Grape culture and wine-making in California; a practical manual for the grape-grower and wine-maker

Preface

A book, specially devoted to "Grape Culture and Wine Making in California," would seem to need no apology for its appearance, however much the author may do so for undertaking the task. California seems to him, at least, as "the chosen land of the Lord," the great Vinehuid ; and the industry, now only in its first stages of development, destined to overshadow all others. It has already assumed dimensions, within the short period of its existence, hardly forty years, that our European brethren can not believe it, and a smile of incredulity comes to their lips when we speak of vineyards of several thousand acres, with a product of millions of gallons per annum.

But, while fully cognizant of the importance of these large enterprises, it is not for their owners that this little volume is written specially. The millionaire who is able to plant and maintain a vineyard of several thousand acres, can and should provide the best andjnost scientific skill to manage his vineyard and his cellars; it will be the wisest and most economical course for him, he can afford to pay high salaries, and the most costly wineries, provided they are also practical, would be a good investment for him. We have thousands, perhaps the large majority of our wine growers, however, who are comparatively poor men, many of whom have to plant their vineyards, nay, even clear the land for them with their own hands, make their first wine in a wooden shanty with a rough lever press, and work their way up by slow degrees to that competence which they hope to gain by the sweat of their brow. Of these, many bring but a scanty knowledge to their task; and yet it is from these, who cultivate their small vineyards with unceasing interest, and are willing to watch their wines with the grestest care that we must expect our choicest products. To help and serve this army of patient toilers, in whose ranks I have labored for forty years, here and in Missouri, with hand and brain, is the object and aim of this little book; I can fully sympathize with them, because I had to gather what little knowledge I may have, piecemeal and by hard practical experience in an almost untrodden field, and I wish to save them some of the dear bought experience which I had to pass through. If its pages become a practical guide for them, by which they can plant and cultivate their vineyards, prune and train their vines, erect their wine cellars when they need them and are able to build them, and make good, drinkable and saleable wine, my chief object has been accomplished. To do this, I intend to be as concise and clear as possible, use no high-flown language, and avoid scientific terms as much as possible; talk as the plain, practical farmer to his co-laborers, and confine myself to simple facts, gathered from my own daily practice as well as from the practice and counsels of others who have labored long and successfully in the same cause. None of us are infallible, and the best way to gain knowledge is by exchanging ideas and experience among ourselves, comparing notes with each other.

And this is especially necessary in each neighborhood, each valley and its surrounding hillsides in this, the brightest and most bountiful, but also the most diversified and variable State in the Union; where the climatic conditions as well as the soil change as quickly, according to each location as in a kaleidoscope. This makes it all the more necessary, that the vintner select his climate and soil carefully; and again ^ that he chooses such varieties as are adapted to his soil and climate. Then the climatic conditions will also materially affect his operations in wine making, curing raisins, etc., in short no man can hold fast to one invariable rule in this State, but must vary his operations with the location, the soil, the product of each season, and the climatic conditions prevailing during his operations, and which may vary every day during the vintage. And therefore this will be a California book, first and foremost, I am fully aware that French and German, Spanish, Italians and Portuguese, have many eminent men who have compiled the experiences of centuries, and from which we can learn a great deal, especially in making and handling wines. But while I value it highly, and am willing to profit by it, yet all the conditions are so different there, that they can be no safe guide for us. Our rainless summers, the character of our grapes, which always ripen, and are heavier in sugar, while they may lack in ferment and sprightliness, will necessitate different handling, and I believe that three seasons of active experience here, will enable a man with good sound judgment to make a more perfect wine from California grapes, than twenty years of practice in France or Germany. He has nothing to unlearn, is free from prejudices and antiquated methods, and is therefor^ more likely to succeed, than the one who comes to the task with the preconceived notion that he knows everything, while in reality he has to take lessons every day. Therefore, though I will gladly use some foreign experience, and give due credit for it, this little volume will not be a foreign compilation, but a practical record of California experience, in the vineyard and wine cellar. That this may be concise, useful, and offer such assistance as practical men may need is my highest ambition. The reader must not expect infallible doctrines, nor impractical theories, but plain rules, variable according to circumstances, and given in plain language, without poetic fiction or privilege. I shall try to deal with, and confine myself to plain facts of every day occurrence.

