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What Shall We Drink?
These should be almost axiomatic guides. For instance,
one does not (or should not) drink as large a quantity of
sweet wines as the "dry" wines; hence the smaller glasses.
Too much sweetness cloys in using wines as well as in eating
candies, and one is hkely to suffer a "sour"feehng afterward.
The "dry" wines, to the contrary, are more easily as
similated and hence predominate at the dinner, except for
the sparkhng types, which may be used almost abundantly
to start the merriment and conviviahty with which they al
ways are associated.
In serving cordials and liqueurs this rule of small quantity
is virtually dictated by the size of the cordial glass. Never
should more than an ounce and a half of these beverages be
served at the meal. Cordials really take the place of sweets
and should be sipped with exquisite relish, hardly more than
moistening the hps at each raising of the glass.
After the dinner and the cordials, there is no reason why
sweet wines should not be imbibed, if one Hkes them better
than the "dry," but the general preference seems to be for
the effervescent and joy-making Champagnes and sparkhng
Burgundies.
If I may have seemed harsh toward colored bowls in
wine glassware, it is because that type is a barbaric result
and product of the Prohibition era, when good taste went to
smash and monstrosities, both in drinks and in eating habits,
thrust themselves upon the social amenities. They often
disguised evil beverages which came from the darloiess of
bootlegging and hi-jackery.
Of course, they are dehghtfully informal and appear
pretty before being filled with wine. After ah, one may do
anyt^ng one chooses at informal affairs. But for the formal
meal, in the name of all that culture means, avoid colored
bowls as you would the plagueI