THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 227 



In drawing off the wine it should not be allow- 

 ed to flow into an open mouthed cask, in order 

 to be afterwards placed into other vessels. In 

 so doing, the wine is discharged without violence, 

 foams and boils, by which it is deprived of a 

 portion of its aroma and body. It is the better 

 method to draw it off by the syphon, or other 

 tubular instrument, fitted to the small orifice of the 

 fermenting vessel. As the wine gradually flows 

 by this process, the bonnet settles, and finally is 

 quietly deposited on the lees at the bottom of 

 the cask. 



Both these still retain a considerable portion 

 of wine. But the bonnet having remained so 

 long in contact with the atmosphere, will have 

 contracted an acidity more or less powerful, ac- 

 cording as the operation is more or less prolong- 

 ed. They must, however, be pressed separately. 

 When the fermentation has been prompt, they 

 should be pressed together, and the juice thus ob- 

 tained, may be mixed with that of the decuvage. 

 The marc (grounds) should then be cut up with 

 sharp spades, perfectly clean, and again pressed, 

 and the wine of such second or third pressing, 

 more highly coloured, and put into a separate 

 cask, is sometimes employed to give to the for- 

 mer a colour, body, and slight astringency. The 

 marc is subsequently used for a variety of pur- 

 poses; such as the distillation of an inferior 

 brandy; the manufacture of vinegar, verdigris, 

 the food of domestic animals, and the distillation 

 of an ordinary beverage for labourers and domes- 

 tics, and known under the'appellation otpiquante 



