102 THE AMERICAN VINE-DRESSER'S GUIDE. 



OF FERMENTATION AND PUTTING INTO CASK. 



THERE is no fixed time for fermentation : 

 it takes place earlier in a warm atmosphere, 

 and later in a cold one. The precise time 

 when this fermentation is complete must be 

 watched with the greatest care ; it ordinarily 

 happens about the tenth or twelfth day ; in 

 cold weather it may be delayed until the 

 twentieth day ; but this is of rare occurrence. 

 The quicker the fermentation is accomplished, 

 the better your wine will be. I saw, in the 

 Bordelais, in 1822, wine put into casks six 

 days after the grape juice had been placed in 

 the tubs. To make sure of the proper time 

 for changing from the wine to casks, see if 

 the must no longer bubbles up, if the dregs 

 have ascended to the surface and formed 

 a sort of scum, called chapeau, and if this 

 chapeau has commenced to disappear. But, 

 above all, the must should be tasted, for which 

 purpose a little is drawn from the tub through 

 a gimlet hole. If it is no longer very warm, 



