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Show oo WINE DRINKING. ! Heaping coals of fire on the heads f the sufferers In the Volstead Des- I ert W. J Todd, an Englishman, has Just published a book on how to en-Joy en-Joy wines. Discussing this volume, "Handbook of Wine," tho London Daily Mail describes de-scribes Its author as "a well-known authority." That Is enough to assure the book a wide sale In America. "Never was wJno better made than now," is Todd's conclusion. He may change his mind If he tours our country, coun-try, as do so many English writers, and politely has to swallow some of the vintages of 1921 and 1922, mado Jin the cellar with newspapers pinned .over the windows The connolflseur-llke appreciation of fine wines is becoming a lost art, says Todd. Ho finds that tobacco, especially especial-ly clgarets, is numbing the fine and delicate sense of taste that used to enable a chronic wlne-blbber to get a du Cerent response from each brand of wine. Tho best clarets have not been truly appreciated In England, Todd laments, since King Edward set the fashion of! the long cigar. If you have a fine wine and want to enjoy It, Todd warns, it must be j drunk In a room which la not crowded. This Is obvious, for In a room I crowded with thirsty, a fight might. I break out for possession of the bottle. bot-tle. However, such ia not Todd's mean-ing. mean-ing. What he appears to be, driving at j !is that in a large gathering one's attention at-tention In distracted and it la Impossible Impos-sible to give to the wine the concentration concen-tration necessary to appreciate its nec taf taste. And finally Todd warns that a bottle : of wine should be given "most tender 'handling," since the beverage loses much of ita deliclousness if agitated or poured out roughly. Americans with good memory of bar-room days can, by straining the Imagination, follow him. It sounds! queer and unnatural, though, this moaning about the taste of wine and j no word about the kick Over here. I if the wine had sufficient kick, many former connoisseurs would bo willing, to stand for a sulphur-and alum taste In fact, they do. oo |