168 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING 



method. Now let us see how we can adapt it to Ameri- 

 can grapes and wines. 



THE MUST OF AMERICAN GRAPES. 



If we closely examine the musts of most of our American 

 grapes, we find that they not only contain an excess of 

 acids in inferior seasons, but even a greater superabund- 

 ance of flavor or aroma, and of tannin and coloring mat- 

 ter. There is such an abundance of flavor in many of 

 them, that, were the quantity doubled by addition of 

 sugar and water, there would still be an abundance. 

 With some varieties, such as Concord and Ives, if fer- 

 mented on the husks, it is so strongly foxy, as to be dis- 

 agreeable, and as the pulp of them is very tough and 

 slippery, they can not be pressed clean without fermen- 

 tation. We must, therefore, not only ameliorate the 

 acid, but also the flavor and astringency, of which the 

 tannin contained in the stems is the principal cause. 

 Therefore, it is even more important to us than to Euro- 

 pean wine-makers, to gain the knowledge to Gallize our 

 wines properly. By proper management we can change 

 must, which would otherwise make a disagreeable wine, 

 into one in which everything is in its right proportion, 

 and which will thus suit a customer to whose fastidious 

 taste it would otherwise be repugnant. True, our grapes 

 will ripen better here, so that we can, in most seasons, 

 produce a wine without a great excess of acids, but the 

 American taste requires a less acid wine any way, and we 

 must dilute the aroma to make our wines salable. Here 

 another difficulty presents itself. The riper a grape is, the 

 more of its peculiar aroma will it develop, and if we 

 would let our Concords hang until they are so ripe that 

 the acid has been reduced to the proper proportion, the 

 aroma becomes so strong that it is very repugnant to a 

 refined taste. What course remains then for us to take ? 

 Shall we l^t our grapes hang until thQ acid is reduced. 



