II Oct., 1909.] Sherry : 1 Is Making and Rearing. 



02 



the flor film, indispensable fox the evolution of fino wines, without the 

 risk of acetification which would no doubt occur if every cask had to 

 develop separately. The peculiar nature of the flor organism and its 

 relationship to the ferment of vinegar will be referred to in detail pre- 

 sently. It will suffice here to say that once the wine is covered with a 

 film,' it is, so long as this remains healthv and vigorous, protected fioiu 

 [;ecoming pricked. Tliough high class sherries are almost exclusively 

 solera wines, it is only in lino .soleras that the flor film is present on the 

 surface of the wine. 



Olorosos and older wines which have become too strong for the growtli 

 of flor, such as amontillados, still continue to develop in soleras, though 

 thev are subjected to somewhat different treatment. 



It thus follows that there are great differences between the different 

 .soleras in a given bodega in man\ fundamental respects. The cast' 

 illustrated above, with five stages of ten casks each, is a very simple 

 one chosen for purposes of illustration. Some soleras consist of as man\ 

 as thirteen stages and even more. The enhanced price at which such a 

 wine must be sold in order to leave any profit is obvious. Even in tne 

 case of our- five stage solera, the amount of stock necessary for its proper 

 working is considerable. Admitting two removals per annum of 25 gallons 

 from each butt of stage i, this would give us only 500 gallons per 

 annum from a stock of 5,000 gallons. In the case of soleras with more 

 than five stages, the stock which must be kept is correspondingly in- 

 creased. The loss bv evaporation, interest, &c., is considerable, hence it 

 is that solera wines can never he reared at a cheap price. 



JNIanagement of Soleras. 



From what I was able to see during my brief visit the following 

 points seem to be of greatest importance^ 



Cai-e is taken in making withdrawals and additions, to- distm-b neither 

 lees nor film. For the former purpose, a copper syphon, of ordinar\- 

 type, is used which draws the wine from about the centre of the but*-. 

 For replenishing (^osea?- in (Spanish) 

 a special appliance, is employed 

 figured ill our illustration This 

 consists of a slightly carved copper 

 tube of sufficient length to pene- 

 trate deeply into the butt. A 

 flange at the upper extremity 

 enables it to hang freely from the 

 bung-hole. A funnel fits into the 

 upper part. The lower portion is 

 pierced witli lateral holes tiirougli 

 which additions find their way 

 quietly into t)ie hulk of the wine 

 in the cask without appreciable agi- 

 tation. A withdrawal from any 

 given butt of an intermediate stage 

 is not fed bodily into tlie corre- 

 sponding butt of the next stage but 

 is distributed evenly among idl the 

 butts of which it "consists, thus insuring complete and atrtomatic blending 

 and complete uniformity in all the butts of any given stage. To refer to our 

 diagram, suppo.se, for example, 25 gallons have been withdrawn from 



appliance used to rkpllnish 

 (rosear) solera butts. 