But while its principal aim shall be to become a guide ta

VI PREFACE.

the beginner, I also hope to make it interesting enough for those who count their vineyards by the hundreds and even thousands of acres. I hope to give a true and full picture of this giant industry, none the less gigantic because yet in its infancy, and which owes so much to their enthusiasm and enterprise. They will furnish the wines for the million, and it is truly a noble and proud task to furnish to every laborer a sound, cheap and palatable wine, at less cost than tea or coffee. We want their assistance to make this great nation temperate, convert them into wine drinkers, instead of drinking so called brandy and whisky, the banes of so many otherwise happy households. And for this object we may safely claim the help of the ladies also. I am proud of the active part so many of them have already taken in the viticulture of California. There are not a few of them \vho successfully manage vineyards and wine cellars of hundreds of acres, and hundreds of thousands of gallons. May their numbers increase, and they become our helpmates in this as in every good work. I am sure that I commit no indiscretion if I mention the names of Mrs. Kate F. W^rfield and Mrs. Hood of Sonoma Valley, and Mrs. Weinberger of St. Helena, as among the foremost in this State, while the illustrious example of Madame la Duchess de Fitz James, who has already replanted about two thousand acres destroyed by the phylloxera, on her estates in Herault, France, has given the results of her experience to the public in several books, and inspired new confidence in the industry into the poor despairing peasantry of that district, who saw their only means of livelihood failing them, should not be forgetten here. I use the term ' ' illustrious " advisedly, not in reference to her rank ; for I am Republican enough to have little regard for the accidental privilege of noble birth; but a woman who does such noble work, winds a more shining and lasting crescent around her brow than monarchs can confer, and birth bestow, and is worthy to be counted among the benefactors of mankind; I am proud of the privilege of being her correspondent, and thus acknowledging her noble efforts in our cause.

This work was commenced in June, when the greatest rush of vineyard work was over, written in my cabin in Chiles Valley, surrounded by vines, where practical reference could be had every day and hour to the operations necessary among them. As it progressed, I became convinced more and more of the magnitude of the subject, and the impossibility of doing it full justice in the space of a few months, and a few hundred pages. I hoped to complete it before the vintage, so that it could be of some use perhaps during its progress. But unavoidable delays have drawn it out to the end of the vintage, of this truly abnormal year, abnormal in its late and destructive frosts, its hot winds during summer, causing a great deal of coulure and its unusually hot w-eather during the vintage. It has been one of the most difficult seasons to handle a vineyard and wine cellar, which will ever occur here, I trust, and has taught us many and severe lessons, among others the importance of thoughtful pruning, close attention to the growing crop, and diversity of varieties in time of ripening, so that we are not compelled to crowd the operations of months into a few weeks ; also the necessity of commencing the vintage as soon as the grapes are fairly ripe ; and of unceasing work during wine making. Vintage work commenced in Napa Valley about the middle of September, when it ought to have commenced a week sooner, and the hot and dry weather prevailing during its entire period even until now, ripened and dried up the grapes to a certain extent and thus fermentation became very difficult, especially in large establishments. I have availed myself of these practical lessons, I hope to the advantage of my readers, so that the delay may not be a loss altogether. Still, I am aware that it is impossible to do the subject full justice, and am far fnom claiming that I could have done so. Now, when my task draws to its close, I ask their kind indulgence; to them I must leave it whether it has been done well or ill. I can only say that I have tried my best to be useful to them and to the industry at large.

