The question of wine with dinner - Remarks on the habitual use of alcoholic drinks of any kind - Wine should be taken chiefly during dinner, never before, not much, if any, after - Should be sound and pure, and without pretence - How to attain this - Relation of various wines with certain dishes - Cigarettes after dinner - Tobacco suggests coffee, and is incompatible with fine wine - The supply of water at dinner - Aerated waters - Foreign mineral waters - Their use at home and abroad - Sweet drinks at dinner objectionable.

I Have already said that, among all civilized nations, wine in some form has for centuries been highly appreciated as a gastronomic accompaniment to food. I do not, for an instant, attempt to deny it this position. Whether such employment of it is advantageous from a dietetic or physiological point of view as a rule of life, is at this moment altogether another question. I may not hesitate to say that, after a long and wide experience, I am still firmly convinced that the habitual use of wine, beer, or spirits is a physiological error, say, for nineteen persons out of twenty. In other words, the great majority of the human race, at any age or of either sex, will enjoy better health, both of body and mind, and will live longer, without any alcoholic drinks whatever, than with habitual indulgence in their use, even although such use be what is popularly understood as quite moderate. But I do not aver that any particular harm results from the habit of now and then enjoying a glass of really fine pure wine - and, rare as this is, I do not think any other is worth consuming - just as one may occasionally enjoy a particularly choice dish; neither the one nor the other, perhaps, being sufficiently innocuous or digestible for frequent, much less for habitual use. Then I am disposed to admit that there are some persons - in the aggregate not a few - who may take small quantities of genuine light wine or beer with very little appreciable injury. For these persons such drinks may be put in the category of luxuries permissible within certain limits or conditions, and of such luxuries let tobacco-smoking be regarded as another example. No one probably is any better for tobacco, although if indulged in with moderation, it has, for many, a delightfully soothing and tranquillizing effect after the endless harassing and worrying incidents of a stirring life. Some indulge too freely, diminishing both their mental and digestive powers; while others find it absolutely poisonous, and cannot inhale even a small quantity of the smoke without instantly feeling sick or ill. And some few indulge the moderate use of tobacco all their lives without any evil effects, at all events, that are perceptible to themselves or to others.

Wine taken with food from time immemorial.

Its habitual use not discussed here.

Occasional indulgence.

Some take wine with less injury than others.

The effects of tobacco vary as the individual.

Relative to these matters, every man ought to deal carefully and faithfully with himself, watching rigorously the effects of the smallest license on his mental and bodily states, and boldly denying himself the use of a luxurious habit if he finds undoubted sign of harm arising therefrom. And he must perform the difficult task with a profound conviction that his judgment is very prone to bias on the side of indulgence, since the luxurious habit is so agreeable, and to refrain therefrom, in relation to himself and to the present opinion of society, so difficult. Be it remarked, however, that the opinion of society is notably and rapidly changing relative to the point in question.

Having premised thus much as to what is absolutely best, I will now deal, in the spirit of compromise, with things as they are; and let it be understood that it is in this sense that I deal with the subject. I have only now to say, first, that wine, in relation to dinner, should be served during the repast; it should never be taken, in any form or under any circumstances, before, that is, on an empty stomach, and also is not desirable after the meal is finished. Regarded from a gastronomic point of view alone, nothing should appear afterwards except a small glass of cognac and coffee. The post-prandial habit of drinking glass after glass even of the finest growths of the Gironde, or of the most mature or mellow shipments from Oporto, is doubtless a pleasant, but, in the end, for many persons a costly indulgence.

Each man should judge honestly for himself.

Never take wine or spirit before meals.

Secondly, whatever wine is given should be the most sound and unsophisticated of its kind which can be procured. The host had far better produce only a bottle or two of sound bourgeois wine from Bordeaux - and most excellent wine may be found under such a denomination - with no pretence of a meretricious title, or other worthless finery about it, from a list of fictitious blends with pretentious labels supplied by an advertising cheap wine house. I could only speak in terms of contempt and disgust, did I not feel pity for the deluded victims, of the unscrupulous use of the time-honoured and historical titles which advertisers shamelessly flaunt on bottles of worthless compounds by means of showy labels, in lists and pamphlets of portentous length, and by placards sown broadcast through the country. So that one may buy "Lafite" or "Margaux" - "Chambertin" or "Nuits" - or even "'70 Port" - at a village store! No terms can be too strong to characterize such trade. If fine wines of unquestionable character and vintage are to be produced, there are only two ways of possessing them : one, by finding some wine-merchant of long standing and reputation, who will do an applicant the favour to furnish them, and the price must be large for quality and age. We may be certain that such a one will never advertise; no man who really has the grands vins of esteemed vintages in his cellar need spend a shilling in advertisements, for he confers a favour on his customer by parting with such stock. But better and more satisfactory is it to obtain from time to time a piece or two of wine, of high character and reputed vintage, when they are to be had, just fit to bottle, and lay them down for years until ripe for use. Commencing thus in early life, a man's cellar becomes in twenty or thirty years a possession of interest and value, and he can always produce, at his little dinners, for those who can appreciate it, something curiously fine, and free, at all events, from the deleterious qualities of new and fictitious wines.

Wine should be the genuine produce of the grape, and be honestly characterized.