WINE MANUFACTURE. 



WTXE MAXlTFACTi 



M 



l*iil longer in the red wine* of Portugal ; hence the greater auiterity 

 Mid astringency of the Utter. The wine of Gabon, prepared from a 

 grape called A nxerrou, or pied dt perdrvr, yield* a wine almost black, 

 the colour being deepened by an admixture of a preparation called 

 ra omr, which i merely a portion of the must of thin grape, boiled 

 for a few minute* with the strongest spirit of wine, in the proportion 

 of one part of spirit to four of must, added to it This extracts the 

 colouring principle most thoroughly; and communicates not only tu 

 the wine of Cahors, but also to many of the Bordeaux wines, to which 

 raugome is frequently added, a deep hue. " The more this preparation 

 is required and added, the less the wine will bear keeping." (Paguierre, 

 p.118.) 

 PAH-LAI View or mt VIXTAOM or FOUR or THE MOOT mrmixr AXD CEIE- 



aEATED WlXE-COCXTEUB, EXTKXD1XU FROM Al.HOT THE KOT WUTkllX 

 TO TBS MOST BASTEkX I-OIXT WBkEE FAMOVS \VlXU AEE rEODrrED IN 



KiEorr. Ix THE COI.VMX or CLAEET OKLT THE MOT XOTID THA AUF. 



OITXX, TIIE IXTUHED1ATE OXES SUXO EITBEE " XVU," " BAD," OE I'M.V 



"MIUDUXO." TBS ExratMiox "GOOD" EErEU OLY TO THE QIALITT : 



KE TEAU BEIXO HOOD, WITH AX AICXDAXT PEOIUCE ; OTBEU noon, 

 WHILE THE aCAXTTTT WAE SHALL. 



The wines of the Moselle may be distinguished from those of the 

 Khine by having a greenish colour, while the latter have a yellowish 

 colour. At Cotnar, in Moldavia, a wine is prepared which is green, 

 and which becomes deeper by time ; while the strength increases so 

 much, that if the wine be kept in a deep and well-vaulted cellar, in 

 three or four years it almost resembles brandy, but without so 

 readily affecting the head. " On exposing red wines in bottles to the 

 action of the sun's rays the colouring-matter separates in large flakes, 

 without altering the flavour of the wine." (Henderson.) Sulphurous 

 light not to be used for fuming the casks into which red wine is 

 to be put, as it destroys their colour. Spirit of wine should be used to 

 rinse such casks The colour of wine in judged of by placing Home 

 of it in a small silver tray or saucer (called in Portuguese i 

 ilrira) slightly raised in the centre ; the colour it exhibits as it passes 

 over the convex centre when agitated, is that which guides the 

 broker. 



To proceed with the steps towards the conversion of the must into 

 wine. " Before beginning the vintage it is criessary to be assured 

 that the fruit which is to be gathered has attained the proper and 



maturity, for on this almost always <lt>|x-n<l, iu a great 

 measure', the quality of the wine. The cultivator is liable to fall into 

 one of two errors, which, though very different and opposite to each 

 other, are not less hurtful to the wine, especially to the red * 1 

 more delicate and susceptible of injury in making than the white. If 

 gathered too noon, and before the grape has attained to the fit degree 

 of maturity, the wine is likely to be raw (irrf). which is the greatest 

 fault it can have, and the moat difficult to correct; the wines 1: 

 this defect becoming general h hard when old. The other 

 though of less consequence, is leaving the grapes till they are to 

 which may then rot before gathered." (In the north of France i 

 more liable to occur; in the south, less so: at Langoe. between HIT 

 deaux and Toulouse, a white sweet wine is prepared from 

 grapes.) "The wine mode from grapes too ripe acquires a sw 

 taste, which causes it to work a long while in the barrels. .-UK! i 

 it sour and difficult to keep. The wine attacked by thin vice n 

 greater care than any other ; for if neglected ever so little, either in 

 racking or filling, it easily becomes sour. 1 1. ,..! r, it , 

 gather late than too noon." (Paguierre, p. 47.) At Tokay, where th. 

 grapes are allowed to hang on the vines till some of them low thru 

 globular shape and transparency (trvcktnlxrrm), the gatherer* put 

 into a separate basket; and the juice which exudes from them Dimply 

 by the pressure of one above the other is carefully collected, and known 

 under the name of Tulayer-atenz. This thick syrupy liquid does not 

 ferment, and always remain!) thick and muddy. It is not an article of 

 commerce, as the cultivators keep it to add to the hnest wine (called 

 Jtttbrudi) either at the beginning of the fermentation or at the U-rini 

 nation. The former is the preferable mode. 



