150 AMERICAl^ GRAPE GROWIKa 



will penetrate the wood, and make you secure against 

 any taint in the wine. But do not bung the cask 

 while the brandy is burning, or you may have an ex- 

 plosion before you know it. The same may be done 

 with mouldy casks, to make them fresh and service- 

 able again. 



The casks can then be filled with the must, either 

 completely, if it is intended that the must should fer- 

 ment above, as it is called, or under, when the cask is 

 not completely filled, so that the husks, scums, etc., 

 which the must will throw to the surface during fer- 

 mentation, will remain in the cask. Both methods 

 have their advantages, but after long practice, I now 

 follow the latter, leaving empty space enough until rapid 

 fermentation is over, so that all remains in the cask. As 

 long as fermentation lasts, and the gas escapes, all goes 

 right, and a few vine leaves over the bung-hole, on which 

 a small sack of sand is laid, are sufficient to close it. Of 

 course it must be closely watched, and the bung closed 

 as soon as fermentation ceases, when the casks must be 

 filled with wine kept for that purpose in a separate 

 cask. If, during fermentation, cool weather should set m, 

 and the temperature fall below 60°, the fermenting cel- 

 lar should be warmed by a stove. But this will rarely 

 be the case, as the vintage should be over before cold 

 weather sets in. 



When violent fermentation has ceased, and the must 

 has become quiet, the cask should be closed with a tight 

 bung of white oak or poplar wood. To make dark-red 

 wine, the treatment differs, as it is the object, as before 

 remarked, to get a wine of the darkest color, highest 

 fiavor, and of a certain astringency, which it will only 

 attain by fermenting on the husks. The must is, in that 

 case, allowed to ferment on the husks for from three to 

 six days, when the husks which rise to the surface should 

 often be pressed down and stirred through the must, to 



