RITUAL OF WINE

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 20 June 1931, Page 9

RITUAL OF WINE

Rich Vintages Rarer

-MAN who never drinks :i glass of good wine

misses a lot in life; hut il must, be wine, ami not spirits, writes “An Edwardian” in the ‘‘Daily Telegraph.” 1 met Sir St. Clair Thomson in Bond Street the other day, and happened to mention that 1 had just been buying some wine. He agreed with me when I suggested how difficult it was to find really good wine in these days as compared with thirty years ago. I. remember,, as a young man of eighteen, being shown Mr Drummond's wine-cellar at Cadland. his beautiful place in Hampshire. He admitted that he made a habit of collecting wines as some men collect prints, and that his father had done so before him. This was- the first time I ever tasted '4B port and '74 Chateau Lafitte, not to mention the best champagnes of the 'Bo's. lake most connoisseurs of wine at that time, smoking was anathema to him; it was rather a case of “This is Liberty Hall; you may smoke in the garden. A billiard room without a fire, or an unheated conservatory, were the only places allotted to those who indulged in what he considered a pernicious habit. The quality of recent shippings of vintage port does not seem to have deteriorated: but iu mv opinion the same cannot be said of champagnes., “Most of the stuff you buy nowadays, "niy dear fellow.” said a man to me the other day,,.“is nothing but gas and gooseberry..’ ’ At the 'Bachelors' Club, the first to which 1, belonged, they had some wonderful ISBO Dagonet, the like of which I have never drunk before or since. When I was staying at Taplow before the war, .1887 Perrier Jouet Avas still very much in evidence, but, with feAv exceptions, landed proprietors Irving in their own houses in these hard times have not been able to replenish their cellars as their forefathers were accustomed to. Many of the best-known London clubs used to have wonderful collars of wine; a few still have, but the cost of running a club has so greatly increased that it has been almost impossible for the various committees to lay down hoavv stocks.

There is no doubt that the habit of smoking immediately after a meal has entirely killed the drinking of clarets and burgundies. It is a misdemeanour to smoke when vintage port is being handed round, but it is a positive crime to do so when drinking the fine old red wines of Prance. The youth of the present day have, therefore, with few exceptions, nc\ r er learned to appreciate these. The late Marquis de Soveral turned up his nose at vintage port, which, he declared, was never drunk in his own country, but there was no greater connoisseur than he of a fine wood port.

I have moved about a good deal in France, and have often thought it a pity that some of the delicious vins du pays will not travel. Anyone Avho has “done' 'the chateaux of the Loire must have learned to appreciate Vouvray and the Yin Hose. Once at an hotel in Blois, in the late summer, I had a bottle of Vouvray which was 1 supposed to be still, but was slightly fermented. It Avas excellent, and I asked the wine waiter how he explained the fizzy part. He was a man of the country, and he assured me that certain still wines, on the anniversary of their vintage, slightly ferment!