large houses with offices and storage vaults in San Francisco and wine cellars in the country are C. Schilling & Co., Lachman & Jacobi, the Gundlach-Bundschu_Company, the WetmoreBowen Company, Consolidated Cal. Vineyard Co., California Winery, at Sacramento; Sonoma Wine & Brandy Co., and M. A. Eiseman & Co.'s winery at Woodland, Cal., with the main offices and four stores in New York City.

In Southern California grow the grapes which give the rich and full-bodied sweet wines, such as Port, Muscatel, Malaga, and Sherry. At Los Angeles, which is the important shipping point, are the Italian Vineyard Company, Chas, Stern & Sons, and the Sierra Madre Vintage Company.

The largest and leading wine makers from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast are united into an organization called the "American Wine Growers' Association." This Association has done much to improve conditions in the wine trade, raise the standard of wines, and the members guarantee the purity of their products. The officers for the year 1906 are: President, Edward R. Emerson, Washingtonville, N. Y.; First Vice-President, Percy T. Morgan, San Francisco, Cal. Second Vice-President, F. N. Randall, Ripley, N. Y. Treasurer, James Neel, Urbana, N. Y.; Secretary, Lee J. Vance, New York. Office, No. 245 Broadway, New York City.

T

HE import duty on foreign Champagne is fifty per cent.-that leaves just half the price you pay to represent wine value. And because this duty, not the quality, makes the differ

ence.

Great

Dry

Western Extra
Champagne

at half the price of imported, is all value.
The age-nearly one hundred years-of the
Great Western Vineyards in New York State
has given to the soil the same elements
which have imparted to foreign Cham-
pagnes their peculiar qualities

Great Western is made under Old-
World methods.

It is absolutely pure and aged for five

years.

Brotherhood Wine Co.

SINCE

EDWARD R. EMERSON, President

Spring and Washington Sts., New York City

CE 1839 the Brotherhood has been selling native wines as American wines-no subterfuge, no equivocation—we raise the grapes and make the wine, we care for it and it reaches maturity in our cellars at Washingtonville, N. Y. No person handles our wines but ourselves and consequently we are in a position to guarantee every bottle.

Would you like to try some of the wine which leading wine experts have pronounced to be the equal, and often the superior, of any wine produced no matter where made? Write for particulars, addressing

BROTHERHOOD WINE COMPANY

Spring and Washington Sts.

NEW YORK CITY

All First-Class Wine Merchants, Clubs, Restaurants, Hotels, etc., sell the famous

Tipo Chianti

THE IDEAL TABLE WINE

San Francisco Office and Cellars

COR. BATTERY AND GREENWICH STS.

New York Office and Cellars

COR, W. 11th AND WASHINGTON STS.

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