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208 _ REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE, 
1 
~ * 
The plastering of wines, which is also very extensively carried on 
in France, consists in adding tothe wine or musta large excess of gyp- 
sum, or sulphate of lime. —- 
American wines would seem to be quite free from this form of adul- 
teration. In my 70 samples I found none which exceeded the gener- 
ally adoped standard of .092 gram SO, to 100cce., or 2 grams K,80, to. 
the liter, and only three, Nos. 5100, 5107, and 5115, which contained 
SO, corresponding to over 1 gram K,SO, per liter. 
. 
Fortification of wine consists in the addition of alcohol derivedfrom — . 
some other source. The alcohol may be added either tothe must or. 
the wine. It allows of better incorporation with the wineifitisadded 
to the must before fermentation. In either case, however, it precipi- 
tates a part of the constituents originally dissolved, lowers the quan- 
tity of extract, deprives the wine of its original bouquet and flavor, — 
and renders it more heady and intoxicating. The least objectionable 
addition is alcohol distilled from grapes; but the high price of the lat- 
ter renders it much less likely to be used than corn spirit, which con- 
tains considerably more fusel oil. The practice of fortification pre- 
vails especially in the more southern wine-growing countries, as 
Portugal, Spain, andthe south of France. Growers in those countries 
declare it to be a necessary addition in their warm climates for the 
preservation of the wines, as these latter contain a considerable quan- 
tity of unfermented sugar, which would soon produce the souring of 
the wine if the alcoholic content were not greater than can be obtained 
by fermentation. In France, for ordinary red wines, the addition of — 
alcohol is dectded by the relation of the alcohol to the extract (sugar 
deducted), exceeding sensibly the relation of 4 to 4.5. In Germany. 
the relation of alcohol to glycerine is relied upon, the maximum pro- . 
portion allowed being 100 parts by weight of alcohol to 140f glycerine, 
and the minimum 100 to 7. Wines going above the maximum are 
condemned as having suffered an addition of glycerine, those going 
below the minimum as being fortified with alcohol. With ‘‘sweet 
wines” these figures do not apply, as they are based on natural wines 
made in Germany. 
It is evident that the German standard of 100 parts of alcohol by | 
weight to 7 of glycerine, which is relied upon as a means of detecting 
the addition of alcohol, cannot be applied to American wines. Only 
three of the samples would pass muster by it, and it seems hardly pos- 
sible that the practice of adding alcohol could be so wide-spread as 
would be thus indicated. 
Foreign coloring matters are frequently added to red wines, either 
to brighten and improve the color obtained from the grapes, or, 
more frequently, to cover up the effects of previous dilution. These 
colors may be of vegetable origin, obtained from the various vege- 
table dyes, or by mixing the juice of other highly-colored berries or 
fruits with the wine; or they may be some of the numerous varie- 
ties of aniline dyes obtained from coal-tar. A few examples of the 
vegetable dyes said to be used may be mentioned as follows: Log- 
wood, cochineal, elderberries, whortleberries, red cabbage, beet-root, - 
mallow, indigo, ete. 
All of the samples of red wines, about forty, were submitted to a 
search for aniline coloring matters, which resulted in the demon- 
stration that one sample out of the forty, No. 4996, was colored with: 
an aniline dye-stuif, probably fuchsine. 
. . . . ’ 
The preservative agents added to wine are entirely similar to those - 
used in malt liquors, 
