THE ART OP WINE MAKING. 241 



provement available to the skill of the experienc- 

 ed vintner. 



In order that the transparency of the wines 

 should suffer no injurious change during this 

 operation, it is advisable to adopt the practice of 

 the French vintner, to introduce into the cask, 

 about two inches from the bottom, a wide mouth- 

 ed spicket, the interior circumference of which 

 should be covered with a thick gauze, extending 

 across the diameter so as to intercept the fish 

 glue, and residuum, and prevent thereby the pas- 

 sage of such substances, into the vessel intended 

 to receive the pure wines, about to be put in 

 bottle. 



That your wines should possess a generous 

 and agreeable flavour, it is imperative that they 

 be fully matured and ripe, and to this object the 

 insensible fermentation is an indispensable pre- 

 requisite. If it be a conceded point, that they do 

 not acquire this character except they ripen in 

 large mass, it is also admitted that having ^ac- 

 quired this advantage, it is equally important to 

 the final result, that when put into bottle they 

 should be well corked, hermetically closed from 

 the action of the air; as without that precaution 

 they never can attain that deep, strong body, 

 that fixed hue, and soft, velvet like (veloute) de- 

 licacy, Which form the essential character of a 

 fine old wine. 



When thus effectively corked and sealed, the 

 bottles allow no passage to the internal transpira- 

 tion, or external humidity; whereas the best con- 

 structed wooden vessels are not impervious, al- 

 lowing the filtering and transpiration to pass by 

 X 



