Earliest Efforts at Wine-Making in America-- Failures to Acclimatise European Vines-- Wines Made by the Swiss Settlers and the Mission Fathers-- The Yield of the Mission Vineyards-- The Monster Vine of the Montecito Valley-- The Catawba Vine and its General Cultivation-- Mr. Longworth one of the Founders of American Viticulture-- Fresh Attempts to make Sparkling Wine at Cincinnati-- Existing Sparkling Wine Manufactures there-- Longfellow’s Song in Praise of Catawba-- The Kelley Island Wine Company-- Vintaging and Treatment of their Sparkling Wines-- Decrease of Consumption-- The Vineyards of Hammondsport-- Varieties of Grapes used for Sparkling Wines-- The Vintage-- After Treatment of the Wines-- The Pleasant Valley and Urbana Wine Companies and their Various Brands-- Californian Sparkling Wines-- The Buena Vista Vinicultural Society of San Francisco-- Its Early Failures and Eventual Success in Manufacturing Sparkling Wines-- The Vintage in California-- Chinese Vintagers-- How the Wine is Made-- American Spurious Sparkling Wines 203 XX.--CONCLUDING FACTS AND HINTS. Dry and Sweet Champagnes-- Their Sparkling Properties-- Form of Champagne Glasses-- Style of Sparkling Wines Consumed in Different Countries-- The Colour and Alcoholic Strength of Champagne-- Champagne Approved of by the Faculty-- Its Use in Nervous Derangements-- The Icing of Champagne-- Scarcity of Grand Vintages in the Champagne-- The Quality of the Wine has little influence on the Price-- Prices realised by the Ay and Verzenay Crûs in Grand Years-- Suggestions for laying down Champagnes of Grand Vintages-- The Improvement they Develop after a few Years-- The Wine of 1874-- The proper kind of Cellar to lay down Champagne in-- Advantages of Burrow’s Patent Slider Wine Bins-- Increase in the Consumption of Champagne-- Tabular Statement of Stocks, Exports, and Home Consumption from 1844-5 to 1877-8-- When to Serve Champagne at a Dinner Party-- Charles Dickens’s dictum that its proper place is at a Ball-- Advantageous Effect of Champagne at an Ordinary British Dinner Party-- Sparkling Wine Cups 212 THE PRINCIPAL SPARKLING WINE BRANDS 225 [Illustrated Text:] FACTS ABOUT CHAMPAGNE AND OTHER SPARKLING WINES. I.--THE ORIGIN OF CHAMPAGNE.