I cannot close these remarks without grateful acknowledgments to those who have aided so materially, by their workings and contributions, and without whose help my task would have been infinitely more difficult. I have drawn freely from the bulletins and report of viticultural work of Professor Hilgard of our State University, from the reports of our State Board of Viticulture, the valuable work of Mr. E. H. Rixford -'The Wine Press and the Cellar," from the ampelographic dictionary of Prof. Hermann Goethe, and the writings of Mr. Chas. A. Wetmore. I am also indebted for courtesies and valuable information to Mr. J. H. Wheeler, our present chief viticultural officer, to Mr. C. J. Wetmore, the Secretary of the State Board, Mr. W. B. West, of Stockton, Cal., Mr. Horatio P. Livermore, Mr. H. W. Crabb, Mr. Charles Krug, Mr. J. W. Hale, Superintendent Barton Vineyard at Fresno, E. M. Maslin, Secretary State Board of Equalization; Mr. M. Denicke, Fresno ; Mr. Juan Gallegos, Mission San Jose; Capt. J. W. Mclntyre, Vina; Mr. Shackleford, Vina; Mr. Smith, Vina; Mr. D. M. Cashin, Secretary of California Winery and Security Co., Mr. Julius Dresel, of Sonoma, and many others. I only regret that I could not elicit a single satisfactory answer responding to requests for information from Los Angeles, as I was anxious to have the whole State represented. But the reply from all was, that they had no time to give the necessary information. So, if my information from there should prove meager and incorrect, I must lay the blame at their door, as it was certainly my desire to give lull and true information.

To the press of the State in general, and especially our

PREFACE. IX

local papers, our industry owes a great deal, and I have freely drawn from the information they give. They have always taken a lively interest in viticulture, and published all the information they could gain, giving due prominence to our calling, and I take this opportunity to tender them our grateful thanks.

Hoping that they and my readers will receive this volume with their usual indulgence and kindness, I remain Their fellow laborer,

George- Husmann.

Oak Glen Vineyards,

Chiles Valley, Napa Co., Cal., October 20, 1887.

CHAPTER I.— A glimpse at the Past and Present 15 " ir. — Classification of Grapes 26

" III.— Propagation of the Vine, by Seeds 31

*' IV.— Propagation by Cuttings in Open Air 35

" V. — Propagation, by Layers 88

" VI. — The Phylloxera Question 42

" VII.— Resistant Vines 67

" VIII. — Grafting the Vine Ill

" IX. — The Vineyard, Location, Aspect and Soil 128

" X.— Preparing the Soil 131

" XI.— How to lay out and Plant a Vineyard 133

XII.— What to Plant. Choice of Varieties 137

" XIII.— Cultivation and Treatment during the First

and Second Summers ] 65

" XIV. --Cultivation, Pruning, and Training the Third

and Fourth Years 172

" XV. — Diseases of Vines and Remedies 182

" XVI. — Insects and Animals Injurious to the Vine.. . 199

*' XVII. — Frosts and Hail, their Effects, Preventatives,

and Remedies 203

" XVIII. — The Vintage, Gathering the Grapes for Wine. 209 " XIX. — Picking the Grapes for Table and Market.

The Grape Cure 214

" XX.— The Vintage, Raisin Making 218

" XXI.— Individual Enterprise 224

" XXir. — Co-operation in Viticulture 244

*' XXIII. — Women in the Vineyard 247

*' XXIV. — Cost of Establishing a Vineyard, and its

Probable Returns 250

CONTENTS.

Part II.— WINE MAKING. CHAPTER I.— Making Wine 255

XL— The Cellar ....256

" III. — Wine-making Apparatus 259

" IV.— Making Dry Wines 265

" V. — D'Heureuse's Air Treatment 290

" VI. — Air Treatment of the Young Vine. Racking 310

" VII- — Clarification, Filtering, and Fining 317

" VIII.— Ageing Wines 321

IX.— Diseases of Wines 324

X.— Cutting and Blending 329

XL— Bottling Wine 332

" XII.— Concentrated Must 336

XIII.— Brandy and Vinegar 339

XIV.— Wine Storage Houses. The "Pure Wine"

Bill 341

XV.— Wine Statistics 357

" XVI. — Wine as an Article of Commerce 360

" XVII. — Wine as a Temperance Agent 364

XVIIL— The Future of the Industry 371

" XIX.— Wine Songs 375

PA.RT I

GRAPE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA.

CHAPTER L

A GLIMPSE AT THE PAST AND PRESENT.

