Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/486

468 ITALY (Vfisss OF) fering from its effects. The reputation which the Asti wines thus acquired has continued to the present day, and is founded in no small degree upon superior skill in manipulation. Hence it is customary to designate the Barbera, Barolo, Nebbiolo, Brachetto, Grignolino, and all other varieties of wines which are the com- mon produce of Piedmont, as wines of Asti, and to sell them as such. As a rule these wines are full-bodied and somewhat rough, but are capable of being greatly improved by increased carefulness and skill. Attention has recently been called to the admirable sites presented by the valleys and mountain slopes bordering on Switzerland, and no portion of Piedmont gives better promise of viticultural development. Upward of two centuries ago the Valtellina, then a dependency of the Swiss canton of the Grisons, yielded wine which found a ready market both in Switzerland and Germany ; and it is believed that the Val di Sesia, the Val d'Aosta, and in fact the whole adjoining Alpine district of Piedmont, can in a few years be made equally productive. The plains of Lombardy and Venetia yield an immense amount of wine, although, owing to the sys- tem of culture above described, which prevails there, the quality is poor. It contains very little sugar or alcohol, much acid, and no aro- matic properties. But here, as in Piedmont, the Alpine district, bordering on Switzerland and Tyrol, presents unsurpassed facilities to the intelligent wine grower. "In many of these valleys viticulture might attain the high- est perfection if it were directed to quality, and if selected vines were grown in closed vineyards with that care and attention which are bestowed upon this branch of production on the Rhine and in France. Here wines might be produced which would be unsurpassed by any other wines in the world. Here there is an equable temperature, and a sufficiency of those precipitations of moisture during nights of calm radiation from the neighboring hills. Here is rain at the proper time, and plenty of the direct rays of the sun come in the warmth of August, when the vine is most in need of it. Indeed, here are all the conditions for producing not only a sweet wine such as is common in climates which have only sun and heat, but for the production of those flavored wines which are the privilege of those parts of the world where the so-called great wines are grown." (Thndicum and Dupre, " Trea- tise on Wine.") The indolence characteristic of the Italian race has hitherto prevented the development of this favored region ; but under the present improved conditions of the nation- al life, and in view of the increasing demand for wines of high grade, its future seems full of promise. In Tuscany wine making may be said to have been brought to a higher degree of perfection than in other parts of Italy, main- ly because for many years it has been conduct- ed by persons of means and superior intelli- gence. The former grand-ducal government encouraged it, and the nobles made their vine- yards an important source of income, selling their wine at retail from their cellars by the tiask. This has a capacity of three quarts, and is not stoppered in the usual manner. A film of oil is deposited on the surface of the wine at the neck of the flask, and answers the double purpose of keeping off the air and of allowing the escape of any bubbles of carbonic acid that may arise in case of after fermentation. The oil may be flung out, or soaked out with tow, previous to using the wine. The most fa- mous wine of Tuscany was for many years the Montepulciano, once designated the "king of wines;" but latterly the product of the vine- yards of Chianti, near Siena, made from a pe- culiar grape, has obtained the supremacy, and almost every good flask of wine sold in the country now goes by that name. It is full- flavored and astringent, with an alcoholic strength equal to about 20 per cent, of proof spirit. The wines of Artimino, a former grand- ducal estate, and of Oarmignano, are also of good quality. To these may be added the verdea, or green wine, so called from its color, produced at Arcetri, near Florence, and the Trebbiano, described as a " gold-colored sirup, made from grapes passulated on the vine by torsion of the stalk." The best known wines of the former Papal States are those of Orvieto and the muscats of Albano and Montefiascone, all of good repute. The southern portion of the Italian peninsula yields a large amount of spirituous wines, many of which reach foreign markets in a highly fortified condition. Those of Gallipoli and Taranto have been known to reach the ordinary strength of cognac. Lach- rymas Ohristi, the most noted growth of this part of Italy, is a name liberally bestowed on all sweet red wines made there, although the genuine is grown only on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius. It has a wide reputation, but is rarely met with in perfect condition. The Capri wine, both red and white, is also cele- brated, but, like the Lachryma? Christi, is too often a spurious or factitious product. Sicily, once fruitful in wine and oil, now produces but a single variety which is exported in large quantities ; this is the Marsala, an amber- colored or brown wine, which derives its name from the seaport Marstila, whence it is shipped to various parts of Europe and America. It is generally strongly brandied before leaving the island, and much of it is transformed into imitation sherry. Red wines are also grown in Sicily, which, owing to their low price, are exported to various parts of Italy and to Ameri- ca. The total quantity of wine produced has been estimated as high as 200,000 pipes, of which less than a fifth part is believed to be fit for exportation. The island of Sardinia produces a considerable amount of red and white wines of fair quality; but the art of wine making is very imperfectly understood there, and the quantity produced is far below the capacity of the soil.