WINE-MAKING IN CALIFORNIA. 319 







FINING WITH CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES. FOR WHITE WINE. 



Gelatine and Isinglass are the most common and best fin- 

 ings for white wine. The first is prepared from the bones, 

 skins and tendons of animals, and comes in tablets or sheets 

 generally. It is one of the most powerful of finings, and 

 takes a great deal of tannin and color with it, should there- 

 fore not be used for red wines, except when it is desired to 

 deprive them of an excess of tannin and color. It precipi- 

 tates more sediment than most, other finings, is apt to leave 

 a bad taste in the wine, and wines fined with it should be 

 racked from the finings as soon as cleared. It is generally 

 only used to clarify common white wines, and if they are 

 rather flat, tannin should be used with it. Take about one 

 ounce for one hundred gallons, and soak a few honrs in. 

 water. Then dissolve it in a dish over a slow fire with a 

 little water, which, however, should not be allowed to boil, 

 and stirring constantly. 



Isinglass or Fish Glue is made from the bladder of the 

 sturgeon, and comes mostly from Russia. This is the best 

 fining for white wine. Take one ounce to one hundred 

 gallons of wine, break it up by pounding with a hammer on 

 a block of wood into small fragments, so that it will easily 

 dissolve. Put in an earthen vessel and pour enough of the 

 wine to be fined over it to cover it; and add a little more 

 after an hour or two, when the first has been absorbed. 

 When it has become a jelly, in about twenty-four hours, it 

 can be thinned by adding more wine, and working it by the 

 hand until entirely dissolved, then strain it through a piece of 

 linen, using pressure enough to squeeze out the mucilage. 

 It should be whipped or beaten, and more wine added if too 

 thick. It can be kept in bottles for some time when pre- 

 pared, by adding a little brandy. 



ALBUMINOUS SUBSTANCES. 



Among these are the blood of animals, milk, etc., but I 

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