246 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING 



notes upon them will necessarily be brief. They are of 

 four kinds : port, sherry, Angelica and sweet Muscat. 

 The last two are made in a similar manner. Angelica is 

 made from the first run of the juice of Mission grapes ; 

 sweet Muscat from Muscat of Alexandria, and a finer 

 grade from the German Muscatelle or Frontignan. The 

 grapes are allowed to hang until very ripe, then crushed 

 and immediately pressed ; then a gallon of quicklime is 

 added to every hundred gallon weight, and about a quart 

 of grape brandy to each gallon of the must. These addi- 

 tions are made in an open vat, and the liquid is allowed 

 to stand until it is clear, which, as the wine and brandy 

 suppress fermentation, is generally in two or three days. 

 It is then racked into casks, as aU the lees have settled 

 to the bottom, and with another racking in two months 

 is ready for use, although it becomes more mellow 

 with age. 



Port is commonly made from the red wine of Mission 

 and Malvasia grapes, though other red wines are also 

 used. The Trousseau makes the finest port of any. 

 The fluid is fortified by adding brandy or alcohol up to 

 23 or 24 per cent. Grape syrup, made by boiling down 

 sweet must, is also added. 



Sherry is made in a similar manner, fortified, but not 

 made so sweet, and then kept in a room or oven heated 

 to a temperature of 140 to 160 for about six weeks. 

 This gives it the peculiar aged taste and flavor which 

 many admire. This is quite different from the methods 

 employed in Spain. There, special varieties of grapes 

 are used and the sherry flavor is acquired from them, 

 and from being aged in bodegas, or storage houses, for a 

 number of years. It is scarcely to be expected that this 

 method will ever be generally followed in this country, 

 as our people have not the patience to wait ten or twelve 

 years for results. But we have many of the best sherry 

 grapes which will develop the true flavor in a few years. 



