To the man who takes the gifts of earth with
due thankfulness, there must always be something to inspire reverence in the vineyards of Southern and Central France, where so much of the best and purest wine is made. A Book of French Wines (Knopf, 10s. 6d.) tells us not only where and when and how the best vintages have been grown : Mr. Morton Shand (who perhaps is the foremost authority on wine in this country) has also a keen historical sense and continually fires the reader's imagination with some anecdote of Louis XV. or of "Le Roi Soleil," who found Bordeaux " im petit vin passable," or of Philippe de Valois, who drank Volnay at his coronation at Rheims in 1328. Appreciation of good wine might well serve the cause of temperance : certainly no connoisseur, anticipating a Château Laffitte, would devastate his palate with a cocktail.
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