" And now as regards the order in which wines should be served during dinner.
I woiild recommend all bon vivants desirous of testing and thoroughly enjoying a
variety of wines to bear in mind that they should be drank in the following order,
viz. : — When it happens that oysters preface the dinner, a glass of Chablis or Sau-
terne is their most proper accompaniment ; genuine old Madeira, or East India
sherry, or Amontillado, proves a welcome stomachic after soup of any kind, not
excepting turtle, after eating which, as you value your health, avoid all kinds of
punch, especially Roman punch. During the service of fish, cause any of the fol-
lowing to be handed round to your guests : Amontillado, Hock, Tisane, Champagiae,
Pouilly, Meursault, Sauterne, Arbois, Vin de Grave, Montrachet, Chateau-Grill6,
Barsac, and generally all kinds of dry white wines." Having enumerated a variety of
difierent kinds of Bordeaux, Bui-gundy, Champagne, and other wines, Mr. Franca-
telli proceeds to say, " A question of the highest importance, but into which I may
but briefly enter, is to determine to which of all these wines a decided preference
should be given, both with regard to taste and also in respect to their influence
on the health of difierent temperaments. It is easier to settle the latter part of the
question than the former, inasmuch as it is difficult, not to say impossible, to lay
down rules for the guidance of the palate. Thus there are some who delight in the
perfumed yet austere bouquet of Bordeaux, while others prefer the delicate fragrance
of Champagne ; some give the palm to the generous and mirth-inspiring powers of
Burgundy ; while the million deem that Madeii-a (when genuine), port, and sherry,
from what are termed their generous natures, ignoring the plentiful admixture of
alcohol, are the only wines worthy of notice. All these tastes are no doubt well
enough founded on good and sufficient reasons, and may prove safe indicators for the
preservation of health ; for instance, a person of sanguine temperament feels a neces-
sity for a light sapid wine, such as genuine Champagne and Rhenish wines, while
the phlegmatic seek those of a more spiiituous, generous nature — Burgundy, port,
PRINCIPLES WINE. Ixxxi
Madeira, or sherry. Those who are a prey to spleen, lowness of spirits, and melancholy,
are prone to select, as a sure and pleasant remedy for their frightful ailments, the
wines of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Roussillon, and Burgundy. The bilious, who gene-
rally are blessed with a good appetite, provided always that they do not smoke,
require a generous wine which, while capable of acting both as an asti'ingent and a
dissolvent of the bile, is of facile digestion ; such are the properties of all first-class
Boi'deaux wines. Bordeaux is said to be a cold wine ; this false notion arises out of
mere prejudice — nothing can be more contrary to truth. This health-restoring wine,
as I have already stated, is easy of digestion, and possesses moreover the advantage
of being very considerably less inebriating than any other first-class wine. In short,
Burgundy is exciting, Champagne is captious, Roussillon restorative, and Bordeaux
stomachic.
Page 98
Presented as published in 1892. 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 now as regards the order in which wines should be served during dinner. I woiild recommend all bon vivants desirous of testing and thoroughly enjoying a variety of wines to bear in mind that they should be drank in the following order, viz. : — When it happens that oysters preface the dinner, a glass of Chablis or Sauterne is their most proper accompaniment ; genuine old Madeira, or East India sherry, or Amontillado, proves a welcome stomachic after soup of any kind, not excepting turtle, after eating which, as you value your health, avoid all kinds of punch, especially Roman punch. During the service of fish, cause any of the following to be handed round to your guests : Amontillado, Hock, Tisane, Champagiae, Pouilly, Meursault, Sauterne, Arbois, Vin de Grave, Montrachet, Château-Grillé, Barsac, and generally all kinds of dry white wines." Having enumerated a variety of different kinds of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, and other wines, Mr. Francatelli proceeds to say, " A question of the highest importance, but into which I may but briefly enter, is to determine to which of all these wines a decided preference should be given, both with regard to taste and also in respect to their influence on the health of difierent temperaments. It is easier to settle the latter part of the question than the former, inasmuch as it is difficult, not to say impossible, to lay down rules for the guidance of the palate. Thus there are some who delight in the perfumed yet austere bouquet of Bordeaux, while others prefer the delicate fragrance of Champagne ; some give the palm to the generous and mirth-inspiring powers of Burgundy ; while the million deem that Madeira (when genuine), port, and sherry, from what are termed their generous natures, ignoring the plentiful admixture of alcohol, are the only wines worthy of notice. All these tastes are no doubt well enough founded on good and sufficient reasons, and may prove safe indicators for the preservation of health ; for instance, a person of sanguine temperament feels a necessity for a light sapid wine, such as genuine Champagne and Rhenish wines, while the phlegmatic seek those of a more spirituous, generous nature — Burgundy, port,
PRINCIPLES WINE. Ixxxi
Madeira, or sherry. Those who are a prey to spleen, lowness of spirits, and melancholy, are prone to select, as a sure and pleasant remedy for their frightful ailments, the wines of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Roussillon, and Burgundy. The bilious, who generally are blessed with a good appetite, provided always that they do not smoke, require a generous wine which, while capable of acting both as an astringent and a dissolvent of the bile, is of facile digestion ; such are the properties of all first-class Boi'deaux wines. Bordeaux is said to be a cold wine ; this false notion arises out of mere prejudice — nothing can be more contrary to truth. This health-restoring wine, as I have already stated, is easy of digestion, and possesses moreover the advantage of being very considerably less inebriating than any other first-class wine. In short, Burgundy is exciting, Champagne is captious, Roussillon restorative, and Bordeaux stomachic.