Grossman's Guide to Wines, Spirits & Beers

443 Pages·2012·57.56 MB·English

John Rebitoch D.cl

2015 s. Peaul

Denoeu 10, Col.

Grossman's

Guide

To Wines, Spirits, and Beers

B Y
HAROLD J. GROSSMAN

MAPS
AND
DRAWINGS
BY

C O N R A D O W . MASSAGUER

R E V I S E D
EDITION

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

N E W YORK
L O N D O N

COPYRIGHT, 1940, 1943, 1955 by
HAROLD J. GROSSMAN

Printed in the United States of America.

E-6.58[MH]

All rights reserved. No part of this hook
may be reproduced in any form without
the permission of Charles Scribner's Sons.

To

F L O R E N C E
L .
G R O S S M A N

My Wife and Collaborator

C O N T E N T S

PREFACE
vii

FOREWORD
X

1
Introduction
1

2
Definitions
4

3
Fermentation
10

4
Wine in General
13

5
The Wines of France
21

6
The Wines of Italy
71

7
The Wines of Germany
86

8
The Wines of Hungary
98

9
The Wines of Spain
105

10
The Wines of Portugal
118

11
The Wines of Madeira
126

12
Aromatized Wines
132

13
The Wines of the United States
136

14
American Wines
139

15
California Wines
149

16
Other Wines
170

Wines of Other Lands. Wines from Fruit Other Than
the Grape. Sacramental Wines

17
Distilled Spirits in General
190

18
Brandies
197

19
Whiskies
209

20
Gins
225

21
Rums
230

V

vi
CONTENTS

22
Other Spirits
237

23
Liqueurs or Cordials
244

24
Beers and Ales
253

25
Cocktails and Other Mixed Drinks
265

26
Culinary Uses of Wine
280

27
Menu and Wine List Making
285

28
Bar Operation
296

29
Beverage Service
304

30
Purchasing
313

31
Merchandising
321

32
Storage and Cellar Treatment
334

33
Beverage Control
338

34
Regulatory Bodies and Laws
352

35
A Glimpse into the Future
355

36
Summary
359

APPENDICES
361

A
Quick Guide to Wines and Spirits
361

B
Exceptional Vintages of the Last Twenty Years
369

C
Cost and Profit Charts
370

D
Technical Explanation
of Vinous Fermentation.
The

Chemical Composition of Must and Light Beverage

Wine
371

E
Aphorisms of Brillat-Savarin
379

F
Great Clarets and Sauternes of Bordeaux. Principal Vine­

yards of Burgundy. Leading German Vineyards
380

G
Wine and Spirit Cask Standards, with Litre Equivalents.

American Equivalents of Foreign Standards. Bottle Sizes
385

H
American Producers. Foreign Shippers and Their Ameri­

can Agents
386

I
Glossary of Terms. Trade Abbreviations
398

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
410

INDEX
413

Preface for the Third Edition

SINCE I last revised the contents of this Guide, during the war years, a
number of changes have occurred which should be noted, as they affect
the trade and the drinking habits of the people.
The basic information in the book does not change and I believe it
will continue to be just as useful to the reader in the future as it has
been since its original publication.
Since the development and wide-spread use of television in the home,
some notable changes have come about in the sale and distribution of
alcoholic beverages. Home entertaining has increased materially and
whereas previously 65% of the sale of wines, spirits and beers was
through hotels, restaurants and bars, now it is just the other way around
. . . 65% of consumption is in the home. This is going to mean an
over-all increase in per capita consumption and, by the same token,
more temperate drinking habits in our people and a greater appreciation
for the taste and quality of the various beverages, which will be reflected
in increased consumption in public eating places. So, on the whole, this
is all for the good.

However, some hotel, restaurant and bar managers have done their
part in sending their customers away by poor business practices—these
are high prices for small drinks, substitution of brands ordered by guests,
lack of knowledge on the part of waiters and bartenders of the better
known brands and mixed drink recipes. Perhaps some customers will be
satisfied with three-quarters of an ounce of whiskey poured into a glass
already filled with soda instead of the recognized standard portion of
1 1/2 ounces, but most find this somewhat weak, and what is more, will
feel defrauded. Furthermore, there is no business in which the public is
so brand conscious as this.

