Rhine wine

“ The first cup of wine was solemnly offered to the emperor, a golden wine in a golden goblet, a wine worthy of a king.
Charles took a long deep draught, and with brightened eyes praised the delicious drink. It became his favourite wine, this fiery "Johannisberger," making him young again in his old age. What Charlemagne then felt when he drank this wine, every one who raises the sparkling grapejuice to his lips is keenly sensible of also. Wherever the German tongue is heard, and even further [Pg 42] still, the king of all Rhine wines is known and sought after, Johannisberger wine. ”

“ The wine-producing area of Germany is limited chiefly to those parts watered by the Rhine and its tributaries, the Moselle, the Nahe, the Neckar, the Main, and several smaller streams, so that the terms Rhine wine and German wine may be considered almost synonymous. Bonn, in Rhenish Prussia, and Freiburg, in Baden, mark approximately the northern and southern limits of the grape culture. Both red and white wines are produced, but those known to commerce are, with a few exceptions, white. The red varieties are mostly of inferior quality and are consumed within the country. ”

“ The red wines are sent to Bordeaux and Burgundy, to give strength and quality to the French clarets, as they are very useful for blending. The dry, white wine is rather stronger and fuller than that of France or Germany, and is much used to give additional value to the thinner qualities of Rhine wine. ”

“ In the Apostle cellar all the wine is Hochheimer or Rüdesheimer, and the names are still graven on each cask, and 'Herr Judas, 1729,' is said to contain the best wine. But from a somewhat limited experience it is difficult cordially to endorse the reported opinion of the late King Ludwig of Bavaria, that the finest Rhine wines would keep for ever. Let the man who wishes to know what wine can be, by all means go daily for a few weeks to the Rathskeller in Bremen. ”

“ Almost all the Moselle wine is white, and has a scented flavour and exquisite bouquet; it is thought by many superior to Rhine wine, but it will not bear transport so well.
Even the most ordinary table-wine has generally a sparkling freshness, most grateful to the drinker, as it assuages his thirst much better than other wines; but what we term “sparkling Moselle” is only to be obtained in Trèves or Coblence, and even then it is not like our idea of that wine: therefore it must, like port and sherry, be prepared expressly to suit English palates. ”

“ From Rüdesheim to Wiesbaden the railway follows the Rhine as far as Castel, at the mouth of the Main, opposite Mayence. A short distance above Rüdesheim the Taunus bluffs sweep back from the river, and the garden of the Rhine valley opens out right and left. This is the heart of the wine-growing region, and within it lie many of the most celebrated vineyards in the world. The valley is dotted with villages whose names are famous in the Rhine-wine nomenclature, and upon a bold promontory, commanding all, the queen of the German vintage rules from the Johannisberg Schloss. ”

“ Deinhard draw their supplies of wine from white grapes, for conversion into sparkling wines, from the Rhine, the Main, the Moselle, and the Palatinate, giving preference to the produce of the riesling grape, as to this the wine is indebted for its natural bouquet. The proportion of wine from black grapes, mingled with the other wines, is vintaged by themselves in the Ahr valley and at Ingelheim on the Rhine. The Ahr, in summer a rippling streamlet and in winter a rushing torrent, falls into the Rhine about twenty miles below Coblenz. ”

“ These vineyards, formerly the property of the dukes of Nassau, now belong to the emperor of Germany.—Entering the Rheingau proper, we find a famous series of vineyards extending from the village of Elfeld to Asmannshausen. In the centre of the district, on a gentle eminence half a mile from the Rhine, lies the estate, about 46 acres in extent, of Schloss Johannisberg, a name long associated with the choicest products of the Rhenish vines. It yields a white wine, which in respect to fulness of taste and richness of bouquet has been called “the finest and most powerful drink on earth.” ”

“ The Rhine boats have a very good assortment of wines on board, but it is wise to run the finger a little way down the list before ordering your bottle, for the very cheapest wines on the Rhine are, as is usual in all countries, of the thinnest description. Most of the British doctors on the Continent make the greater part of their living by attending their fellow-countrymen who drink everywhere anything that is given them free, and who hold that the vin du pays must be drinkable because it is the wine of the country. ”

