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^herry
BY
GEO.
C.
HOWELL
Of Samuel
Streit
&
Co.
New
York
City
Vinos
de
Jerez
(Xerez
old
style),
Jerez
wine,
pronounced
Hehreth,
was
found
impossible
to
the
early
English
tongue,
and
was
corrupted
to
Sherris,
afterwards
Sherry,
and
is
now
known
as
Sherry
wine.
Nowhere
else
ean
Sherry
be
produced
but
in
the
white
chalky
soil
of
the
hills,
in
a
triangular
district,
marked
by
the
cities
of
Jerez,
Port
St.
Mary's,
and
Sanlucar,
province
of
Cadiz,
South
Spain.
H
ère
it
lias
been
grown
for
centuries,
altkough,
as
happened
in
the
Bordeaux
and
in
other
districts,
the
vineyards
of
the
Jerez
district
were
almost
entirely
de-
stroyed
by
Phyloxera,
they
hâve
been
replanted
to
a
great
ex-
tent,
and
are
again
producing
exactly
the
saine
wine.
When
the
vin
es
were
destroyed,
the
vineyard
proprietors
were
confronted
with
a
very
grave
situation;
replanting
was
an
expensive
opéra-
tion
;
stocks
h
ad
to
be
secured
whose
roots
would
withstand
the
attack
of
Phyloxera,
and
grafts
from
the
old
vines
employed.
It
was
a
question
whether
the
sanie
wine
would
be
produced.
This
bas
been
settled
satisfactorily,
but
only a
portion
of
the
vineyards,
less
than
one-half,
have
been
replanted;
so
that,
where
the
hills
ten
years
ago
were
covered
with
a
mantle
of
green,
now
more
than
half
appears
glistening
white
in
the
hot
sunshine.
Some
thirty
years
ago
the
old
Spanish
family
of
Sancho,
proprietors
for
many
years
of
the
célébra
ted
Vineyard
El
Caribe,
which
produces
Amontillado
Don
Quixote,
sent
by
re-
quesl
to
California
cuttings
from
their
best
and
most
vigorous
vines;
thèse
were
grafted,
and
the
resuit
was
in
every
case
a
beautiful
vine,
but
in
no
case
was
the
wine
similar
in
any
way
to
Sherry.
This
experiment,
with
the
more
récent
one
of
re-
planting
in
Spain,
goes
to
prove
that
it
is
soil
and
climate
more
than
anything
else
which
is
responsible
for
the
peculiar
flavor
and
bouquet
of
wines
from
certain
districts,
which
makes
their
superiority
and
renown.
There
is
no
secret
process,
nor,
as
is
the
common
belief,
is
Sherry
made
in
a
différent
way
from
that
employed
in
making
other
wines.
After
the
grapes
are
i^ressed
at
the
vineyard
house
the
juice
(Mosto)
is
pumped
into
large
casks,
which
are