When a patron orders a specific brand he should be served that brand
and no other. If it is not stocked he should be told and allowed to select
from those that are available, but he should never be fooled by trying
to palm off another on the assumption that he will not know the dif­
ference anyway.

Yet another odd practice is to charge $1.00 to $1.50 for a pony of
Cognac, or 33 1/3% to 100% more than for a highball, when the Cognac
will usually cost less than the whiskey. Just how smart is that sort of
merchandising?

It is poor management not to train the waiters and bartenders in the
first essentials of the selling job they must perform, namely to know the
products that are carried in stock, and how to prepare the mixed drinks
most often or commonly ordered in a public restaurant or bar.

vii

viii
PREFACE

A person who has had an unfortunate experience may be frightened
away from patronizing other restaurants or bars where fair and generous
treatment is given to the public (there are many) and the whole busi­
ness suffers. I do believe that correcting these practices will do much
toward winning back a good part of the patronage.
It is regrettable that it has been deemed necessary to continually in­
crease the excise taxes upon alcoholic beverages to the point of diminish­
ing returns. This factor has, as was to be expected, served as an induce­
ment to the unlawful element—the bootleggers. The increase in illegal
distilleries has been frightening and will, in my opinion, not show any
marked decrease until our excise taxes are reduced again to at least the
rates which were established in 1942.
A fundamental change in drinking habits is the increasing "dryness"
of the Martini cocktail. It is, more properly, chilled gin. While I do not
pretend to tell anyone what he should drink, I do believe that when
we change the preparation of the recipe of a cocktail to the point where
one of the ingredients is practically eliminated, then it is time also to
change its name and call it something else.
The trend towards dryness in spirits is further evidenced by the great
popularity of Vodka and Vodka drinks. Up to the war years, Vodka was
just another one of the many interesting specialties offered to the public,
but since the war it has sold in ever-increasing volume . . . into the
millions of gallons class.
The most disappointing development in the first twenty years of Re­
peal is that the satisfying pleasure of drinking light beverage wines at
mealtimes has not caught on more. I think this is due to excessively high
prices in restaurants—the normal place for trying wine by the uninitiated—
and also to the fact that the wine producers have not realized that the
American public's palate wants something with a slightly sweet taste. The
average light wines are too dry to appeal to the American who has never
tasted wine. This may account for the enormous increase in the sale of
the kosher wines to over four million cases a year. They are not too
distinguished, but they are sweet and pleasant in taste.

Per capita consumption of wine in the United States has increased
notably from some three-tenths of a gallon, during the first years after
Repeal, to nine-tenths of a gallon twenty years later, but it is disappoint­
ing, to me at least, that only 30 to 35% of this is wine of less than 14%
of alcohol. On the other hand I have been able to observe in Argentina
and Chile, where the per capita consumption is fifteen gallons, that 95
to 98% of the wine consumed is light beverage wines whose alcoholic
content is between 111/2 and 12 1/2% Naturally in those countries light

P R E F A C E
ix

red or white wines form part of the people's diet. Were we to reach a
comparable rate of wine consumption we would require 2,225,000,000
gallons a year instead of the 140/145,000,000 that we have reached.
I firmly believe that the wine producers of the United States (Cali­
fornia representing 90% of production included) would show wisdom
and economic statesmanship if they were to join the foreign producers
and shippers serving the American market in a joint effort to bring about
such a development, instead of following the quixotic policy of fighting
the windmills of the fears that imported wines are going to destroy the
local industry. Imported wines represent less than 4% of the total wine
consumption, and even though they were to enter the market entirely
free of duty, there is hardly any likelihood that they would ever be able
to increase their volume much beyond this relationship for simple
economic reasons.
What this would accomplish would be to vastly increase the vineyard
plantings and the number of people required to grow the grapes, to turn
them into wine and to handle them in every step on their way to the
consumer's table.
In preparing the revisions for this new Third Edition of the Guide I
have endeavored to incorporate such changes and clarifications as experi­
ence has shown through the years were needed to make the book serve
a more useful purpose.
The chapters on our own wines have been completely rewritten. In­
formation has been added referring to wines and spirits whose sale has
become more important in our market. The vintage information has all
been brought up to date, and finally, Appendix H giving the lists of
American Producers, Foreign Shippers and their American Agents in the
light of today's changes, has been completely revised.

