432 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



to three or four. He saiJ that all the varieties 

 mentioned by Jioxas Clemenli were to be Ibund 

 in the vineyards ot'Xeres, but the proprietors were 

 all anxious to make it be believed that their vine- 

 yards contained only the most celebrated sorts. 

 Don Pedro Domecq's vineyard rontains about 

 2U0 acres, and yields from 600 to 800 butts of wine 

 according to the season. This year a large pro- 

 portion ol' tlie grapes in his vineyards, as well as 

 in other vineyards throughout "the country, had 

 rotted, in consequence of the season having been 

 unusually wet. He said that in future years he 

 should take care to prevent this result, by unleal- 

 ing tlie vines, and allowing the rays of the sun to 

 reach the grapes. He trenched the ground to the 

 depth of a vara, (33 inches;) he said he did not 

 consider it advantageous to go very deep, it allow- 

 ed the roots to penetrate too far from the heat of 

 the air ; he did not approve of the practice usual 

 in the country of leaving holes about the loot of 

 the vines, (or the purpose of collecting the mois- 

 ture to the roots ; he preferred having it all well 

 dug over ; this was done three, or even four times 

 a year, and when first dressed in the winter alter 

 the pruning, it is turned up to the depth of 14 or 

 15 inches. 



On entering his cellar, or rather pressing-room, 

 we Jound the laborers at their dmner. Bread 

 eeemed here, as elsewhere, the chiefarticle of their 

 diet. There was also abundance of prickly pears 

 and grapes. We passed to the cellar where the 

 new-made wine was stowed, ai^d tasted it in its 

 various states. The wine of a^fi)rtnight old was 

 still very sweet, although the fermentation was 

 now barely sensible. We also tasted the sweet 

 wine of the same age, made from the Pedro 

 jLiine7ies grape, and we conceived it to be barely 

 possible lor any thing to be more luscious, although 

 we were informed that in a dry season it is much 

 richer. He said he had about 200 butts of the 

 sweet wine, and wished it were all of that quality, 

 it was so useliil in mixing with his purchased wine 

 lor exportation. We observed some casks marked 

 podrida, as being made from rotten grapes, and 

 asked if there vvas not great danger of that wine 

 turning out ill. He replied yes, by the ordinary 

 rnanatrement of the country, but he had adopted a 

 different system of t.'-eatment. He said, that in- 

 stead of pulling a funnel into the bunghoie of the 

 cask to prevent the scum from escaping, no sooner 

 vvas the violence of the fermentation over, than 

 he filled up the cask, in order that it might work 

 over and escape. He also racked off his wine 

 into clean casks at the end of two months, or even 

 a shorter period, instead of allowing it to remain in 

 the cask in which it vvas fermented till March or 

 April, as vvas the general custom. He says that 

 brandy is added to the sherry wines, chiefly on 

 account of the taste of the English, who are its 

 principal consumers; but it is also useful in pre- 

 venting scuddiness, and curing it when it has 

 taken place. Don Pedro perfectly agreed in an 

 opinion which f ofiered, that if wines were made 

 with sound grapes only, and more perfectly fer- 

 mented, this scuddiness would never occur. I 

 represented to him the advantage of large vats for 

 jermenfing the wine. He acknowledged the pro- 

 bability of a more perfect lermentation taking place 

 in large vats, and of the wirie being the earlier 

 ready lor the market in consequence; but objected, 

 that where there were 700 or 800 butts to ruake, it 



would require so great a number of vats, that it 

 would not be praciicat)le. I explained lo him 

 that ihe fermenlaiion would be so much sooner 

 over in consequence of its violence, that the wine 

 might be in general drawn off into casks after five 

 or six days, and thus the same vats might be used 

 many times ; lor in consequence of the care that is 

 observed in the vineyards which yield sherry, to 

 have all the grapes thoroughly ripe, the vintage 

 will frequenily continue for six weeks, commencing 

 about the middle of September, and seldom being 

 completed till the end of October. In the vine- 

 yards yielding the common wines this is not the 

 case; when the majority of the grapes are ripe, 

 they ga;her the whole, and their vintage, is over 

 in 8 or 10 days. My observation, as to the short- 

 ness of the time it would be requisite to keep the 

 wine in the vats, appeared to get over his difficulty; 

 and from what he said, I think it likely that he 

 will liot allow anoiher vintage to pass without 

 giving them a trial. He said he was sensible of 

 the advantage ol' sulphuring wine, but that it was 

 difficult to prevent the taste frnm remaining: and 

 that it sometimes happened that the English 

 merchant would not be persuaded that there vvas 

 no taste of sulphur, even when none had been 

 used. He had got M'Culloch's book, and was 

 aware of the (jualities of the sulphate of potash, 

 which that writer so strongly recommends. On 

 returning from the cellar to the pressing-room we 

 Ibund the presses at work. There were eight 

 troughs, similar in shape and dimensions to those 

 formerly described, each with its wooden screw in 

 the centre. A large quantity of grapes being 

 heaped up in one part of the trough, they com- 

 mence by strewing upon them as much powdered 

 gypsum, or sulphate of lime, as a man can take 

 up with both hands. A portion of the grapes are 

 then spread over the botiom of the remainder oi 

 the trough, upon which the men jump with great 

 violence, having wooden shoes, with nails to 

 prevent their slipping. After liie greater part of 

 the grapes are pretty well broken, they are piled 

 up round the screw, and a fiat band, made of a 

 kind ol'grass, is wound round the pile, commencing 

 at the bottom, the broken grapes being heaped 

 and pressed in as the band is wrapped higher and 

 iiigher, till they are all compressed into it. Tliey 

 then commence working the screw, and the 7nust 

 flows with great rapidity. The bottoms of the 

 troughs are elevated about 2| ftjet above the floor 

 of the cellar, and each has (vvo spouts, under 

 which tubs are placed, and jars in the tubs ; and 

 as the jars are filled, tliey are carried away and 

 emptied into the butts. When the whole opera- 

 tion is completed, the bulk of the husks or skins is 

 not more than one sixth or one seventh of what 

 the grapes appeared when first placed in the 

 irouglis. This is almost the universal practice of 

 the country ; but some persons pour a jar of water 

 over the grapes at the same time that they strew 

 the gypsum upon them. And it is usual to add 

 water to the skins and husks, and then to tread 

 and press them again. This yields an inferior 

 wme, but is generally added in the state of must 

 to the produce of the first pressing. It has been 

 observed, that in very dry seasons, the aguapies, 

 as this is called, is almost equal to ih e yenias, or 

 first running. Don Pedro's cellar contained eight 

 of these presses, ail of which were at work; but 

 hs vvas erecting a press upon scientific principles, 