“ Thus the custom grew of crowning the wine-jars with ivy, a custom which Matthias Claudius, in his famous Rhine wine song, has described thus:—
“Crown with ivy the good full jars
And drink them to the lees.
In all of Europe, my jolly tars,
You’ll find no wines like these.” Now, whether a good wine really needed the recommendation of the wreath was a question on which experts were not agreed. In general, the ancients leaned to the opinion that “good wine needs no bush”—“Vino vendibili suspensa hedera non opus est.” ”

“ You miss trees and a covering vegetation, and are not enamoured of the patches of green vines on wall-supported terraces, looking from the river like hills of beans or potatoes. And, if you try the Rhine wine on the steamers, you will wholly lose your faith in the vintage. We decided that the wine on our boat was manufactured in the boiler.
There is a mercenary atmosphere about hotels and steamers on the Rhine, a watering-place, show sort of feeling, that detracts very much from one's enjoyment. The old habit of the robber barons of levying toll on all who sail up and down has not been lost. ”

“ Landscapes of greater beauty, joined to the luxuriance of fruitful vine culture, can nowhere be seen.
The glorious season of fruition—the Vintage—is the time for the visit of a wine-lover to the Rhine. It does not take place until the grapes are perfectly mature; they are then carefully gathered, and the bad fruit picked out, and, with the stalks, put aside. The wine of the pressing is separated, most vom ersten druck, vom nachdruck. The more celebrated of the wines are all fermented in casks ”

“ On the other hand, the white grapes used in the making of German sparkling wine, and which are almost exclusively of the far-famed riesling species, are treated precisely as when making still Rhine wine—that is, they are crushed in the vineyards by means of grape-mills, and afterwards pressed in the usual way. The must for sparkling wines, whether from black or white grapes, is run at once into casks to ferment. If possible it is conveyed in large casks known as stucks—immediately after the pressing, and before fermentation begins—to the manufacturer’s cellars in town ”

“ The latter is produced from the black Burgundy vine, the Pineau. In the Rheingau the predominant vine is the Riessling. This plant appears to be indigenous to the Rhine valley, and the finest wines are made exclusively from its grapes. In the hope of reproducing the characteristic of the Rhine wines, the Riessling has been planted in many young wine-producing countries, such as Australia, California and the Cape, and not entirely without success. It thrives best on rocky mountain slopes freely exposed to the sun, and requires a relatively high temperature to reach perfect maturity. ”

“ Owing to this increased demand, and the deficient supply of suitable Rhine wines at a moderate price, the manufacturers of sparkling hocks are reduced to buy much of their raw wine at a distance, and are to-day large purchasers of the growths of the Palatinate, which are less delicate than the vintages of the Rheingau, besides being deficient in that fine aroma which distinguishes genuine hock. A leading manufacturer computes that between four-and-a-half and five million bottles of sparkling wine are made annually in Germany, where there are no fewer than fifty manufacturing establishments. ”

“ Among the legends of the Rhine connected with my present subject of wine, there is one which is worth mentioning. The great Karloman, who loved good liquor, bequeathed to the brotherhood of Monks at Rheinfeld a marvellous and covetable butt of wine, which had not only the merit of being of first-rate quality, but which [Pg 334] never decreased, though it was continually running at the spigot! This wine was for the use of the brethren; but the good Emperor also left a sum of money which he desired should be spent in treating visitors to the monastery with good Rhenish wine. ”

“ The serving of wine at luncheon is rapidly going out of fashion. A hostess belonging to the older generation sometimes offers her guests Rhine wine—a light, white wine—or, if there are men present, sherry or claret. In this case a wine-glass is set beside the water-goblet at the right of each place, and a decanter is placed on the sideboard. Wine-cup, fruit-punch, and similar beverages are served from a glass pitcher, lemonade cups or small tumblers being substituted for wine-glasses. ”