It cannot be expected, in a book which pretends to be no more than a manual for the grape grower and wine maker, that I should give a history of the industry in California. This, although no doubt it would be a pleasing task to note dow^n its earliest beginnings and do honor to its pioneers, requires an abler pen than mine, one imbued with all the poetry of the subject, and with all the leisure to trace up their records, than can be brought into a practical outline of operations; which, with so vast a subject to handle makes it difficult already to confine myself to such limits as will make the book concise and cheap enough for every grape grower in the state. But a short outline of what has been done so far, would seem necessary and proper, to show what we may expect of the future, and may well be expected of me.

It is well known that the earliest beginnings were made by the Jesuit fathers at San Gabriel, with what has since become known as the Mission, or as it is erroneously called by many, the California grape. It is no doubt a true Vinifera\ whether, as some believe, it was grown from the seed or from cuttings imported from Spain, it certainly bears no resemblance to our native wild vine, Vitis Calif ornica. A few enterprising men saw in its success there the probabilities of a valuable industry. Their experiments were rewarded with abundant crops which even surpassed their expectations, as our dry and equable summers favored the development of the grapes, and although it was thought in those days imperatively necessary to irrigate the vines, they found that the Mission always ripened its fruit, would produce large crops, under a very simple and convenient system of pruning, and make a fair drinkable wine in most seasons. But when they came to handle the product for wine, they forgot or overlooked that our long, dry summers always give us a grape rich in sugar, and that every fruit has a period in its ripening when it is most lively and most sprightly to the taste. In Europe, where grapes do not ripen so fully, it becomes necessary to let them hang as long as possible, to bring out 'their full amount of sugar, necessary to make a fine wine; while here they are apt to become overripe, and as it needs a certain amount of acids to develop the full bouquet and sprightliness of each variety, the natural consequences of late harvests were very fiery, heady wines; either with a great deal ofalcohol,or very often badly fermented, unpalatable and milksour. They were not wines to "make glad the heart of man," but such as would make his head swim and feel uncomfortable. These were placed upon the markets as California hocks and clarets, and did not, as may be expected, please the palates of those who were accustomed to the finer and lighter wines of France and Germany. They pronounced them heady, earthy, and in many cases unfit to drink. The natural consequences of such a course was, that California wines fell into disrepute and could not find buyers at any price; grapes could not be sold at figures to pay for the gathering and working of the vineyards, and hogs were turned in to fatten on their products. This w^as one of the first mistakes committed; owing partly to an inferior variety of grapes, partly to faulty management of the crop; and retarded for a while the further development of the industry.

But still the incontrovertible fact remained, that some fair wines had been made, that the vineyards produced regularly a good crop of healthy grapes, and that sweet wines could be made, even of the Mission. Grape growing had started in Southern California, and on irrigated land, but it had gradually spread to the more northern parts. Experiments had been made on land without irrigation, and it was found that the vines, though of a slower growth and bearing less, made a more delicate and higher fxavored wine than on irrigated ground. Many progressive men, encouraged b)' the evident success with the Mission grape, imported cuttings of choice varieties for trial from France, the Rhine and Spain, often at heavy expense and risk; they were planted in different sections, and mostly found to succeed well. The introduction of the Zinfandel grape, the first variety from which a creditable claret was made, also gave a new impetus; more care and skill was applied in handling the wines, and they slowly b'Jt surely found a market at fairly remunerative prices. Large wineries were built, more improved machinery applied, and the wine makers who had started them, and could sell their wines to the dealers when six months old, at a fair profit on their labor, raised the price of grapes until grape growing became a very lucrative business again. Farmers found that the lands they had cropped with cereals until they were exhausted, and would not produce grain, would still yield large crops of grapes, for which they had a ready market at home. It is certainly not surprising if they became over sanguine, until everybody and his neighbor planted grapes. As the Mission was known to be productive, and they could sell all they could grow, a good ■ many vineyards of this variety were again planted, together with a large acreage of Zinfandel and Malvasia. The vineyards were, to a large extent, planted by men who had little appreciation of fine quality, but planted grapes simply for the money they could make out of them. Rich bottom lands, which were easily cultivated and produced heavy crops, were naturally preferred to the less rich hillsides, with more laborious cultivation and lighter crops. The common system of stool pruning, so convenient and easy, was used for all varieties indiscriminately, and many of the choice varieties, such as the Riesslings, Pinots, and others.

