Nothing was ever uglier than this fungus.
It is strange that the most ethereal effervescence of rich wine can
produce nothing better.
The first series of vaults which we entered were filled with port-wine,
and occupied a space variously estimated at from eleven to sixteen
acres,--which I suppose would hold more port-wine than ever was made. At
any rate, the pipes and butts were so thickly piled that in some places
we could hardly squeeze past them. We drank from two or three vintages;
but I was not impressed with any especial excellence in the wine. We
were not the only visitors, for, far in the depths of the vault, we
passed a gentleman and two young ladies, wandering about like the ghosts
of defunct wine-bibhers, in a Tophet specially prepared for then. People
employed here sometimes go astray, and, their lamps being extinguished,
they remain long in this everlasting gloom. We went likewise to the
vaults of sherry-wine, which have the same characteristics as those just
described, but are less extensive.
It is no guaranty for the excellence or even for the purity of the wine,
that it is kept in these cellars, under the lock and key of the
government; for the merchants are allowed to mix different vintages,
according to their own pleasure, and to adulterate it as they like. Very
little of the wine probably comes out as it goes in, or is exactly what
it pretends to be. I went back to Mr. ------'s office, and we drove
together to make some calls jointly and separately.
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