THE ART OP WINE MAKING. 201 



poses to impart to his wines. In the estimation 

 of some of our proprietors, the merit of this 

 quality consists in the delicacy of the flavour, 

 which is inconsistent with a perfect maturity of the 

 fruit, whilst among others the desideratum is, 

 to give the wine an alcoholic spirit and delicate 

 flavour, which require a full development of the 

 saccharine principle. It is with this view, that 

 in Spain they allow the grapes to dry on the 

 vine before gathering them; that in Rivesaltes 

 and the isles of Candia, and Cyprus, they are 

 suffered to dry. 



The Vin d'rfrbois, and those of Chateau de 

 Chalvos, are not gathered till the month of De- 

 cember. The Vin de Faille of Tourraine, is 

 from the grape gathered during the dry time, 

 and under the burning rays of the mid-day sun. 

 The fruit is then spread over frames of narrow 

 lattice work, in such a manner that the bunches 

 are never in contact, and thus exposed to the 

 rays of the scorching sun. At sunset the grapes 

 which have become decayed, are carefully de- 

 tached, after which they are placed in a dry 

 apartment during night. On the succeeding 

 day they are exposed in like manner to the ac- 

 tion of the sun. 



When by such exposure they become com- 

 pletely wilted, they are thrown into the press, 

 and the wine extracted, and placed in the proper 

 vessels for fermentation. 



In southern countries, the general period of the 

 vintage is when the grape has attained a full ma- 

 turity. When the fruit has arrived at this state, 

 it presents the following indications. The stem 