HAROLD J. GROSSMAN
New York, January 1, 1954.

Foreword

WITH THE REPEAL of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1933, the liquor
industry in the United States began to do business after many years of
inactivity. As a natural result, the vast majority of those who entered the
trade were new to it. They were untrained and unfamiliar with the prod­
ucts they handled and with the traditions of the trade. Information and
educational training were acutely needed and were difficult to obtain
because both producing and importing companies—the logical source of
such information—were too occupied with the more immediate problems
of production and distribution to provide it.
Many of the new companies were unable to afford sales promotion and
educational budgets, and, in any case, there was a sad dearth of men
equipped with the necessary, specialized knowledge. There were a few
who did yeoman service, writing on the subject in magazines and papers.
After the first confusion was over, the trade journals also pitched in and
have done a splendid educational job, but there is still much to be done.
Many excellent books have been written on wines, but very few on
spirits or beers. There are also available many useful pamphlets and
books published by various producers and importers, containing ac­
curate and worthwhile information on individual types of products. To
the best of my knowledge, however, there is no book which is a compre­
hensive guide to all phases of this vast and important industry.
In my own experience, the need for such a source of information has
been of many years standing. Just after the first World War, as a young
lad fresh from school, I had to take over the management of the family
enterprises in Cuba. It was my good fortune to find that my father had
left the only actual wine cellar—and well-stocked, too—in the West Indies
(at least, I never heard of another). Although the main business was the
operation of a hotel famed for its cuisine and its wine list, it was the wine
cellar and its contents which intrigued me.
The business was sufficiently important to require regular importa­
tions, bottling operations, and considerable attention. As I had no one to
teach me about the wines, I was forced to learn by trial and error.

x

FOREWORD
xi

One of my early mistakes came about when I found five unmarked
barrels in the cellar. I had one opened and discovered it to be gin, some­
what discolored with age. Not being able to use it, I sold it to a bar, run
by an American Negro, in a seacoast town. After a time, he ordered an­
other barrel, which was shipped to him. A few days later I received a
strongly worded complaint about the poor quality of the gin I had
shipped him.
Having business in the seaport, I went to his establishment and exam­
ined the "gin." Without further ado, I had it shipped back to my cellars.
This Negro from the South, unlikely as it seems, had failed to recognize
one of the most marvelous Bourbon whiskies I have ever tasted, many
bottles of which I later sold for $12 and $15 a bottle. I then hopefully
examined the other barrels and found to my utter disappointment that
there was only one more of Bourbon among them.
Of course, I spoiled a cask or two of wine by trying to bottle it before
it was rested, and by leaving part of a cask from one day to another after
it had been broached, but little by little the knowledge came. By dint of
systematic tasting and from books I ordered from England, I gleaned
additional information. Fortunately, Andre L. Simon had published some
of his books in the early twenties. The more I learned about the subject,
the more I realized how much there was to learn.
I have addressed many audiences since Repeal, both in person and in
writing, on this fascinating subject. This book is based on this experience
and on the many questions that have been asked of me in regard to the
many phases of the industry. Its purpose is to provide a practical Guide
that will help those in the trade to sell their products with greater con­
fidence and ease, and that will help the consuming public to enjoy those
products more fully.
The scope of the book is very broad as it has been my desire to cover
not one but all phases of the industry, from the historical background,
through production, distribution, and use, down to a speculative preview
of possible future developments.
Six years of work, the reading of literally hundreds of books and arti­
cles, old and new, and a vast amount of original research, drawing not
only on personal experience but on that of scores of men in the trade,
went into the original preparation of this Guide. The extensive list of ac­
knowledgements which follows is evidence of the help which has so
generously been contributed by authorities who have aided me in making
this a comprehensive compilation of the latest and most accurate informa­
tion available today.
My thanks go to:
Richard L. Blum, Irwin Wile, and Julian E. Blum of Julius Wile Sons

xii
FOREWORD

& Co., Inc., for the confidence they have always shown in me, and for
permission to use any and all material which I have written for the firm.
To Harry L. Lourie, Executive Vice-President of the National Associa­
tion of Alcoholic Beverage Importers, whose sincere friendship I value,
upon whom I can always count to patiently let me impose on him, and
whose sound, wise advice, assistance and encouragement I cannot repay.

