12 JANUARY 1962, Page 12

SIR,—To answer two vinous questions in your last issue: (1)

Berncasteler Doctor is 'over-advertised' in all Guides to wine, including my own, because of its name and a trivial story attached to it to the effect that the wine has a medicinal value (not that it is the wine of the late Dr. Thhnisch). It is a very good Moselle, but it is not enormously above all others. (2) Ordinary Black Velvet should not be called 'Bismarck'; I believe that the Chancellor insisted that a large'spoonful of cream should be stirred into the mixture of stout and champagne, which he found was not rich enough otherwise; that is 'Bismarck.' He was wealthy enough to have imported Guinness if he chose; but Black Velvet can be made of any stout that is not too sweet.