Pinot (1887, 1889)

Bapopik at AOL.COM Bapopik at AOL.COM
Tue Mar 25 05:46:03 UTC 2003


   Merriam-Webster has "pinot" from 1941?  Is that right?  OED has it from 1912?...One has to drink something with all that cheese.
   These are excellent articles on California winemaking.


   9 March 1889, HARPER'S WEEKLY, pg. 199:
   Nearly every wine-maker has his favorite grapes for red or
white wines. Formerly the Mission variety was in high favor.
Now it is the Zinfandel, a hardy, prolific grape introduced by Colonel Agaston Haraszthy, a native of Hungary. The wine is rather strong and lacks delicacy, but is cheap, and is served at all restaurants. Some of the best wine-makers in Napa Valley declare that the choicest claret now made is from a mixture of Cabernet Sauvignon, Melot, and Verdot, three-fifths of the last being used to one-fifth of each of the others. The vines of the above were imported from the La Fitte and Margaux vineyards, and appear to suffer little change from transplanting. Like most other foreign varieties, they are shy bearers, and their wine needs careful treatment. Other claret types are the Carignan, Sauvignon Vert, Matara, Petit Pinot, Petit Syrah, Saint-Macaire, and Gros Mancen. Of Burgundies, many choice varieties have been domesticated. From
the Hermitage came the Petit Syrah and the Mondeuse, both of
which do well on the Napa foot-hills. Some of the best Burgun-
dies made are from a mixture of the Franc Pinot, Pinot d'Eper-
nand, and Pinot Blanc. Other Burgundy types are the Chatiche
Noir, a famous European variety, the Pinot Noir, and the Petit
Syrah. For white wines there is an almost endless list of French and Rhine varieties, but only a few have proved particularly adapted to California soil and climate. For a light, wholesome white wine, no grape surpasses the Berger and Chasselas. From the first the Beringer Brothers, at St. Helena, make a wine having a rich, fruity flavor, without acidity. The Golden Chasselas and the Chasselas Fontainebleau are both favorites. The wine from them is generally known as Gutedel, which, when pressed from carefully selected grapes and of sufficient age, is the best "Rhine wine" made in California.
     The finest of all Sauternes, the ChàCteau Yquem, is cleverly imitated by several California vineyardists with the Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and a blend of the Muscadel de Bordelais. These are the grapes used at Yquem, but of course there is something in the soil of the original vineyard, as well as in the treatment of the wine, which makes hopeless the attempt to reproduce the ex-
act bouquet. A pleasant white wine bearing a strong resemblance
to Chablis is made from the Pinot Blanc, while the Reisling, Sultana, Tramenir, and White Elben all produce wines closely resembling the German Hocks. For ports, the Trousseau has been
most in favor; and for sherry, the Pedro Ximenes is the best.
     For those vineyardists to whom the work of wine-making is a mere pastime, life cannot fail to have many charms. Several of the Napa growers own estates that have no counterpart in America.  One near St. Helena and others in the Sonoma Valley were our delight. (...)

   6 March 1887, NEW YORK TIMES, "Wines of California," pg. 6:
   Many of the old vines are Mission and Zinfandel, although there are a number of first-class varieties, such as the Burger, Golden Chasselas, Riesling, and Black Burgundy.
(...)
   There are 1,900 acres of vines in all, and the Zinfandel, Carignone, Mataro, Black Burgundy, Chanc Noir, Carbenet (sic) Sauvignon, Carbenet Malbec, Grenache, Charbono, and Meunier represent the select reds, and the Burger, Columbar, Moselle Riesling, Folle Blanche and West's White Prolific the whites.
(...)
   ...Zinfandel, Pinot Rose, Petite Boise, and Gray Reislings.

   6 April 1887, NEW YORK TIMES, "Wines of California," pg. 4:
   ..."Old Mission," the grape introduced by the Franciscans 100 years ago; the Zinfandel, introduced by Col. Argoston Haraszthy some 65 years afterward, and (subsequently) all the choice varieties of Germany and France, and other countries, prominent among which are the Carignone, Grenoche, Riesling, Golden Chasselas, Cabernet Sauvignon, Souvignon-vert, Cabernet Franc, Burger, Trousseau, Merlot, Pinot Rose, Petite Boise, Black Burgundy, Motaro, Chanche Noir, Meunier Tannot, Semillon, Charbono, Malbec, Colombar, Moselle Riesling, Folle Blanche...



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