To André L. Simon of London, founder and President of the Wine
and Food Society, to whom I must pay a special tribute. He is not only
the World's premier authority on wine and food, but the high priest of
the art of good living. Long before I knew him personally, I had become
one of his disciples. His unselfish generosity in giving of his encyclopedic
fund of knowledge of wining and dining are worthy of emulation. I am
grateful for the permission granted to quote from his published works.

To E. Laurence Sozzi of New York for his assistance in the prepara­
tion of the chapter on Italian wines.
To Alfred Fromm for his assistance in checking the chapter on Ger­
man wines.
To Paul A. Schack for his aid on the glossary of terms, the list of
shippers and producers, and to both him and Harold Goldberg of Macy's
for the practical suggestions they have made for the improvement of
the book.
To Dimmie Feinberg for her assistance in preparing the list of shippers.
To the Marquis Bertrand de Lur Saluces for valuable information on
Sauternes.
To the late George Roullet of Denis-Mounie & Co. for the general
information he gave me on the wine trade and Cognac in particular.
To Julius Wile of Julius Wile Sons & Co. Inc., New York, one of the
outstanding men of the new generation in the Wine Trade, ably follow­
ing in the footsteps of his forebears, for the over-all assistance and
criticism he has given me; and for the many photographs taken by him
which he has permitted me to use, as well as his reports on Alsatian
wine and Cognac.
To Richard L. Blum, Jr., for permission to use his report on the pro­
duction of French Vermouth and Aperitif wines.
To Oscar J. Wile, Chairman of the Board and Alwin E. Wile, of
Browne Vintners Co. Inc. for their aid and encouragement, and for in­
formation they have made available to me.
To Peter Young and Paul Clare of Young's Market Co., Los Angeles,
California, for their aid in clarifying the information on Tequila.
To Mr. R. P. Kunett, President of Ste. Pierre Smirnoff Fls. Inc., for his
information and assistance regarding vodka and kvass.
To Don Alejandro Dussaillant L. and his son Don Armando Dussail-

FOREWORD
xiii

lant G. of Lontué, Chile, for the wealth of information about Chile and
her wines that they have furnished me.

To Hector R. Mercado, General Manager of Bodegas y Viñedos Arizu,
S.A., of Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the fund of experience and informa-
tion on Argentine wines he has made available to me.

To Harry A. Caddow, General Manager, Leon Adams, Secretary, Frank
Whiteley and the other personnel of Wine Institute, San Francisco, Cali-
fornia, for the wealth of material placed at my disposal, and for the
generous personal time they gave me in relation to the preparation of
Chapter 15 on California Wines.
To the late J. O. Dahl, Editorial Director of Ahrens Publications, for
permission to use material which I have written for Hotel Management,
Restaurant Management and Hotel World-Review; and for illustrations
which he made available to me.
To R. T. Huntington for permission to quite from his book, "Bar
Management and Beverage Profits."
To William Margolis, Publisher, and Louis Schwartz, Editor of Amer-
ican Wine and Liquor Journal, and American Wine and Liquor Re-
tailer, for furnishing illustrations from their files, and aiding in preparing
lists of foreign shippers.
To Frank Haring, Editor of Liquor Store and Dispenser, for furnishing
illustrations from his files.
To Arthur Krows, one-time Editor of The Spur, for permission to use
material that I wrote for the magazine.
To Walton Hall Smith and Dr. F. C. Helwig, authors, and Little,
Brown & Co., publishers, for permission to quote from "Liquor the
Servant of Man."
To the late Otto Baumgarten of the Crillon Restaurant, a true restau-
rateur who knew and loved wine, for his advice on wines, particularly
those of Austria.
T o Gordon M. VanderBeek, Beverage Manager of the Hotel Astor,
New York, for furnishing the material used in preparing the chapter
dealing with Hotel Beverage Control; and to the Hotel Astor, for per-
mission to use the forms which illustrate this chapter.
To Roger B. Kaufman, C.P.A., for his help on Accounting for Retail
Liquor Stores.
To Albert Reinitz for his helpful suggestions on merchandising.
To Jeanne Owen for her assistance and advice on culinary matters and
her recipes.
T o Anna Wetherill Reed for her advice on early American dishes and
permission to use many recipes.