1876 Facts About Sherry by Henry Vizetelly

Jerez Vineyards North of the Town.

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fluities in these parts. When dinner vfas over the men hetook themselves to the stone benches beneath the arcade of the casa and silently smoked their cigarettes. The Andalusians enjoy the reputation of being light-hearted and gay,but in the vine yards their light-heartedness seems to subside into taciturnity, and their gaiety tp partake of the lugubrious. One of the most important viticultural districts around Jerez, both as regards the quality of its products and the extent of its vineyard area, is that of Macharnudo; and the renowned Majuelo,belonging to Senor Domecq,is at once the largest and most celebrated vineyard of the locality."Majuelo" really means a young plantation of vines; and this fine old vineyard,planted in part upwards of eighty years ago by the founder of the oldest existing firm in Jerez, stiU retains its juvenile name. It lies north-west of the town; and to reach it we drive along the usual sandy road,past the customary olive-grove in the outskirts, between the interminable prickly pear hedges, and through vast Tininclosed fields of stubble, meeting seemingly the same lumber ing buUock-carts with their jolting butts of mosto, the same jaunty red-sashed caballeros astride their ambling mules, the same patiently-enduring donkeys,and the same half-fed herdsof goats and oxen. We turned out of our way to visit the Cerro de Santiago, and took the opportunity of inspecting the vineyard belonging to Senor Jose Pemartin,who has a fine house with a tower perched uponthesummit ofthe hill. During the troublous times of 1871 a Jerez mob collected here and sent out scouts to Trebujena and elsewhere for reinforcements before making a contemplated attack upon the sherry capital. To pass away the time they broke into the wine-cellars and swallowed their contents; then,after setting fire to the house,valiantly decamped. The surrounding vineyard is some seventy acres in extent,and the vines are, as usual, mainly ofthe palomino and the Pedro Jimenez varieties. As it was late in the season when we made our visit we found the vintage just concluded,and the mosto stored according to the practice prevailing at this vineyard in the bodega belonging to the casa,in preference to exposing it to