Thoughts on Viticulture and Wine Processing in Tyrol (Conclusion)

Appendix

Economy.

Thoughts on Viticulture and Wine Processing in Tyrol. (Conclusion.) – 2/2

Finally, the cheerful country dweller who enjoys his days does not always have bad years in mind; he trusts the coming year, like the past one, for its yield of fruit; and as he lacks the spirit of speculation in his hard manual labor, he sticks to the old ways, drinking his sour wines as well as his good ones, unconcerned about which wine the eager townsman chooses. – Hardly a reason, yet a custom; – explainable only by psychologists.

That it is not ignorance or a lack of insight into the advantages why the method of fermenting must alone is not common in our small country, I believe I have rendered quite clear through economic-local reasons, though not scientific or absolute ones; for even the farmer concerned about the sale of his products endeavors as much as possible to solve the economic problem: »achieving the greatest possible advantage with the least possible effort.«

It has already been mentioned (without paying attention to the varieties of grapevines listed by Chaptal, which, so far as several variations are known here in the country, are not named the same in one district as in another) that there are three practically distinguishable types of wine; and that the nature of the vine, rather than the art of manipulation, confirms the basis of this division – and that despite grape fermentation (as opposed to mere must fermentation) these distinct wines are formed. Thus in the somewhat higher areas of the Etschland there grows a somewhat more acidic, yet (especially between the months of March and May) very good table wine; – whereas in the hilly, especially amphitheatrical locations of vineyards, even if not too far south, provided they are sheltered from the northeast wind and face southeast, an excellent strong or full-bodied wine thrives; – while in lower and more southerly situated vineyards a naturally sweet (though rarely kept for more than a year) dessert wine grows, which provides a refreshing refreshment to the more delicate palates accustomed to sweetness; – more often of the red, mostly dark turning to blackish variety, less often of the white.

The manifold transitions and gradations cannot be denied; – thus especially the naturally sweet passes into strong, often also into acidic, and so in warm years (such as 1819) the acidic variety very often becomes full-bodied wine (in which case it might occur that, according to Mr. Sieber's observations, a slightly earlier harvest would yield a more pleasant, not too strong table wine). – That in cold years the naturally sweet wine does not form at all, the full-bodied wine becomes table wine, and the latter only a variety consumable without harm by the least sensitive stomachs, is explainable by the nature of things; for when speaking of wine years, one need only take 1811, 1818, and 1819 as models.

Even in the valley bottom of the Etsch course, the saying is not always straight true: »the closer to the south, the better the wine.« – The higher or lower location, the hilly or flat ground, especially the orientation towards the sun, decide more or less (leaving aside the selection of grape varieties) the quality of the product; – and in the upper Etsch valley – district of Burggrafenamt – where so many vineyard hills face south (e.g. the Kiechlberg at Meran), most facing southeast (e.g. at Lana in Vill, in Ackpfeif, Nals, etc.), there is no worse wine than in the locations of Neumark, Salurn, etc., where it faces northwest, and is very often swept cold by winds coming from nearby glaciers and the limestone mountains covered in perpetual snow of the northeastern ranges of the Schlern and its brothers; – although in the southeastern location of Kaltern, Tramin, etc., there are in part strong and dessert wines.

What has been said so far, though not unknown to any inhabitant of Tyrol, serves merely to enlighten the outside reader.

Already several wealthier landowners in our surroundings (I write in the upper Etsch valley) made attempts a year ago and again this year to prepare wines by means of mere must fermentation; but as the taste of customary grape preparation is foreign to wine made from must fermentation, this type of wine does not seem, at least in our country, destined to succeed, until perhaps the somewhat refined tongue can and will find agreeable the Tyrolean wine prepared in the manner of Austrian wines.

Perhaps the preparation of so-called Höpfweine, once forbidden by provincial laws , was an obstacle to must processing; – however, in this case, the self-complete fermentation was never waited out for one or two years, but was often drunk within three months, where the harmful consequences of the fermentation occurring in the stomach and intestines of the drinker and the resulting diseases were to be prevented by the care of public laws. Indeed, even Hypolitus Quarinonius (a patriotic writer) of the 17th century, physician-in-ordinary to Emperor Ferdinand II, writes in his book »von dem Gräul der Verwüstung« about the abomination of »gottlosen Höpfweins« perhaps for the above reasons.

Finally, every admirer of scientific natural research will owe much gratitude to the tireless scholar Mr. Sieber, especially for his esteem for our small country and his unfeigned attention to promoting its welfare where possible through wise hints; – his excellent essay »on viticulture« deserved serious heart-taking and compliance under changed circumstances; – and this supplement is not a refutation of his proven views, but merely a well-founded discussion of the obstacles which only insurmountable circumstances place in the way. There would remain far more to discuss, especially if speaking of viticulture as a whole, the choice of varieties, and the other processing; – yet we possess valuable works by scholars who are themselves reflective economists; but our fatherland lacks men who, without prejudice for the old or the new, would compile and write down the results of their experiences and experiments from various regions of our country, to deliver a valuable, tested treasure of applicable knowledge into the hands of the farmer; whereby general intelligibility ought to be the primary focus, equally distant from vulgar chatter as from overly scholarly nitpicking of system. Lana, 25 Nov 1820. D. v. H. — gl.