512 



WIN 



W I K 



performed, every two days, for 

 about twelve days ; for the fer- 

 mentation will continue a conside- 

 rable time in some degree : And if 

 the casks be not kept so full as that 

 the foulness thrown up by the fer- 

 m.entation may be carried off at tl)e 

 vent hole, it will fall back again 

 into the wine and prevent its be- 

 coming clear. Afterwards it must 

 be filled to within an inch of the 

 bung, every fifth or sixth day for a 

 month : After this, once a fortnight 

 for three months. 



" Though the fermentation will 

 be over in a shorter time, yet the 

 casks must be filled up once a 

 month, so long as they remain in 

 the cellar. For as the wine will 

 insensibly waste in them, it will 

 grow flat and heavy, if it be not 

 constantly kept filled up. They 

 should be filled up with a wine of 

 the same kind, kept in some small 

 vessel, or in bottles, for this pur- 

 pose ; and the vent holes must be 

 stopped when the fermentation is 

 over. 



" The first drawing ofT from the 

 lees is done about the middle of 

 December. The casks should 

 stand without the least shaking or 

 other disturbance, till the middle 

 of February, when it will be right 

 to draw the liquor off again into 

 other casks. If tiie quantity of lees 

 is then found to be so considerable 

 as to endanger their contracting a 

 putrid taint, by remaining too long 

 mixed with the wine, it may be ad- 

 visable to draw it off again, after a 

 proper interval of time : Or some- 

 times it may be necessary to repeat 

 the racking many limes. But in 

 racking, though care should be ta- 



ken to keep the casks full, wines of 

 dissimilar qualities should not be 

 mixed. 



" The lees of several casks that 

 have been racked off may be col- 

 lected together, and when the 

 thicker part has subsided, a spirit 

 may be drawn from the thinner. 



" When wine is to be transport- 

 ed, and thereby necessarily expos- 

 ed to a warm.er air, brandy is often 

 added, to check the propensity to a 

 new fermentation. It is also some- 

 times done to give strength to the 

 wine ; but the practice is not to be 

 recommended, unless applied be- 

 fore the fermentation is completed, 



" It is necessary for the preser- 

 vation of some wines, wl.ich are 

 apt to be on the fret, to fumigate 

 the casks with burning brimstone. 

 This resists fermentation. But the 

 colour of red wines is said to be 

 destroyed by it. The colour of 

 wine is frequently artificial, A 

 deep yellow is made by burnt su- 

 gar : A deep red, which is not na- 

 tural to any wine, is almost always 

 made by red woods, elderberries, 

 bilberries, &c. 



" Turbid wines are fined by a 

 mixture of the whites and shells of 

 eggs, powdered alabaster, and isin- 

 glass. The shells and alabaster 

 may correct a small degree of aci- 

 dity. Isinglass alone will fine it in 

 a few days. 



" If wine is grown very sour, the 

 best way of correcting it, so as to 

 preserve the spirit and flavour, is, 

 adding a quantity of salt of tartar,, 

 sufficient to neutralize the acid, 

 ju?t before the wine is used. 



" If it be intended that wine 

 should not iVoth. the l>C3t time fbi 



