202 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



crush the berries, but do not bruise the seeds, which, if crushed, 

 would give a bitter taste to the wine. If the wine is to be 

 white, the pulp is pressed as it comes from the masher ; if it 

 is to be red, the pulp is left to stand for six or eight days, so 

 that the red color of the skins may be communicated to the 

 juice. This is the only mode in which wines are colored. 

 The juice as it comes from the fresh berry is never red, but 

 some varieties of grape make a yellowish juice. 



After the pressing, the red and white wines are treated in 

 the same manner. The juice is put into large casks, usually 

 those of one hundred and forty gallons each, and about one 

 hundred and fifteen gallons are put in each. The casks are 

 thus not filled entirely, but a considerable surface of the wme 

 is left exposed to the air. This is to favor fermentation, to 

 which the atmosphere is necessary. The cask lies uj^on its 

 side, the bunghole is left open, and in three or four days the fer- 

 mentation begins ; in three or four more its period of greatest 

 activity has passed. The temperature is a matter of the ut- 

 most importance to fermentation, the proper degree being 

 about 65° Fahrenheit ; and if the liquid be kept either warmer 

 or colder than that figure, it will be in great danger of spoil- 

 ing. The fermentation is accompanied by a rising of little air- 

 bubbles to the surface, where they burst, making a noise that 

 may be heard by applying the ear to the bunghole, and w^iich 

 is sometimes so loud as to be heard in the cellar at a distance 

 often or twenty feet from the barrel. 



After the fermentation has been in progress three or four 

 days, the wine-maker pours in six or eight gallons of fresh 

 juice every day, until the cask is full; and for several days 

 after that he leaves the bunghole still open, and throws out 

 all scum that rises to the surface there. When the scum has 

 ceased to rise, the barrel is closed, and not disturbed for a pe- 

 riod which should not be less than three weeks nor more than 

 three months. After this, comes the " racking off." All the 

 liquor, except about four mches at the bottom, containing sedi- 

 ment, is drawn off through a siphon, or a cock placed above 



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