Hints for the table: or, the economy of good living / [Anon].

  • John Timbs
Date:
1838
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hints for the table: or, the economy of good living / [Anon]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    greeted. He concludes, by rejoicing that notwithstanding all their luxury and knowledge of the arts, the ancients did not at any period excel us in wine making. Aristotle tells us, that in Arcadia the wines evaporated in leather vessels, till they were cut in pieces and dissolved in water for drinking: certes, these could not equal our Medoc, Volnay, or Ai, without a drop of water. According to Galienus, in Asia, wines were hung about the chimneys, till they had the hardness of salt, and were then dissolved in water to be drunk. Pliny, when he celebrates the wines of Italy, and the praises of Falernian, does not even tempt us; for it seems that the best wines in his time were but syrups, which were diluted with water for drinking. To conciliate a few of the varied opinions on the prece- dence of French wines, the same writer observes : “ Some persons prefer Burgundy; others contend for Bordeaux; a few pretend that Champagne, still, and of the lirst quality, unites the Burgundian flavour with the Bordeaux warmth; while the native of the borders of the Rhone asserts that the finest of all wines is Hermitage ! All are right, and each in its turn is best, especially if the maturation of the fruit has been successful: this is rare, for there is a greater dif- ference between the wine of one year and that of another, grown in the same vineyard, than between the wine of a celebrated district, and that procured from an obscure spot. Therefore, we should take the advice of Sterne, and, like the man at the fair, every man speak as he has found his market in it. According as we have drunk Sillery, La Romance, or Medoc, of memorable years, we ought to prefer the districts which produced them respectively; always with this prudent restriction—not to be so exclusive in our taste, as not to welcome others in the absence of better. We may admire Corneille, adore Voltaire and Racine; but still read with pleasure Parny, Boufflers, and Bertin; and even the sublime vis comica of Voltaire, does not produce a distaste for the prettiness and pleasantry ol Picard.
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