Miscellany: The Ways Of Wine Merchants

'Hiere now, sir, to prove how much gentlemen may be mistaken, I assure you sir, as I'm an honest mnn, I never liad but tvvo sorts of wine in my cellar, port and sherry.' 'How! when I myselfhave t ried you r claret, your'- 'Yes, sir, my claret, sir. One is obliged to give gentlemen every ihing they ask for, sir. Gentlemen uho pay their money; sir, have a right to beserved with whatever they please to order, sir; especially the young gent'emen from Cambridge, sir. 111 tell you how it was,sir. I never would have any wines in my house, sir, but port and sherry, because í know them to be wholesome wines, sir; and this I will say, sir, my port and sherry were - the - vcry - best - I could procure in air England.' 'How! th'i best?' 'Yes, sir, at the price I paid for thcm. But to explain the thing at once, sir: - You must know, sir, that I liadn't been long in business when I discovered the gentlemen know very linie about wine; but that if they didn't find somc fault or otlicr they would appear to know much less - alivays excepting the young gentleman from Cambride, and they are excellent judges. [And here Burley's little eyes twiiïfcled in a humorous commentary on the concluding words of his sen tence.] Well, sir, with respect to my dinner wines, I was always tolerably safe; gentlemen seldom find fault at dinner; so, whelher it might happen to be Maderia, pale sherry, or brown, or1 'VVhy just now you told me you had but two sorts of wine in your collar.' ;Very tcue5 sir sir, port und sherry. - But this was my plan, sir. íftíny ordered MarWia: From a bottle of sherry take two gl;ises ot' wiiié, whiiih ro)!ace by two glasses of brandy, and ffdd thereto a slight squecze of lemon; and tliis I fbüh'9 to give general salisfartion - cspecially to tlio young gentleincn of Cambridge, sir. JUi!, upoti the Word of an honest man, I could scnrcely gei a living )iofit by my Maderia, sir, for I always used the best brandy. As to the pale and brown sherry, sir, acoupleof glassesoi nicc pure water, in place of tho same quíintity of winc, made what I used to cill my delicate yule - (by-the-bye, a squepze of letnon added to that, made a very fair Bucclhis, ar - a wine not much calk'd for now, sir;) :itid for my jld brown shfirrv, a leetle. burnt sugar was the thing. It Joukod very much like sherry ihat had bpen twice to tho Bást Iridies, sir; and. indeed, to inv cutomers wlio wero very particular about their wiiies ! used to serve it as such.' 'Btit, Mr. Burlcy, wasn't such proceeding of a character rathc' -'I guess what you would .say, sir; but 1 knew it to be a wholesome wine nt bottom, sir. But iny port was the wine which gave me the most trouble. Gentlemen scldom ngree about port, sir. One gentleman would say, 'Burley, I don't liko this wine; it s too heavy.' 'Is it, sir? I think 1 can find you a lighter.' Out went n glass of wine, and in went a glass of water. 'Well, sir.' I'd say, 'how do you npprove of thalP 'VVhv - um - no; I can't say .' 'I understand, sir; you like an older wine - soffer', I think I can please.you sir.' Pumpagain. 'Now, sir,' says 1, (wiping my decanter with a napkin, and triumphantly holding it to the light,) 'try this, if you please.' 'That's it, Burley; that's the very wine; bring another bottlc of the same.' But one can't please every body the same way, sir. Some gentlemen would complain ofmy port as being too poor; without body. In went one glass of brandy. If that didn't answer: 'Ay, gentlemen, says I, 'I know what will please you; you want a fuller-bodied, rougher wine. Out went tico glassesof wine, and in went two ov three glasses brandy. This used to be a very favorito wine - but onhj with the young gentlemen from Cambridge, sir.' 'And your claret?' 'My good, wholesome port again, sir. Three wines out, thrce waters in, oe pinch of tarlaric acid, twodittoorris pow-, der. For a fuller claret, a little brandy; fora lighter claret, more water.' 'But how did you contrive about Burgundy?' 'That was my claret, sir, with from three to six drops of bergamot, according as a gentleman liked a full flavor or a delicate flavor. As for champagne, sir, that, of course, I made myself.' 'How do you mean 'of course,' Burley?' 'Lord, sir,' said ho with an innocont, yet waggish look, 'surely every body makes hia own champagne, elseiohat can hecome of all the gooscHrrics?'