Wine & Spirits - An Epicurean Lifestyle

Wine & Spirits

The art of Brewing, or extracting fermentable liquors from grain, is thought much more modern than that of profiling and preparing wine from the grape; as this latter is reputed less ancient than it really is. Liqueurs and Cordials are made from wines distilled or blended with various herbs and plants.

The spirit of wine, or burnt wine, is extracted by distilling any of the fermented liquors, such as wine, beer, wash, etc. According to all the historians, fermented liquors were known in the earliest ages; long before they knew the art of extracting from them the spirit which they contain.

Relics of the Boar's Head

Illustrated History of Ancient Wines

So many different causes influence this that hardly two casks of the same sort of wine are precisely equal in all their points. If the wines are filled in barrels or bottles after the must has gone through the first fermentation, and before all the sugar has been dissolved by the after fermentation and the yeast secreted, they will continue to ferment more or less vigorously, and to develop a great deal of carbonic acid, which may burst the casks if quite filled.

 

Barbarossa Bottled Beer © 1902

Beer as a Companion of Civilization - 1907

Beer follows the flag of civilization. It is drunk to the greatest extent per capita in thickly populated, highly civilized communities, and to the smallest extent per capita in sparsely settled, uncultured communities.

 

The Smaller Wine Press

Bordeaux Wine District

The wines bearing the general appellation of Bordeaux wines, because they grow in the country surrounding this celebrated emporium, and are shipped to all parts of the world from its harbor.

 

Château at Vosne

Burgundy Wine District

Burgundy wine was in ancient times considered the noblest and most generous of wines, except the Tokay; the wines from this district were often presented by the Princes of Burgundy to kings, princes, and chief nobles of foreign countries, as a great favor.

 

Cocktail Shakers

Cocktails and How to Mix Them

When a party of gentlemen comes into the place of business, and wine is called for, place the glasses before them, and as a matter of politeness first pour a few drops into the glass of the gentlemen who called for the wine, then fill the glasses of those he invited before filling up his own glass.

 

Basket for Serving Wines

Decanting, Warming, Cooling, and Serving Wines - 1902

In the drinking habits of the old days, the care of the wine and liquors and the constant and gross serving of them might have kept a man busy in a ménage of not great size.

 

Plate 1: Pony Brandy, Whiskey, Pousse Café, Cut Cordial, Absinthe Drip, Cordial

Drink Glass Etiquette - 1913

The careful selection of the proper glass to use in serving a beverage is of no small importance. Good judgment and refined taste in observing the rules of etiquette in this respect on all occasions add a finishing touch to the enjoyment of the drink.

 

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Lable in 1889

Present Day Label of La Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin

“La Veuve Clicquot” Champagne

The famous champagne of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, which is so much esteemed in Russia, and where it has been so profusely drank for forty or fifty years past, that its manufacturers — the noted Widow, Werlé the Mayor of Rheims, and the "Baron de Sachs,"  have made such fortunes as to rank them among the millionaires of Europe, owes its success to chance.

 

James E. Pepper: The National Whisky © 1913

Malt Whisky and “Silent Spirit” - 1900

It derives its name from the fact that it is mere alcohol and water, having no distinctive qualities, telling no tales to nose or palate of the source from which it was obtained, and hence,

 

A Romance in Champagne - 1894

A Romance in Champagne - 1894

VITICULTURE is one of the chief industries pursued in France.  In 1893, the total yield of wine in the seventy-six departments of France was 1,125,000,000 gallons, or nearly twice the quantity given in the vintage of the previous year and the average annual yield for fifteen years past, the increase being general over all the vineyards of the country.

 

Champagne Cocktails

The Proper Style in Opening and Serving Champagnes

In serving champagne, the bartender, after being informed what brand the customer requires, takes the bottle from the ice, twists or cuts off the wire, and then cuts the string by which the cork is held in place, just below the neck of the bottle.

 

Service of Wines and Cordials

Service of Wines and Cordials

The steward must inform and specify to the butler the wine to be served at each separate course. However important the dinner may be, decanters of ordinary red and white wine must be placed on the table.  The selection of the finer wines is the host's duty; he made his choice when ordering the bill of fare.

Barton & Guestier Clarets and Sauternes from the Region of Bordeaux, France

Therapeutic Values of Wines

High medical authorities and scientists throughout the world acknowledge that wine spirits and malt liquors used as a beverage are very beneficial to health when taken in moderation and are absolutely necessary in many cases of fever, nervous exhaustion, debility and convalescence.

 

Vintage Cocktail Trivia - 1922

Vintage Cocktail Trivia

Do you know that practically every country where the climate allows grapes to grow produces wine? That the red color in the wines is due to a pigment contained in the skins of the grapes, which are not removed during the fermentation of the must? These and many more facts are contained in this interesting read from 1922.

 

Bartender at Work

Vintage Mixed Drinks - 1913

While there is a vast volume of recipes for making mixed drinks or cocktails which have been invented, a large percentage of these is generally unknown by the public.  We have include vintage recipes for more of the standard mixed drinks that were most frequently ordered by patrons.

 

Ninth Infantry Punch Bowl – Value $15,000 in 1909

Vintage Punches and Lemonades 1913

To make punch of any sort in perfection, the ambrosial essence of the lemon must be extracted by rubbing lumps of sugar on the rind, which breaks the delicate little vessels that contain the essence, and at the same time absorbs it.

 

Pères Chartreux - Green and Yellow Liquor © 1907

What Are Liqueurs?

Though the taking of a "liqueur" after dinner may not be a pressing necessity, yet it is probably a physiologically correct proceeding apart from the question of the wholesomeness of the individual constituents of the sweet aromatic spirituous liquid.

 

Watson's Whisky No. 10 - Immense © 1905

What is Whisky? - 1900

Whisky, according to popular belief, is a spirit distilled from malt. Sometimes the belief is justified; very frequently it is not. It is well, therefore, to understand at the outset that the word whisky is merely a popular expression of doubtful significance, and of no legal value whatever, for the law does not recognize it at all.

Front Cover of a Cunard Wine List from 1927

Wine Cellars on Ocean Liners - 1907

Instead of buying champagnes and other such wines a case or two at a time at retail prices from ship store dealers, it would be easy to buy stocks of the vintage years as they are available.

 

Plate 1: Pony Brandy, Whiskey, Pousse Café, Cut Cordial, Absinthe Drip, Cordial

Wine Glass Etiquette

The careful selection of the proper glass to use in serving a beverage is of no small importance. Good judgment and refined taste in observing the rules of etiquette in this respect on all occasions add a finishing touch to the enjoyment of the drink.

 

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