8 JuLV, 1908.] Efect of Cold on Ne-ic Dry Wines. 399 



Carles does not recognise the bare possibiliry of any other sized cask than 

 the hogshead being advantageous. In Australia we know otherwise and 

 can leave the question on one side while considering the most useful remarks 

 upon the value of cold in the storage of new wines. With her unrivalled 

 chmate for the ripening of grapes Australia suffers (from a cellarman's 

 point of view) from periods of great heat which are very trying to all 

 wines, but more particularly those of the preceding vintage. With a sudden 

 fall in the barometer and a violent increase in the temperature the lees 

 rise and there is every prospect of bacterial diseases affecting and destroying 

 the quality of the )oung wine. 



By a natural provision of nature, fortunately, nearly all wines made 

 in such climates have a sufficiency of alcohol to enable them to withstand 

 the heat, but at the same time they may for the same reason contain 

 traces of sugar wdiich is a food for many injurious germs. While possessing 

 great substance and body it is remarkable how very few Australian wines 

 will stand age in bottle. The reason is not always easy to find but in 

 Dr. Carles' pamphlet there is his opinion as to the necessity of cold which 

 points distinctly to the weak spot in Australian systems of maturing. New 

 wines are but rarely bright before the summer and whenever there is a lack 

 of limpidity there is a danger of secondary fermentations and deteriora- 

 tion. Inevitably fermentation during the summer following the vintage 

 entails a certain loss of quality and keeping powers. 



Having experimented with the action of artificial cold at the Govern- 

 ment Cool Stores, Melbourne, through the courtesy and kindly assistance 

 ot Mr. R. Crowe, Superintendent of Exports, I can speak from personal 

 experience of the extraordinary effect of prolonged cold on new wine. A 

 new red wine of the 1904 vintage was run into a hogshead and laid up in 

 a cool chamber for three weeks at a constant temperature of 33°. It 

 was then racked from its lees^ which were very voluminous and compact and 

 sent back tO' Rutherglen where it was bottled the following year in perfect 

 condition. At the time of bottling, which was of course far too soon, the 

 wine appeared fully a year older than the same wine stored in the ordinary 

 way but had far more delicacy and, particularly, finish. There was no 

 earthiness or coarseness and the general improvement was very pronounced. 

 I was desirous of ascertaining the exact degree of cold and the duration 

 necessary to produce this result but was prevented by circumstances over 

 which I had no control. The fact remains that steady and severe cold is 

 eminently beneficial to the keeping qualities of young wines. If Australia 

 means to take her place among the famous vintages of the world all diffi- 

 culties must be faced and overcome. Summing up Dr. P. Carles' sugges- 

 tion we should expose new dry wines to the greatest cold available. As 

 soon as the first fermentation is complete in a month or so after vintage, 

 if hogsheads are available, they might be filled and stacked in sheds or 

 out of doors out of the sun or the cellar doors should be left wide open. 

 If casks have to be seasoned this is our opportunity. Then in July our 

 wine can be racked and above all clarified before the large storage casks 

 are used for the summer. If earlv clarification were made an essential 

 every year the improvement in quality would, I think, be most marked 

 and the insurance against defects and loss verv considerable." 



The Effect of Cold on New Dry Wines. 



Dr. P. Carles, Professor of Medicine at tlie University of Bordeaux. 



The past autumn has been unusuallv mild and therefore all who hold 

 stocks of 1907 wines should take everv precaution that these wines should 



