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What Shall We Drink?
the rare exceptions noted)be served atroom temperaturesfor
the fullest enjoyment of their bouquet and enticing flavors.
The sparkhng red wines,like their stiU dry white orspark
ling white brothers, conversely must be chilled exactly as
anything else effervescent must be chilled to be palatable—
for instance, beer, ginger ale, vichy, seltzer or carbonated
water. If you like vichy approximately lukewarm—faugh!—
drink your champagne that way, too. Your taste must be
abnormaland you should consulta physician.
Do not be dismayed when you read aU the trade names of
the various vintages—Chateau This and Chateau That,
Saint This and Saint That. Be guided in your selection by
the advice of a reliable dealer. Don't wince too much at price
for if the beverage be royal it cannot be cheap,that is, if you
seek the imported brands.
If your purse is notso bulging asin more prosperous years,
turn toward the California wines and you will not be disap
pointed, whether they be red or white,sparkling or still, dry
or sweet. Or choose an Ohio,New York or New Jersey wine.
Red wines, at their best, should be from eight to twelve
years old—but who expects to get them at low prices? It is
impossible. One may buy with some certainty of obtaining
really aged and noble wines only by patronizing the highest
class and, consequently, the most expensive establishments.
Otherwise one is likely to buy palmed off stuff that, while
palatable, might have no virtues comparable with a one,two
or three year old American wine.
I have heard it charged, although I cannot prove it, that
many French wineries are importing American vintages to
mix with their native non-vintage wines and then are export
ing them again to America to be sold as Chateau This and
Chateau That. WeU,if this be true,it wouldn't be surprising
thatsuch skillful vintners asthe French have learned that our
grapes have a richer flavor, flner bouquet and more splendid
"body"than any grown in Medoc,Burgundy,Bordeaux,the
Gironde district, the Rhone,or even in Anjou,Touraine and
the Loire country.
It is, rather,to their credit and our own discredit that our
wines return to us as imports from France, Our grapes are,