AND WINE MAKING. 251 



FINING WITH CHEMICALS. 



Gelatine and isinglass are the most common and the 

 best finings for white wine. The former is manufactured 

 from the cartilages, skins and tendons of animals, and 

 comes in tablets or sheets. It is one of the most power- 

 ful of finings and takes with it a great deal of tannin 

 and color. It should therefore not be used for red wines 

 unless it is desired to relieve them from an excess of 

 color and tannin. It precipitates more sediment than 

 any other fining, and wines treated with it should be 

 racked as soon as they are clear, which will generally be 

 within three weeks. It is generally used to clarify com- 

 mon wines, and if they are somewhat flat, tannin should 

 be added to them. Gelatine is used at the rate of one 

 ounce to each hundred gallons of wine. Soak the gelatine 

 a few hours in tepid water, then dissolve in a dish over a 

 slow fire, in a little water, stirring it constantly, and do 

 not allow it to boil. 



Isinglass, or fish glue, is made from the air-bladder of 

 the sturgeon, and comes chiefly from Kussia. It is the 

 best fining for fine white wines. One ounce, for each 

 hundred gallons of wine, is broken into small fragments, 

 by pounding it with a hammer on a block of wood. Put 

 into an earthen vessel, and pour over it enough of the 

 wine that is to be fined to cover it. Add a little more 

 after an hour or two, when the first will have been ab- 

 sorbed. In about twenty-four hours it will have become 

 a jelly, and may be thinned by adding more of the wine, 

 and is to be worked with the hands until it is wholly 

 dissolved. Then strain it through a piece of linen, 

 with pressure enough to force all the mucilage through. 

 If too thick it must be whipped or beaten and 

 more wine added, before using. It may be kept in bot- 

 tles for some time after it is prepared, if a little brandy 

 is added. 



