British Food Journal Volume 47 Issue 3 1945

The observations in an article upon British wines which appeared in the January issue of the JOURNAL have occasioned the publication in The Wine and Spirit Trade Review of some comments endorsing views which we set forth, and also the publication in the same periodical of a letter addressed to the BRITISH FOOD JOURNAL, from Mr. G. Gordon Watt, of Messrs. Lamb & Watt, Ltd., in which he protests against certain views which he attributes to us, but which, in fact, are nowhere to be found in the article in question. The policy of this JOURNAL for the last nearly fifty years has always been to encourage and assist the producer of good and genuine products, and our duty to the public and to the honest manufacturer is to call attention to practices which we consider are not in the best interests of either. We do not underrate the position which the British wine industry has won for itself; the fact that in pre‐war years some six million gallons of these wines were produced and sold, sufficiently attests their popularity and the need which the industry meets, and undoubtedly it has played an important part during the war years in filling the gap created by the almost total exclusion of the importation of foreign wines for the British market. British wines are perfectly good and genuine products and occupy a legitimate position in the beverages of the country provided that they conform to the descriptions under which they are sold. In this connection we adhere to the opinion which we have already expressed, that where wines bear a foreign appellation, such as “Port Type,” “Sherry Type” or “British Sherry,” the purchaser is entitled to expect that the fruit of the vine is an essential part of the raw material used in the production of the wine. It has been suggested that it would be useful to both makers and consumers if some standard could be established for British wines which would prevent the sale under that description of concoctions which have none of the attributes of wine. In the event of standards ultimately being established, we are of the opinion that for the purposes of preservation it is desirable that wines of the Port and Sherry types should contain 28/29 degrees of proof spirit.