286 



THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE. 



spices are added, and exist in the fluid as such, the 

 product is no longer wine, but liqueur or cordial. 

 Some have, however, extended this principle so far 

 as to assert that any addition to the juice of the 

 grape, either before or after its fermentation, robs it 

 of its claim to the name of wine ; but to this we 

 cannot subscribe. If we by any process could pro- 

 duce a fluid identical in its chemical and physical 

 properties with the juice of the grape, we could no 

 doubt make good and real wine therefrom. And if 

 so, then surely the addition of any ingredient which 

 may be required to bring the juice up to the quality 

 and composition of a good wine-making must, cannot 

 have any but a good effect, and must produce a real 

 wine. 



Now the juice of the grape varies in composition 

 from several causes. The variety of grape, the cli- 

 mate in which it is produced, the character of the 

 soil in which it grows, the nature of the manure with 

 which it has been nourished, the mode in which it 

 has been pruned, its exposure to sun and air, and 

 many other influences, all modify the character of the 

 must, and consequently of the wine produced there- 

 from. In almost every locality we are confined to a 

 few varieties of grapes, and as the climatic condi- 

 tions are also in a great measure beyond our control, 

 we must depend upon judicious pruning, manuring 

 and cultivation for the production of the best grapes 

 for the manufacture of wine. In former chapters we 

 have detailed the peculiarities of vine-dressing as 

 adapted to the producing of wine-making grapes; 



