(2) The temperature should average about 50° Fahr. for a mixed stock. Some wines keep better at a higher temperature, but where it is not practicable to give special attention to each variety, 50° Fahr. is a fair average for all.
(3) Vegetables or strong smelling articles should never be stored near Wines. If possible, the cellar, or floor, should be devoted exclusively to wine storage. Vege tables, growing plants, green wood, etc., are especially dangerous, as they are liable to start fermentation again.
(4) The cellar door should never be left open, as variations are detrimental.
(5) Every barrel should be inspected on receipt—leakage results in atmospheric contact and will spoil the wine. A cask which has thus lost some of its contents should be immediately refilled to avoid damage. In storing barrels, air-space should be left between each.
(6) Every bottle and its cork should be inspected when received. If the bottles are to be placed in the wine-bin, their straw envelopes are best removed.
If all other precautions are observed, wine may be left in cases, but if the wine-bin is suitably located and arranged, the bottles should be taken from the cases and placed in it.
(7) When binning, the bottles should be placed preferably on racks, lying on their sides so that the wine covers the corks. Some wines may be stood up, but it is safest to make the rule that all bottled goods shall be kept on their sides. The posi tion is absolutely imperative in the case of sparkling wines, as otherwise the drying of the cork will result in "flatness" from the escape of the carbon-dioxide (gas).
The bottles should also lie with their labels up, so that, when taken out and replaced, they are always returned to the same position with the least possible disturbance of the sediment.
Every bottle should rest on an even foundation and be safe against slipping.
(8) If one side, or end, of the cellar is cooler than the other, the space should be assigned to Champagnes and Rhine and Moselle Wines. The warmest part should be given to Sherry, Madeira, etc. Port, Claret, Burgundy and Sauternes come in between.
If there is no difference in temperature, the wines which require warmer atmos phere should be binned or stored on the upper racks.
(9) If the cellar or other store-room is dry, but unavoidably exposed to either heat or cold, it is often advisable to bin the bottles in sawdust. Special care is then neces sary, for if the sawdust is damp, it will generate heat and damage the wines, and it is also liable, in some sections, to breed worms, which attack the corks. As a protection
against the latter possibility, the top of each bottle may be dipped in wax or rosin.
The Wines Most Generally Consumed.
The general American public does not show the diversified wine taste of the Euro pean. The average demand does not go beyond the various grades of Champagne, Claret, Rhine and Moselle Wines, Burgundy, Sauternes, Port and Sherry. To this list may be added, in some parts, a growing taste for Chianti and a limited con sumption of Tokay, Madeira and Muscat. All of these are sold in both imported and domestic varieties.
Consumers should be advised that, when possible, it is best to allow fine clarets and Burgundies—and, in fact, nearly all wines and liquors—to rest a few days after delivery before opening them.
The "Correct" Wines for a Special Dinner.
It is not unusual for the retailer who has established a reputation for his wine department to be asked by his customer for information as to "the proper thing" in the way of wines for a special dinner or banquet.
No fixed routine of wines can be specified as being the only proper service for a dinner, banquet or other affair, as the highest authorities differ on this point, but the theoretically correct service is that which offers, for each course, wine which both in flavor and strength "harmonizes" with the dishes of which that course is composed, while at the same time so arranging their sequence as both to lead the palate agree ably from course to course and to bring out, by contrast and the development of the palate, the full value of each succeeding wine.
The fashion of the day carries, however, so much weight in all such affairs, that orthodox theories are often brushed aside. A few years ago saw a temporary revolu tion in wine service in England and also largely on the Continent and in this country —champagne was served throughout the entire meal, other wines being entirely dis regarded. The "champagne only" idea is still upheld in some sets, but more general at present is the middle path—that of three or four well-chosen wines.
It must, however, be borne in mind that though the service of champagne and, say, two other wines, is better on general principles than that of only champagne, the latter method is more up to date than the former "strictly correct" style of a long list of different wines.
If one offers a full service, the sequence should be about as follows :