Sugar Strength and Acidity of Victorian Musts. 93 



on complete fermentation, yield 12-1 gnimnies of alcohol in 100 

 CO. of wine, or more accurately 11-7. Now the average alcoholic 

 strength of Victorion wines, as determined by me in the first 

 part of this investigation, was 12 grannnes of alcohol per 100 c.c. 

 of wine, a number practically identical with that just calculated 

 from the sugar strength of the average must; so that the higli 

 alcoholic strength of Victorian wines finds its explanation in the 

 high sugar strength of Victorian musts. 



With regard to acidity, it is shown in the above table that 

 the acidity of our average Victorian must comes very close to 

 that of the -French average, but as the sugar is greater, the 

 proportion of acid to sugar is lower than in the French 

 case ; to bring out this difference the column headed parts of 

 acid to 100 parts of sugar has been given above, and it shows 

 that the average Victorian must cannot be said to be simply a 

 more concentrated form of the French and German musts, for 

 while it is more concentrated or stronger as regards sugar it is 

 weaker in acid. As to the amount of acid considered desirable 

 in French and German practice, it is stated by Viard ( IVaite 

 General de la Vigne, 1892, p. 177), that a must ought not to 

 contain less acid tlian is equivalent to "7 to '9 gramme of tartaric 

 acid per 100 c.c. of must; and Fresenius has given a value nearly 

 •8 gramme of tartaric acid as characteristic of the must in a 

 good year in Germany ; this acidity is almost identical with the 

 Victorian average, l)ut to keep in the same proportion to its high 

 sugar strength the Victorian average ought to be nearly l-l 

 gramme of acid per 100 c.c. 



The most interesting practical question brought out by these 

 numbers is : Given that it is desirable, how far it is possible to 

 bring the average Victorian wine neai'er to the French and 

 German standard ? It is obvious that the first condition to be 

 complied with is to bring the average Victorian must nearer to 

 those of France and Germany by a reduction of the sugar 

 strength and an increase of tlie acidity. That this is possible is 

 proved completely by several individual instances in the tables 

 at the end of this paper ; some of which, for convenience, are 

 selected and given separately in the following small table : 



