(Vol. ix., p. 272.)
With respect to the wines called Sacks, much diversity of opinion has
prevailed, and although the question has been frequently discussed, it
still remains, in a great measure, undetermined. It seems admitted, on all
hands, that the term _sack_ was originally applied to certain growths of
Spain. In a MS. account of the disbursements by the chamberlain of the city
of Worcester for 1592, Dr. Percy found the ancient mode of spelling to be
_seck_, and thence concluded that sack is a corruption of _sec_, signifying
a dry wine. Moreover, in the French version of a proclamation for
regulating the prices of wines, issued by the privy Council in 1633, the
expression _vins secs_ corresponds with the word _sacks_ in the original.
The term _sec_ is still used as a substantive by the French to denote a
Spanish wine; and the dry wine of Xerez is known at the place of its growth
by the name of _vino seco_. The foregoing account is abridged from _The
History of Ancient and Modern Wines_, by Alex. Henderson, Lond. 1824. The
following is taken from Cyrus Redding's _History of Modern Wines_, Lond.
1833:
"In the early voyages to these islands (the Canaries), quoted in
Ashley's collection, there is a passage relative to sack, which will
puzzle wise heads about that wine. It is under the head of 'Nicols'
Voyage.' Nicols lived eight years in the islands. The island of
Teneriffe produces three sorts of wine, Canary, Malvasia, and Verdona,
'which may all go under the denomination of sack.' The term then was
applied neither to sweet nor dry wines exclusively, but to Canary,
Xeres (_i. e._ sherry), or Malaga generally. In Anglo-Spanish
dictionaries of a century and a quarter old, sack is given as _Vino de
Canarias_. Hence it was Canary sack, Xeres sack, or Malaga sack."
[Greek: Halieus].
Dublin.
In reply to your correspondent, I believe sack to be nothing but _vino
secco_, dry wine, probably identical with sherry or madeira. I once, when
an undergraduate at Oxford, ordered a dozen from a travelling agent to a
London wine merchant, probably from Shakspearian associations, and my
belief is that what he sold me under that name was an Italian wine of some
sort, bearing a good deal of resemblance to the _vino panto_, of which
Perugia is the head-quarters.