AND WINE MAKING. 151 



prevent their souring. The must is then drawn off below, 

 by a faucet, and the husks pressed. If it is desired to make 

 only a dark -colored wine, without so much astringency, 

 and of great body, the grapes are allowed to hang until 

 they are very ripe, even shrivelled ; and stemmed, as the 

 stems contain a large amount of acid and tannin, and 

 give the wine a rough and bitter taste. In this manner 

 the celebrated red wines of Burgundy, and the best 

 brands of France and Germany, are made. Many of them 

 are even allowed to go through the whole process of fer- 

 mentation before pressing, and the husks are filled into 

 the cask with the must, through a door above, and remain 

 there until the clear wine is drawn off. This is gener- 

 ally not desirable here, however, as our red grapes con- 

 tain sufficient astringency and color without this process. 

 After the wine has become quiet it is looked after fre- 

 quently, and the casks filled to the bung. As there 

 is more or less evaporation, this should be done every two 

 or three weeks, always using wine of the same or similar 

 character. In two to three months the wine ought to be 

 clear and bright, and should then be racked, i. e,, drawn 

 from the lees by means of a faucet, and put into clean, 

 sweet casks. It is very important here, again, that the 

 casks into which it is drawn, are sweet and clean, or 

 *' wine green." For must, fresh brandy or whiskey casks 

 may be used ; but after the wine has fermented, it will 

 not do to use such, as the wine acquires the smell and 

 taste of the liquor. When a cask has been emptied, it 

 should be carefully cleaned, as before described, by en- 

 tering at the door or man-hole, or, with smaller casks, by 

 taking out the head, as the lees are very adhesive, and 

 will not wash out readily, but should be brushed off. 

 After it is thoroughly cleansed it may be fumigated 

 slightly, by burning a small piece of sulphured paper, or 

 a nutmeg in it, and then filled. To keep empty casks in 

 good condition, thoy should, after cleaning, be allowed 