We may take Clarets as an illustration of the process of ni.r 

 luring : that being one of the most carefully prepared kinds of wine, it 

 will serve as an example of all In the words of Paguierre (' ' 

 of Bordeaux '), " the proprietors of the vineyards, and especially of 

 the first growths, after having prepared the wine-vessels, gather the 

 grapes together and pick them, that i*,sct aside all tin' Imnche.- which 

 ore rotten, those which do not seem quito ii|x?. or win. h .-ire withered, 

 and, finally, all which might hurt the quality of the wine. Their first 

 care then U to make a principal vat of the best fruit, which is 

 the mother-cask (i-iirt-n.tre), into which, after picking, they put the 

 first and best grapes which arrive, without their stalks, and without 

 treading them, till they are from fifteen to twenty inches deep ; after 

 which they throw about two gallons of old Cognac or Armagnac u|n.n 

 them, and then another bed of picked grapes, followed by two v 

 more of brandy, and so on till the vat is full. When full tin 

 spirit of wine, taking for proportion about four gallons of BJM 

 wine for a wine- vat of from thirty to thirty -six tuns. It in < 

 observed that the quantity of brandy or spirits of wine depends on the 

 quality of the vintage ; for if bad, more must be put in order to . 

 fermentation, and replace what it wants by defect of maturity, 

 late it ban become customary to add starch-sugar when the grapes are 

 deficient in saccharine principles.) Raisins are often used for the 

 inferior Gorman wines. (Mulder, p. 51, English Translation.) Th> 

 mire being filled, it is shut hermetically, and is well covered with 

 blankets, in order that the air may not penetrate. This vat is left in 

 this state for three weeks or a month without being touched. A 

 small brass cock is put into the side of the vat, at about the height of 

 the third of its depth from the bottom, in order to be able to ju 

 will of the progress of the fermentation, and to know the moment 

 when, the ebullition having subsided, it may be racked off and put 

 into casks, prepared beforehand by scalding and rinsing with a little 

 spirits of wine. It is known that the liquor is fit to be drawn oil' 

 when it bos become cool and is sufficiently clear. While the n<r. - 

 nitre is at work, the vintage U continued in the uoual manner ; that is, 

 as the grapes are brought in and picked, they are trodden in the 

 press, and put with their stalks into the vats, where the fermentation 

 takes place naturally. These vessels are not entirely filled ; about one 

 foot or fifteen inches are left for the fermentation, which soinetnm - 

 overflows, especially when the vintage has attained perfect maturity. 

 They call ehapeau the stalks, seeds, and skins, &c., which Uoat on 

 the surface of the wine. The vintage being finished, and tli 

 lightly covered, they are left to ferment, taxing care to visit them 

 twice a day. To rock them it is necessary tu wait till they are quite 

 cold, which is from eight to twelve days. From the moment that the 

 cask has become sufficiently cool, it is necessary to draw it off; tor if 

 you leave the wine upon the lees (tuarre). or with its crust (>/<//> <.i. 

 it would take the taste of the stalks, which is very disagreeable :md 

 difficult to get rid of, and is a great defect. If the cask be raek 

 too soon, the fermentation would not be complete, and the wine would 

 rim the risk of working too much in the barrel, and of not k. 

 When the vats are found to be in a proper state for racking, the \ 

 drawn off into barrels prepared for the purpose, which are tilled about 

 two-thirds or three-fourths ; after which the citre-mtic. is emptied, and 

 the wine is poured in equal portions into these casks so as to till 

 and the remainder is employed to nil up, every six or eight day-, 

 is consumed by evaporation, or what the casks have ullxged. All pro- 

 prietors have not the means or localities to make a ntiv-.re by > 

 of old brandy or spirits of wine, either because their vintage is not 

 sufficiently extensive, or because they do not possess the things neces- 

 f.iry for its execution. But the fermentation succeeds much better 