“ And again the crystal lips of the goblets kissed each other, with a musical chime, as of evening bells at vintage-time from the villages on the Rhine. Of a truth, I do not much wonder, that the Germanpoet Schiller loved to write by candle-light with a bottle of Rhine-wine upon the table. Nor do I wonder at the worthy schoolmaster Roger Ascham, when he says, in one of his letters from Germany to Mr. John Raven, of John's College; `Tell Mr. Maden I will drink with him now a carouse of wine; and would to God he had a vessel of Rhenish wine ”

“ The wines of the Rhine are grown in the most northerly latitude at which viticulture is successful in Europe, and consequently, when the seasons are not too unpropitious, they display the hardiness and distinction characteristic of northern products. ”

“ Subsequently, towards 1830, a former chef de cave at Madame Clicquot’s establishment at Reims came to Herr Lauteren, of Mayence, and suggested to him to engage in the manufacture of sparkling Rhine wines, a proposal which the latter soon afterwards profited by; and eight years later Herr Rambs, of Trèves, vineyard proprietor and wine-merchant, aided by a French cellarman, made the earliest attempt to manufacture sparkling moselles, their first trials in this direction resulting in a breakage amounting to fifty per cent. ”

“ The ordinary qualities, like those of the Johannisberg wine, are sold annually by auction.—Scarcely inferior to these wines are those produced on the Rüdesheim-Berg and Hinterhaus, which have a southerly exposure, and lie so near the Rhine that the reflection of the sun from the surface of the river greatly facilitates the ripening of the grape. The vineyards, comprising an area of about 300 acres, divided among a number of proprietors, are terraced from the base to the summit of the hills, and yield wines of considerable body and fine bouquet, the best qualities of which are high-priced. ”

“ My grandfather writes to my father on 3 December 1857:—“A glass of good mellow full-bodied cider is far superior to your Rhenish wine: there is no body in that.” And if Devonshire{41} cider is to be compared with any class of wines, the Rhine wines certainly come closest to it. He thought the very best cider was wasted on the country-folk, and he writes on 18 September 1868:—“They do not much care what it is, so as its cider.” ”

“ A genuine wine is distinguished by great richness, a lively purple colour, and a special bouquet; and it becomes, by these united qualities, the best wine of this region.
Turning to the German wines, those of the Rheingau must claim our attention. This district borders on the Rhine, and it is said that the river acts as a mirror, in reflecting the rays of the sun towards the vineyards. The Rheingau must not be confused with the district of Hochheim, which is situated on the Maine. ”

“ But the man who is hoping to lengthen his days, Should list to my counselling—‘Accipe Hoc! Accipe Hoc,’ &c. IV. “Away with your brewing, away with your ale! (Though such a proposal your feelings may shock;) For all your malt liquors infallibly pale Before my Rhine vintage, so—‘Accipe Hoc! Accipe Hoc,’ &c. V. “‘Tis wine that ne’er robs man of senses or wit, But hearts can make lively and tongues can unlock; Makes dull men for once for good company fit, And bright ones still brighter, so—‘Accipe Hoc! ”

“ Our cellars are full of rich red wine, not of our vintage, but for our drinking. Here in our court bubbles forever this good spring, excellent to drink when wine gives out, and medicinal in the morning when too much wine has been taken in.” He waved his hand towards the overflowing well, charged with carbonic acid gas, one of the many that have since made this region of the Rhine famous. “Now I ask you, can this Castle of Grunewald ever be taken—excommunication or no excommunication?” ”

“ The evening usually began with Bavarian beer, sonatas, and comic lectures; then Rhine wines began to appear, and of course these brought with them songs of love, and friendship, and patriotism; occasionally, when the older and wiser folk had gone, sweet champagne and a wild frolic prevailed until daylight came to drive the revellers out. ”

“ While at work he takes a pinch of snuff from time to time, which, he asserts, has a beneficial action on the eyes that are taxed by incessant study and composition. When he treats of scientific topics, a few glasses of Rhine wine tend to induce the proper mood; he finds the "Johannisgarten," a wine grown at Musbach in the palatinate of the Rhine, especially valuable for this purpose. He composes humorous work most easily after a very simple breakfast, consisting of tea and bread. He is in the habit of often changing the kinds of paper, pens, pen-holders, ink, and even ink-stands, which he uses ”