Seo. 26.] 



DOMESTIC WINES. 



425 



of the best wine-makers of the country now believe that tiiey have dis- 

 covered, in the Delaware grajjc, one that will make wine equal to the best 

 European varieties. Some Cincinnati Catawba is a good Bubstituto for 

 Ilhinc wine. Some good wines arc made in California. 



474. tlow lo Make Grape Wine. — For the benefit of those who may wish tf 

 do a little in tlio way of domestic wine-making, we will give a few simple 

 rules, such as are followed by wine-makers on a small scale : 



Mashino the Gkape. — There are various methods of mashing the grapo 

 now used by the more careful wine-makers. Previous to the mashing, 

 however, when first-rate wine is to be made, the bunches are carefully ex- 

 amined, and all unripe and rotten berries are plucked off and tlirown away ; 

 then the grapes are thrown into a tub and mashed by tramping witii tlio 

 feet, or bruised with a club, or crushed by passing between two largo 

 wooden rollers, which are far enough apart to allow the seeds to pass with- 

 out being broken. The seeds, if mashed, would give a bitter taste to the 

 wine. To tramp grapes, wear India-rubber boots. 



Pkkssixc; thk Ctuape. — The pressing of the mashed berries is a simple 

 process, like the pressing of cheese, or ai>ples for cider. The grape-press is 

 usually made to hold al)out 150 lbs. of grapes at each pressing. If white 

 wine is to be made, the- grapes arc ]>ressed as soon as mashed ; but if rod 

 wine is wanted, the whole nuiss is left to ferment for six or seven days, in 

 which time the juice takes the dark color of the skin. 



Fkkmextation. — The juice for white wine, as it comes from the press, is 

 ]iut into pipes measuring Uo gallons, about 115 gallons of Juice being put 

 into each cask, leaving one fourth of it cnii)ty. The bung-hole is left open, 

 and in two or three days the fermentation begins, and its force is over in 

 three or four days. The wine-maker then jjroceeds to fill up the casks, 

 gradually pouring in six or eight gallons at a time, so that the casks aro 

 filled in the course of three or four days more. Tlio casks should be tilled 

 up before the strength of the fermentation is over, so that the dirt or scum 

 may be borne up to the bung-hole and there thrown out. 



Hacking. The vigor of the movement being over, the bung-holo is closed 



and the wine is left for a period varying from four weeks to three montlis. 

 It is tiicn drawn off through a cock placed a couple of inches above the Itot- 

 toin of the i)ipe, taking care not to disturb the sediment at the Uittom. 

 The clearer wine is poured into a clean cask ; that filled with setliment is 

 filtered through a doubled cotton cloth, and is then mixed again into the 

 first drawing^or it is used without filtration in making brandy. About 

 one twentieth of the juice as it comes from the press fulls down as sedi- 

 ment. The process of transferring wine from one cask to anotlier is termed 



"racking off." ^„ , , , , . 



After the first racking, the now cask is completely filled, the bung closctl, 

 and the wine is not disturbed till March or April, wlun it begins to feel a more 

 livelv fermentation, for that process never ceiusos entirely. A\ hen the vino 

 sprouts in March or April, and when it blossoms in June, and the grapo 