18 (JRAPE CULTURK AND

did not yield under this treatment, therefore came into disrepute as poor bearers, while with a little more care in staking, tying, and pruning, they would have produced well. Thus the heavy bearers, Mission, Malvasia, Burger, and Zinfandel, were given the preference, even at somewhat lower prices for the grapes, and the planting of really fine varieties followed by comparatively few.

When Chas. A. Wetmore, our past Chief Viticultural Officer, made a trip to Europe, and especially to France, to investigate the resources and methods of those countries, it was but natural that he should be deeply impressed with the magnitude of this, the leading agricultural interest of France, and take the French as mod-els in everything, cultivation of their vineyards, varieties of grapes cultivated, methods of wine making, etc., especially as the resemblance of climates is great in many respects. But he lost sight of the great distance; of our rainless summers, our wet and mild winters, and our immense diversity of soil and climate even in the same vineyard; of our different and more costly labor system, which compels us to look for the cheapest and most simple mode of culture, compatible with thoroughness. While 1 do not wish to depreciate the great results obtained by the French vineyardists and wine makers, from which we can obtain most valuable information, yet we should consider that it has taken ^/lem centuries to study the methods best adapted to their wants and surroundings, their soil, climate and varieties, and that we cannot hope to excel here, unless we do the same, and adapt o//r methods to our wants. Practical knowledge, gained here at home, even of a few years, will be a safer guide to us than to blindly follow the practices of a people thousands of miles distant, and who differ just as widely in their application among themselves as we do here. If we try foreign methods, appliances and varieties, let us do so cautiously, thinkingly, and with due regard to the differences which naturally arise from all accompanying circumstances. I do not think that any one will question the fact that serious mistakes have already been made by following French methods entirely and blindly, and especially in supposing that California wines, in their infancy and imperfect state of development, could already compete in the world's markets with the average of French and German brands, with their prestige of centuries, their intimate knowledge of the markets and their requirements, the blends that will produce the most harmonious results, composed of choice varieties; when we had only the product of a few inferior varieties to offer in quantities to cut any figure in the markets, while our really choice samples were hardly seen or known, and then only to very few.

It was a serious mistake to advise the unlimited planting of vineyards, and to create the impression that this State could not produce enough of good, cheap, wholesome clarets to fill, or ever glut the markets; and those who advised such a course lost sight of the fact, that, before we can count our share of the custom of the world, we must not only overcome the prestige of other nations, but also the prejudice which the inferiority of many of our earlier productions have created against us. The vintage of 1884, with its abundant and rather inferior product, followed by a panic in prices, was a lesson by which we should profit, as it should have taught us what we may expect. Had this been followed by an equally abundant and similar product in 1884, with the large area of additional young vineyards which came into bearing, what else could we expect but prices so low that they would hardly pay the producer? This was averted by the very light crop of 1885, so that wines came up to fair prices again. But after the crop of 1886, which was a good one in quality as well as in quantity, perhaps as good as we can ever expect, prices have dropped again, and those who planted vineyards with the idea that the condition of the five preceding years would remain the same, that we could never produce enough of good, cheap claret to meet the demand, and have in. consequence of it, planted mostly Zinfandel, often in locations not at all suited to that grape, on soil which will never produce it in perfection, find themselves confronted by low prices and slow sales. While it makes a really fi7ie wine in choice localities, and especially on our hillsides, rich in iron and other minerals ; I have still to see the first really superior claret made from it on our rich bottom lands, where it has mostly been planted. Besides, it needs skill and knowledge in gathering and fermenting its grapes, to bring out all its best qualities, which many of our wine makers do not possess, and the time is coming when three-fourths of our Zinfandel and Mataro wines have to be sold as inferior, and only one-fourth will be classed as strictly fine wines, and sold at remunerative prices.

