NAMES OF THE VARIOUS PARTS. 13 



ing ill the earlier portions of spring is much dimin- 

 ished. Practical vine-dressers therefore smile at en- 

 thusiasts, Avho count their grapes before this danger is 

 past. These cord-twigs which thus spring from buds, 

 which should bear grapes, are in German called 

 Gabelein, "forks." I name them " Tendrils^ 



The fruit stalk comprising the centre axis with 

 its branches^ or the part of the cluster which remains 

 after removing the berries, is called the " Comhy 

 Grapes which are ^^ close berried'''' are best. 



The berries contain, when ripe, saccharine matter, 

 (never yet brought to crystallization,) water, much 

 coloring matter, and also substances more or less pe- 

 culiar to taste and smell, according to the kind of 

 grape and the season. 



The saccharine matter is the great basis of the fer- 

 mentation, and therefore of the quality of the wine. 



The taste peculiar to each kind of grape arises from 

 the inside coating of the skin of the berry, a matter 

 easily tried by chewing and sucking this skin after the 

 pulp is squeezed out. The peculiar smell also springs 

 from substances immediately connected therewith, and 

 the reason why wine which passes through its first 

 fermentation before the juice is pressed from the 

 crushed grape, possesses the taste and smell peculiar 

 to each grape in a greater degree, must be sought in 

 the fact, that through this process the saccharine slime 



