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10
DRINKS
Wines from tlie perfect crops are sold as
vintage wines, and a great many are shipped to
England, where, at the age of from three to five
years, they are bottled.
Port greatly improves in bottles, and care
should bo taken to use only the very best corks.
Bottles should be hermetically sealed either
with wax or especially made caps. A well aged
bottle of Port should be carefully decanted be
fore serving, as a good deal of the tannin and
tartar settles during maturation.
Port wine of good quality and old, taken in
moderation, is the most wholesome wine pro
duced.
Port is especially agreeable when taken with
a light repast, biscuit or cake. Per those in
delicate health, a glass of Port taken with a
repast is a splendid invigorator, and will be
found very beneficial to those suffering from
anaemia.
Sherry
The district of Jerez, from which the well-
known Spanish wines derive their name of
"Sherry," is situated southwest from Jerez de
la Prontera to Port St. Mary and north to San
Liucar. The principal grapes grown in the
Sherry producing districts are thePedro Jimenez,
Palomino,Penimo, Marituo Castellano.
The vintage begins in early September. The
grapes are gathered into wooden troughs, and
crushed by the bare feet of the workmen, after
which they are pressed in an old-fashioned
wooden press, from which the juice is pumped
into large casks.
Previous to this operation, however, a small
quantity of sulphate of lime is sprinkled upon
the crushed grapes. This sulphate of lime is
produced by burning some native earth, found
near Jerez.
It is this process which gives the wine its