Another mistake was made in discouraging, or at least not to recommend, the planting of fine white wine varieties, although we may safely claim that we have more first-class white wine grapes than red. We can produce choicer white wines to-day, to suit mofe different palates, and make a greater quantity to the acre than of red. Yet the cry has been: " Red wines are the universal drink;" therefore plant them, until the public has planted generally about four-fifths of red to one-fifth of white wine grapes. We see the effects of this already in the higher price and greater scarcity of white grapes and wmes, which bring one-third more in the market, and are more sought after than the red. What then will it be in the future, when the large quantity of red varieties planted will come into bearing ? I grant that there is a larger quantity of red wine consumed in the world's markets than of white, but not in the proportion already mentioned; and I think wx will do wise to plant more white varieties in

WINi:-MAKING IN CALIFORNIA. 21

the future, and perhaps graft some of our young and old red varieties with choice white ones. We cannot deny that there is a large part of the wine consuming public who do, and always will, prefer the more delicate white wines to the more astringent red, and we should try to suit their palates, especially when they are willing to pay better prices for them.

Although wine making is a very simple process in itself, yet it needs great discrimination and judgment, as the product of each vintage is apt to be different, and the temperature of each season is also a very important factor in fermentation. It was evidently judging from the experience of the vintage of 1884, with a product low in sacharine, late in ripening and a cool temperature, that Mr. Wetmore made the assertion, ''that any one could ferment his grapes and make his wine in an old shed, and turn out a good drinkable wine, without cellars or costly fermenting rooms." The prevailing idea seemed to be, that the quicker fermentation could be excited, the better would be the wine, even if this had to be accomplished by adding brewers yeast or flour. The season of 1885, came, with entirely different climatic conditions, a different product, an early vintage, and what was the result ? Many, who themselves had no practical insight into the principles governing fermentation and wine making, had followed this advice, and put their fermenting tanks out in the hot sun, with no other covering than a few boards, and the temperature over TOO in the shade. Fermentation set in with terrible violence as could be expected the grapes, though rich in sugar, were sluggish arid without life from the long continued drought, and the result in a great many cases, were a suddenly checked fermentation with from 2 to 8 per cent, of unfermented sugar, or rather caramel in the wine. Mr. Wetmore was applied to, to help them out of this difficulty, and certainly brought a good deal of energy and good will to this herculean task. Following the advice of French wine makers, who are

22 GRAPE culturp: and

aha known as the greatest wine doctors in the world, he advised in rapid succession, brewers yeast, gypsum, fresh grapes, fresh ferment from other vats, then tartaric acid and tannin. But alas, in spite of all these remedies and their application many of the new wines, being " stuck" once, refused " to go through " and had to be worked into sweet wines, or distilled into brandy. If our wine makers have gained in experience, it has been a bitter and costly one, although some of their wines remained sweet, and as wines became scarce, and the unfortunate practice still prevailed that the dealer had to buy a whole cellar, and had to take the good with the bad, these imperfect wines were doctored up, sent to the East and elsewhere during the season of low freights in 1886, and the markets flooded with indifferent wines by unscrupulous persons, which again damaged the reputation of California wines seriously, until now, their purity, on which we have alw^ays justly prided ourselves, is called into question. The outcome of this was the enactment of the "Pure wine bill" as it is generally termed, by our legislature last winter, which, although perhaps susceptible of improvement and amendment, will at least show to the w^orld at large that we understand wine to be i\\^ pure imadiilterated,ferme7ited juice of the grape, the healthiest and best drink for the million. And what inducement can we have to adulterate it ? Surely grape juice pure and simple, is cheaper in our blessed climate, than any decoctions or sophistications; and w^e need nothing else, as soon as we are fully informed about the processes of making it. To assist in this, is the principal object of this volume. Another mistake which many of our planters have committed, is the persistence with which they have planted, and are planting even now, the vinifera cutting and vines, in districts affected and nearly destroyed by the Phylloxera. They ought to profit by the lessons taught in France and all over Europe, by the devastated vineyards which have reduced the crop of