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Port.
23
hope
to
increase
the
quantity
of true
Burgundy,
of
Clos
Vougeot
or
Romanee
Conti,
by
turning
the
inferior
Yins
du
Pays
into
a
vat
containing
the
pre-
cious
wine
of
the
province.
\
In
the
year
1703,
a
time
when
an angry
feeling
of
hostility
existed
towards
France,
a
commercial
treaty
was
made
between
England
and
Portugal,
which
became
known
by
the
name
of
the
ambas-
sador
who
negotiated
it
as
the
Methuen
treaty.
This
compact
gave
the
wines
of
Portugal
a
decided
advantage
in
the
English
markets,
much
to
the
dislike
of
good
judges
of
the
period,
whose
fa-
vourite
drink
was
choice
Claret,
with
sometimes
a
dash
of
Port
in
it.
From
that
date
till
the
present
time
the use
of
Port
wine
has
been
adopted
almost
as
our
national
beverage,
so
that
English
dinners
were
for
a
century
and
a
half
considered
incomplete
without
that
orthodox
wine.
The
wines
of
Oporto,
abounding
as
they
do
in
an
astringent
principle,
ai’e
very
often
used
medi-
cinally.
Professor
Brande
says,
that
“good
Port
wine
duly
kept
is,
when
taken
in
moderation,
one
of
the
most
wholesome
of
vinous
liquors
:
it
strength-
ens
the
muscular
system,
assists
the
digestive
powers,
accelerates
the
circulation,
exhilarates
the
spirits,
and
sharpens
the
mental
energies
;
but,
when