And lastly, it is defective
just as the ' arrihre bouquet ' is less pleasant, and the ' after-taste ' more
disagreeably prolonged.
" The difficulty of judging by tastes. — In this unfolding of tlie process
of wine-tasting I have endeavoured to be clear, and yet I feel I liave not
been sufficiently so. It will be impossible to judge by tastes until
science has laid down signs or words representative of their quality, of
their stamp, or of their harmonious relations. The science of tastes has
yet to be founded. Till then, chefs de cuisine and the clever caterers for
banquets will remain isolated geniuses or empirics ; while, as regards
wine-tasters and gastronomists, they approve or they criticise, but they
do not establish any rules. It would be a curious collection that would
comprise all the expressions used by wine-tasters, wine-merchants, com-
mercial travellers, amateurs (by far, indeed, the most numerous class), to
express the feelings they experience in tasting wines. I know an English
traveller who only liked a wine when it caused a ' peacock's tail in the
AUSTRALIAN WINE. 238
mouth ' ; and everybody knows the expression of the Auvergnian drink-
ing a glass of generous old -wine — ' It's a yard of velvet going down the
throat.'
" The physiological effect of wines. — The inhabitants of a beer-drinking
or spirit-drinking country will never possess the vivacity of wit and the
light-heartedness of those who live in a wine-producing land. It is not
by any means the alcohol in itself which constitutes the worth and good-
ness of wine, for beer may contain as much, and spirits certainly con-
tain more. To be more or less spirituous does not constitute good wine.
All natural wine is good, whether it be strong or weak in spirit, if it
keeps its organic life. It is good, too, if it reveals itself by a fresh odour,
by a ^ion of all its elements in a taste harmonious to the palate, by
being easily digested, and by causing greater activity of body and mind,
and a sensible augmentation of muscular force. Be the taste of the wine
fresh, sharp, or delicate ; be it soft, unctuous, or rich ; be it acid or
strong, the wine is good if it supports and increases the forces of body
and mind, without wearing out the digestive organs.
" Wine is good relatively and not absolutely. We ought to have before
everything good common wines. — A wine is good according to the use to
which we put it. Even an excellent liqueur or dessert wine is undesir-
able and out of place for ordinary drinking purposes or for nourishment.
We must distinguish between wines for ordinary use, those for side
dishes {entremets), and those for dessert. And these again should be
differentiated into wines for small, medium, or large glasses, relatively,
proportional to the quantity which we can or ought to drink. A good
cake is always good if we only eat a little at a time, and seldom take it ;
but bread is infinitely better and preferred by everybody to eating cake
always. It is vastly more important to have good ordinary wines than
to have good vins d'enfremets or good liqueur wines. And, indeed, this
very matter affects the total consumption within and out of France, and
the interests of producer and consumer, as well as the interests of public
hygiene.
Page 157
Presented as published in 1893. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
And lastly, it is defective just as the ' arrière bouquet ' is less pleasant, and the ' after-taste ' more disagreeably prolonged.
" The difficulty of judging by tastes. — In this unfolding of tlie process of wine-tasting I have endeavoured to be clear, and yet I feel I have not been sufficiently so. It will be impossible to judge by tastes until science has laid down signs or words representative of their quality, of their stamp, or of their harmonious relations. The science of tastes has yet to be founded. Till then, chefs de cuisine and the clever caterers for banquets will remain isolated geniuses or empirics ; while, as regards wine-tasters and gastronomists, they approve or they criticise, but they do not establish any rules. It would be a curious collection that would comprise all the expressions used by wine-tasters, wine-merchants, commercial travellers, amateurs (by far, indeed, the most numerous class), to express the feelings they experience in tasting wines. I know an English traveller who only liked a wine when it caused a ' peacock's tail in the
mouth ' ; and everybody knows the expression of the Auvergnian drinking a glass of generous old -wine — ' It's a yard of velvet going down the throat.'
" The physiological effect of wines. — The inhabitants of a beer-drinking or spirit-drinking country will never possess the vivacity of wit and the light-heartedness of those who live in a wine-producing land. It is not by any means the alcohol in itself which constitutes the worth and goodness of wine, for beer may contain as much, and spirits certainly contain more. To be more or less spirituous does not constitute good wine. All natural wine is good, whether it be strong or weak in spirit, if it keeps its organic life. It is good, too, if it reveals itself by a fresh odour, by a fusion of all its elements in a taste harmonious to the palate, by being easily digested, and by causing greater activity of body and mind, and a sensible augmentation of muscular force. Be the taste of the wine fresh, sharp, or delicate ; be it soft, unctuous, or rich ; be it acid or strong, the wine is good if it supports and increases the forces of body and mind, without wearing out the digestive organs.
" Wine is good relatively and not absolutely. We ought to have before everything good common wines. — A wine is good according to the use to which we put it. Even an excellent liqueur or dessert wine is undesirable and out of place for ordinary drinking purposes or for nourishment. We must distinguish between wines for ordinary use, those for side dishes {entremets), and those for dessert. And these again should be differentiated into wines for small, medium, or large glasses, relatively, proportional to the quantity which we can or ought to drink. A good cake is always good if we only eat a little at a time, and seldom take it ; but bread is infinitely better and preferred by everybody to eating cake always. It is vastly more important to have good ordinary wines than to have good vins d'enfremets or good liqueur wines. And, indeed, this very matter affects the total consumption within and out of France, and the interests of producer and consumer, as well as the interests of public hygiene.